bodhisattva or buddha not only may, but must, break
conventional precepts (including monastic vows) if
doing so will be beneficial. Thus, sex, violence, lying,
and stealing are sometimes claimed to be permissible.
This “situational” ethic leaves moral decision making
less rule-bound and more flexible, and defines virtue
in terms of motive rather than conduct, thereby hint-
ing at relativism and complicating judgments regard-
ing one’s own or others’ behavior. Nevertheless, it was
widely influential throughout the Mahayana world,
where it was used to justify a range of actions, includ-
ing trends toward laicization, particular political and
military policies, erotic and terrifying elements in
Tantra, and the behavior of spiritual masters. Espe-
cially in tantric and Chan traditions, training some-
times contravened standard morality and disciples
were advanced using unorthodox techniques that
sometimes included violence.
In contemporary Buddhism, upayaremains a crucial
concept, helping to shape ongoing debates about how
the dharma is to be expressed and transmitted, what
range of practices is appropriate for Buddhists, how eth-
ical decisions are to be made and judged, where WAR
and politics fit into Buddhism, and what constitutes
proper behavior by teachers toward their disciples.
See also:Paramita(Perfection); Prajña(Wisdom)
Bibliography
Keown, Damien. The Nature of Buddhist Ethics.New York: Pal-
grave, 2001.
Lopez, Donald S., Jr., ed. Buddhist Hermeneutics.Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1992.
Pye, Michael. Skilful Means: A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism.
London: Duckworth, 1978.
Tatz, Mark, trans. The Skill in Means (Upayakaus ́alya) Sutra.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994.
Thurman, Robert A. F., trans. The Holy Teaching of Vimalaklrti:
A Mahayana Scripture.University Park: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1976.
Watson, Burton, trans. The Lotus Sutra.New York: Columbia
University Press, 1993.
ROGERR. JACKSONUSURY
Money lending is one of many business ventures prac-
ticed by Buddhist monks. Although commercial activi-
ties are not usually associated with Buddhism, from the
inception of Buddhist communities as landowners to
restaurants run by American Zen communities, monas-
teries have long been involved in a wide variety of eco-
nomic enterprises. Because Buddhism identifies DESIRE,
rather than the objects of desire, as a source of suffer-
ing, wealth per se is not condemned; on the contrary,
the proper use and enjoyment of wealth is encouraged.
Commercial operations within the monastery also re-
flect Buddhism’s origins in the urban, mercantile cen-
ters of ancient India and in the systems of exchange,
trade, and commerce, as well as the legal status of prop-
erty and ownership, that developed there. The spread
of Buddhism along trade routes meant that Buddhism
and commerce traveled hand-in-hand. In China, for ex-
ample, the innovation of lending banks was introduced
by Buddhists traveling from India. The material needs
of Buddhist devotional practice also encouraged the de-
velopment of various crafts and guilds, as well as con-
struction, agriculture, and other technologies.
Capital resources were provided by a model of the
pure gift in which the laity contributed material goods
to the monastic community (dana) in return for reli-
gious merit (punya) that would enable better circum-
stances in future rebirths. As the wandering community
of Buddhist renunciants quickly came to live the set-
tled life of the vihara (monastery), monastic regulations
began to allow the accumulation of donations beyond
the immediate needs of the community. Some com-
munities permitted such surplus to be used to endow
funds that would generate interest for the purchase of
clothing, food, and other community needs, or even for
reinvestment. Because the funds generated interest
and the principal investment was not depleted, they
were called “inexhaustible” or “permanent” goods
(aksayanlvl; Chinese, wujinzai). With the lands, serfs,
livestock, grains, oil, cloth, gold, and silver thus ac-
quired, renunciant communities were able to under-
take a great variety of investment and commercial
ventures. Later Chinese pilgrims reported that Indian
monks supported themselves primarily by their land
holdings and interest-bearing investments, rather than
by daily rounds of alms seeking.
Lending at interest was one such practice. The as-
sets lent from the inexhaustible goods could be com-
modities such as cloth, food, oils, seed, and other
goods donated to the monastery. The lendable assets
may also have included monies generated from land
rents, commercial activities, and investments. The
PRECEPTSof the various Indian schools give permis-
sion and rudimentary procedures for these lendingUSURY