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JBE Research Article ISSN 1076-9005 Volume 5 1998: 241-260 Publication date: 26 June 1998 Appropriate Means as an Ethical Doctrine in the Lotus Såtra by Gene Reeves Rikkyo University [email protected] © 1998 Gene Reeves JBE Research Article Research JBE Copyright Notice Digital copies of this work may be made and distributed provided no charge is made and no alteration is made to the content. Reproduction in any other format with the exception of a single copy for private study requires the written permission of the author. All enquiries to [email protected]. Journal of Buddhist Ethics Volume 5, 1998:241-260 n this paper I claim that upàya or hben in the Lotus Såtra, con- Itrary to how it has often been translated and understood, is an ethi- cal doctrine, the central tenet of which is that one should not do what is expedient but rather what is good, the good being what will actually help someone else, which is also known as bodhisattva prac- tice. Further, the doctrine of hben is relativistic. No doctrine, teach- ing, set of words, mode of practice, etc. can claim absoluteness or finality, as all occur within and are relative to some concrete situation. But some things, doing the right thing in the right situation, can be efficacious, sufficient for salvation. As for the use of expedients in translations of upàya or hben: in the Lotus Såtra translations Hurvitz uses expedient devices, Murano expedients, and Watson expedient means. In the earlier translation from Sanskrit, Kern used skillfulness repeatedly, including in the title for the second chapter, but in a footnote he equates this with able man- agement, diplomacy, upàyakau÷alya. He then goes on to say that Upàya means an expedient, followed by some other silly things (p.30). Other authorities can be cited. In Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism (1907), D.T. Suzuki says The term upàya literally means expediency, (p. 64) and later, in reference to the Lotus Såtra, explains that the term is very diffi- cult to translate into English but literally means Ôway,Õ Ômethod,Õ or Ôstrat- egyÕ (p. 261 n). And then, in another footnote, says that upàya means expedient, stratagem, device or craft(p. 298). Other, more re- cent authorities can be cited. Franklin EdgertonÕs, Buddhist Hybrid San- skrit Dictionary (1953) gives skill in expedients for upàyakau÷alya. Peter N. Gregory, in the glossary of the recent Inquiry Into the Origin of Humanity gives expedient means for upàya, and in the entry for the Lotus Såtra says that it is noted for its teaching of expedient means (p.218). It should be clear that the use of expedient and its variants for the Lotus SåtraÕs upàya and hben is well established. What is wrong with expedient? Briefly, it is deeply rooted in an ethical frame of reference which is about as diametrically opposed to the ethical perspective of the Lotus Såtra as one can get. The Random House 242 Journal of Buddhist Ethics Volume 5, 1998:241-260 Unabridged Dictionary has as its second definition of expedient: conducive to advantage or interest, as opposed to right. Moreover, expediency is defined as a regard for what is polite or advantageous rather than what is right or just; a sense of self-interest. Though one could argue that this term does not have to carry such freight, the fact of the matter is that it is deeply embedded in a Biblical ethics which is essentially deontological because it is rooted in notions of divine com- mandment and human obedience. In 1 John 11:49-50 for example, we find: And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. Nor do you consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation perish. And in several places in the King James version, Paul uses the term expedient to mean profitable to oneself. The Bible, of course, has had a major impact on what terms mean in English. Thus, a very basic meaning of expedient is an act that is done despite principle in order to benefit oneself. It is rooted in an ethics and in a vision of reality in which there is a radical, unbridgeable gap between principles and self-interest. Principles, though they may be internalized, are given by God, Nature, or the metaphysical structure of reality. Princi- ples are law-like, and thus disobedience requires just punishment. To do the expedient thing is to ignore or go against what is right in order to gain some selfish benefit. But this is exactly what, according to the Lotus Såtra, hben cannot be. It is part of the very definition of hben in the Lotus Såtra that it is always for the benefit of someone else. Not in this såtra, or in any other that I know of, is there even a single example of hben in which the doer forsakes some principle for his or her own benefit. Of course, within a Buddhist utilitarian and teleological ethics the good done for someone else may also benefit the doer. In Christianity 243 Journal of Buddhist Ethics Volume 5, 1998:241-260 one finds notions of an ideal of completely selfless love, agapé. To some extent, such notions are related to Greek ideas of God as being so perfect and complete that he cannot possibly want nor need anything. But from most Buddhist perspectives, certainly from the perspective of the Lotus Såtra, this is a false ideal. For example, in the story of the rich father and poor son, the Buddha-substitute, the father, feels that his own life is incomplete so long as the son is away from him. If I could only get my son back and entrust my wealth to him,Õ he thought, Ôhow contented and happy I would be, with no more anxiety!1 So, there are at least two things wrong with expedient as a transla- tion of hben. On the one hand, use of it presupposes a contrast with principle (law, divine command, etc.) which is not generally applicable in East Asian Buddhism. On the other hand, it carries negative connota- tions of action for oneÕs own benefit which are incompatible with the whole thrust of the Lotus Såtra.2 Expedient is not, of course, the only translation of hben. The most extensive, and in my opinion best, study of upàya is Michael PyeÕs Skilful Means. But even Pye, after conducting a nearly exhaustive study of the terms upàya, upàyakau÷alya, and fang pien and defending skilful means as the best translation for these terms, says, Of course transla- tions of Mahayana texts in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit may want to follow the vocabulary more closely and use simply ÔmeansÕ or ÔexpedientÕ for upàya.3 I have no major problem with skillful means as a translation of upàya/hben. It might even be the best overall translation for Buddhist texts in general, but I am not persuaded that it is the best possible transla- tion for the hben of the Lotus Såtra. The Dharma in Stories 244 Journal of Buddhist Ethics Volume 5, 1998:241-260 The Lotus Såtra is, perhaps above all, a book of stories. It contains approximately 26 stories that are used as teaching devices. It does not avoid teaching doctrine directly, but if we want to understand what the Lotus Såtra teaches we had better pay attention to its stories, and not merely to lines within them, or to lines which explain them, but also to the overall thrust and function of those stories within a religious tradi- tion. It is not incidental that the original Lotus Såtra probably began with the chapter on upàya, and then, in the next chapter told a story, the par- able of the burning house, to illustrate and explain it.4 Moreover, this Parable chapter is immediately followed by the adhimukti chapter.5 which is built around another story, the story of the rich father and the poor son. Actually, as we have it now, the whole såtra, or at least the first twenty-two chapters of it, is a story about a time when the Buddha was on the mountain called Vulture Peak and preached the Lotus Såtra. Hben as Skillful and Appropriate It is true that in all of these stories in which hben is demonstrated, some skill is involved, sometimes even a special skill. The best illustration of a special skill being utilized is a story, from which the chapter gets its title, about a physician who goes to the Himalayas to collect four special herbs to use in special ways in order to cure a man who has been blind from birth. It is interesting that this story is not included in the Chinese version of the Såtra.6 Skill is involved in most of these stories. But what kind of skill? A father gets his children out of a burning house by promising them a re- ward. Another father gets his kids to take an antidote for poison by pre- tending to be dead. Still another father guides his unambitious son to- ward greater and greater responsibility. A tour guide conjures up a phan- tom city in order to give people a needed resting-place during a hard jour- ney. A man sews a jewel into the garment of his poor friend. A very powerful king holds back an extraordinarily precious and unique jewel 245 Journal of Buddhist Ethics Volume 5, 1998:241-260 that he kept in the topknot of his hair until he sees a soldier of great merit.
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