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Skilful Means: a Concept in Mahayana Buddhism, Second Edition

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Skilful Means: a Concept in Mahayana Buddhism, Second Edition SMA01C 2 11/21/03, 10:48 AM SKILFUL MEANS ‘Skilful means’ is the key principle of the great tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. First set out extensively in the Lotus Sutra, it originates in the Buddha’s compassionate project for helping others to transcend the cease- less round of birth and death. His strategies or interventions are ‘skilful means’—devices which lead into enlightenment and nirvana. Michael Pye’s clear and engaging introductory guide presents the meaning of skilful means in the formative writings, traces its antecedents in the legends of early Buddhism and explores links both with the Theravada tradition and later Japanese Buddhism. First published in 1978, the book remains the best explanation of this dynamic philosophy, which is essential for any com- plete understanding of Buddhism. Michael Pye is Professor of the Study of Religions at Marburg Univer- sity, and author of Emerging from Meditation (1990), The Buddha (1981) and the Macmillan Dictionary of Religion (1993). He is a former President of the International Association for the History of Religions (1995–2000), and has taught at the Universities of Lancaster and Leeds. SMA01C 1 11/21/03, 10:48 AM SMA01C 2 11/21/03, 10:48 AM SKILFUL MEANS A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism Second Edition MICHAEL PYE SMA01C 3 11/21/03, 10:48 AM First published in 1978 by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. The Old Piano Factory, 43 Gloucester Crescent, London NW1 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” This edition published 2003 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 2003 Routledge All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN 0-203-50379-1 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-33851-0 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-31427-5 (Pr int Edition) SMA01C 4 11/21/03, 10:48 AM CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements .. .. .. .. .. .. .. vii Conventions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. viii Preface to the Second Edition .. .. .. .. .. .. ix 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION .. .. .. .. .. 1 Buddhist skilful means .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 The literature of skilful means .. .. .. .. .. 3 Problems of terminology .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 2 THE INITIAL TEACHING OF SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 kariputra’s perplexity .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 The opening exposition .. .. .. .. .. .. 20 The longer exposition in prose .. .. .. .. .. 23 The longer exposition in verse (i) .. .. .. .. 25 The longer exposition in verse (ii) .. .. .. .. 27 The longer exposition in verse (iii) .. .. .. .. 29 3 STORIES ABOUT SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 The burning house .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 The son who does not recognise himself .. .. .. 40 The rain-cloud and other similes .. .. .. .. .. 42 Stories of unexpected treasure .. .. .. .. .. 45 The magic city .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 47 The Buddha’s life-span and the story of the physician .. 49 4 MYTHOLOGY AND SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 60 Illumination of all worlds .. .. .. .. .. .. 60 The equivalence of all buddhas .. .. .. .. 65 Transformations of a bodhisattva .. .. .. .. .. 71 5 SKILFUL MEANS IN THE TEACHING OF VIMALAKhRTI .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 83 The skill of a Buddhist saint .. .. .. .. .. 83 Vimalakcrti’s illness .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 88 Vimalakcrti and Mañjulrc .. .. .. .. .. .. 91 6 SKILFUL MEANS IN THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT LITERATURE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 101 Insight and skilful means .. .. .. .. .. .. 101 v SMA01C 5 11/21/03, 10:48 AM vi Skilful Means Skilful means as a way of taking things .. .. .. .. 105 Madhyamika connections .. .. .. .. .. .. 108 7 SKILFUL MEANS IN PRE-MAHAYANA BUDDHISM .. 117 The decision to proclaim Dhamma .. .. .. .. 117 Buddhist correlational technique .. .. .. .. .. 123 The persistence of Buddhist meaning .. .. .. .. 126 8 THE TERM HiBEN IN MODERN JAPANESE .. .. 137 Colloquial Japanese: uso mo hDben .. .. .. .. .. 137 Spectrum of usage in reference works .. .. .. .. 140 Response of Buddhists to general usage .. .. .. .. 145 HDben in sectarian Buddhism .. .. .. .. .. 148 9 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS .. .. .. .. .. 158 APPENDIX A: BRIEF NOTE ON THE MAIN TEXTS USED 164 APPENDIX B: HISTORICO-CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE LOTUS SUTRA .. .. .. .. .. .. 167 APPENDIX C: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE LOTUS SUTRA .. .. .. .. .. .. 