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2. Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? A Zoom Lens Approach
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11 2 Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? A Zoom Lens Approach I would like to pursue this phenomenon of reciprocal illumination, identified in the preceding chapter, further in this chapter and, if possible , move in a new direction. I used the expression “reciprocal illumination ” in the previous chapter to refer to occasions when our knowledge of another tradition enables us to gain a better understanding of some aspect of our own tradition and vice versa. And I presented seven such occasions on which this might be said to have occurred. These examples were drawn from seven so-called major world religions. The skeptical reader, however, might be inclined to consider them as no better than flashes. I shall, therefore, endeavor to offer a more sustained illustration of the phenomenon in this chapter. I Anyone who gains even a passing acquaintance with Buddhism soon becomes familiar with the concept of upåyakaußalya or skill in means. The doctrine gains greater prominence in Mahåyåna Buddhism but is not entirely absent in Theravåda Buddhism. One must distinguish here between upåya and upåyakaußalya. The full term is sometimes shortened to upåya, which is handy but carries with it two dangers. 12 Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology The first is that it can be confused with an aspect of karu£å as understood in Prajñåpåramitå literature.1 The second is that it can be paired with prajñå in Buddhist Tantra.2 In this chapter I am only concerned with upåyakaußalya, or skill in means as practiced by the Buddha, as one of the ten påramitås to be attained by the bodhisattva in the course of his career to Buddhahood, and as an element in monastic instruction to the laity. Even when used in this context, especially in the context of the bodhisattva perfecting “skill in means” as a påramitå, there is the danger of a misunderstanding, which must be avoided. I shall not be using the term to indicate the skill the bodhisattva employs in relation to his own means to salvation. The term has been understood in this sense at least in the A∑†asåhasrikaprajñåpåramitå,3 in the sense of the skill with which the bodhisattva perfects his own virtues. In this chapter the term is used exclusively in the context of imparting knowledge of the highest religious insights, especially as understood within Buddhism, to others. One must proceed with the clear recognition that although the concept of upåyakaußalya is more self-consciously elaborated in Mahåyåna Buddhism, especially in the Saddharmapuˆ∂ar¥ka S¨tra, it is also already clearly identifiable in Theravåda Buddhism. In spite of the paucity of references in Pali writings, it is remarkable that upåya here assumes a double aspect, referring to the activities both of aspiring monk and good teacher, skilled in the ways of helping others across the spiritual threshold. Variously emphasized, this double usage is frequently found in early Mahåyåna, although no direct textual lineage should be assumed. Other Pali usage is either non-technical or late and incidental. This relative inattention to the term in Pali texts does not mean, however, that the way of thinking assumed in this terminology is foreign either to Theravåda Buddhism in its fully developed form or to the earliest Buddhists in general. Admittedly, there is no direct evidence that the Buddha himself made use of this specific term to explain the way his teaching was to be understood. Nevertheless, there are many indications that his message was presented with conscious, pragmatic skill. In support of this, one need only think of such well known scriptural similes as the raft, the poisoned arrow, the pith, and the water snake, in which the provisional and practical nature of the Buddha’s teachings is made clear.4 [3.238.79.169] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 20:05 GMT) 13 Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? I will not abuse the patience of the reader by alluding to the references to it in Mahåyåna Buddhism but will now proceed to fix the sense in which it has largely been understood within Buddhism and in which I employ it here. Suffice it to say then that UPĀYA is a Sanskrit and Pali term meaning “device, stratagem,” or “means.” The term has a technical function in Buddhism, most especially in the...