182 APPENDIX D: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE TEACHING OF VIMALAKhRTI .. .. .. .. .. 186 APPENDIX E: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT SUTRAS, ETC .. .. .. 188 APPENDIX F: SKILFUL MEANS IN THE kjRArGAMASAMfDHI SUTRA .. .. .. .. 193 Bibliography .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 197 Index .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 202 SMA01C 6 11/21/03, 10:49 AM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS So many persons are karmically involved, so to speak, in the coming about of this book, that it is quite impossible to list them. Indeed there are thousands whose names I do not know. As examples, however, I should like to thank my teacher at Cambridge, Maurice Wiles, who suggested I went to Japan to see what I would find, Raymond Hammer who helped me to put the suggestion into effect, and Carmen Blacker who conveyed in advance that Japanese Buddhism is both subtle and entertaining. I was singularly fortunate in being lodged at first with Iyanaga Shdkichi and his family in Tokyo; and their relaxed guidance was complemented by the aid of many other Japanese friends and informants, as I eventually developed an interest in the Buddhist concept of skilful means. The matter has con- cerned me now for many years among other duties, but an appointment to the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster, headed then at its inception by Ninian Smart, gave me the chance to pursue it more systematically. A second journey to Japan, relative to this and other projects, was partly financed by the University of Lancaster and the Spalding Trust, to whom my thanks are accorded. The subsequent patience of John Tinsley and other colleagues at the University of Leeds allowed me to complete my work, and particular thanks are due to Elizabeth Hart, Dorothy Raper and Hazel Walker for much cheerful perseverance at the typewriter. I am grateful also to Carmen Blacker, Inagaki Hisao and Ninian Smart for comments leading to some corrections. Two formal but no less grateful acknowledgements should be made; firstly to the Kdsei Press in Tokyo who kindly allowed me to base my quotations from The Lotus Sutra on their recently published translation (details below); and secondly to Edward Conze, both for his own incid- ental encouragement and especially for the loan of a privately circulated draft translation of The Teaching of Vimalakcrti, made by the late R. H. Robinson, which was particularly helpful in the formulation of quotations from that writing. To avoid misunderstanding, the above sources have not usually been quoted as such but freely and critically drawn upon, so that while the debt is great the responsibility lies here. This writing has been a personal interest for so many years that readers may forgive me for adding thanks to my wife Christine for her many favours. M.P. vii SMA01C 7 11/21/03, 10:49 AM CONVENTIONS (i) Since Sanskrit is the lingua franca for Mahayana Buddhism, Sanskrit terms are freely used without necessarily implying a Sanskrit source. Some very common terms such as bodhisattva, nirvana, dharma, karma, buddha, and sutra are accepted as anglicised, and diacritical marks are omitted. (ii) Pali forms are sometimes used when the context demands it, and again some very common ones are anglicised, e.g. dhamma, sutta. (iii) When used with a capital D, Dharma (or Pali, Dhamma) refers to the teaching proclaimed by the Buddha. When used with a small d, dharma, or dharmas, (Pali, dhamma(s)), refer to factors of existence as defined in Buddhist analysis. (iv) Proper nouns have usually been given diacritical marks as required, e.g. Vimalakcrti, except for the commonly anglicised Mahayana, Theravada, Pali, and Hinayana. (v) Except in special cases romanised Chinese follows the Wade-Giles system. Romanised Japanese follows the Hepburn system. (vi) Since some terms from all of the above four languages are indispens- able, because of changing contexts, equivalents have sometimes been given in brackets with the abbreviations; Skt. (Sanskrit), P. (Pali), Ch. (Chinese) and J. (Japanese). It is hoped that enough have been given to signpost the reader without ruining the text by putting them in all the time. (vii) Names of sutras frequently used are given in an easy conventional- ised English form, such as The Lotus Sutra. The relationship between various names for the main sources will be clear from Appendix A. Names of writings referred to incidentally are italicised. (viii) Chapters of sutras referred to with Arabic numerals are chapters in Sanskrit texts or translations thereof. Chapters of sutras referred to with Roman numerals are chapters in Chinese versions or transla- tions thereof. Chapters referred to in words, e.g. ‘Chapter Eight’, refer to chapters in the present work. (ix) Japanese names are given surname first, except in a few cases where it is a writer who writes in a non-Japanese language and uses initials. (x) Chinese and Japanese
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