Skill-in-Means

This chapter addresses the Mahayana Buddhist theme of upaya, the “skillful means” required to live an authentic bodhisattva life of wisdom and compassion. The sutra pictures Vimalakirti’s skill as the ability to work with others toward the common good in a wide variety of circumstances. Vimalakirti is described as fully inclusive, rejecting no one while working to liberate everyone from the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. His skillful means is centered on the cultivation of intention, a vow to enact the highest thought of enlightenment possible under current conditions. The chapter concludes with an examination of five dimensions of character valorized in the sutra.

The Bodhisattva Ideal

This chapter provides an in-depth look at the central character of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra by analyzing the manner in which the bodhisattva ideal is presented. It examines several aspects of this ideal: the bodhisattva vow, the difference between monastic and lay Buddhism, and the way that Buddhist enlightenment is envisioned. The image of Vimalakirti as a character in the text emphasizes his “skillful means” of teaching the Buddhist dharma and of living his life, his inclusive outreach to all living beings, and the extent to which he overcomes the dichotomy between pure and impure aspects of human life.

The Path and the Buddha

This chapter examines fundamental Buddhist themes addressed at the beginning of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra. After discussing the setting and the primary characters in the story, it describes the metaphor of Buddhism as a path through life that can be pursued through the various disciplines of Buddhist practice and describes the importance attributed to a motivating concept of the goal of Buddhist practice, bodhicitta, the “thought of enlightenment.” The chapter addresses the question of who the Buddha is understood to be and how Buddhists in the sutra understand the miracles performed by the Buddha as “skillful means” of providing motivation for meditative practice.

Bring Your Non-self to Work? The Interaction Between Self-decentralization and Moral Reasoning

Spirituality continues to exert a strong influence in people’s lives both in work and beyond. However, given that spirituality is often non-formalized and personal, we continue to know little about how moral reasoning is strategized. In this paper, we examine how Buddhist leader-practitioners interpret and operationalize a process of self-decentralization based upon Buddhist emptiness theory as a form of moral reasoning. We find that Buddhist leader-practitioners share a common understanding of a self-decentralized identity and operationalize self-decentralization through two practices in Buddhist philosophy—skillful means and the middle way—to foreground social outcomes. However, we also find that practitioners face tensions and challenges in moral reasoning relates to agency—the ‘re-centering’ of the self as an enlightened self and the use of karmic reasoning to justify (un)ethical behavior—and contextual constraints that lead to feelings of vulnerability and exclusion. We present a model that elaborates these processes and invite further research that examines novel approaches and dynamic interpretations of the self in moral reasoning.

Compassion and skillful means: Cultural adaptation, psychological science, and creative responsiveness

In this article, we address two distinct, but interrelated aspects of “skillful means” that can inform compassion training: 1) the historical precedent and need for adapting meditation practices to meet new cultural contexts, and 2) the need to express compassion flexibly in ways that creatively meet the specific contexts and needs of particular persons and situations. We first discuss ways that the doctrine of skillful means was employed by Buddhists to rationalize the repeated adaptation of Buddhist teachings to meet the culturally situated mentalities and needs of diverse Asian peoples. Then, in continuity with that history of Buddhist adaptation, we explore how theories from modern psychological science, such as attachment theory, can be newly drawn upon to support adaptation of Buddhist compassion training for application in modern cultures. Finally, we draw on theories from cognitive science, namely situated conceptualization, that provide a tractable framework for understanding skillful compassion as embodied emptiness—involving the relaxation of pattern completion mechanisms, which helps open up greater discernment and presence to others, so that care and compassion can be more unrestricted, creative, and directly responsive to the person and situation at hand.

MEDIAÇÃO EXTRAJUDICIAL E EFETIVIDADE DA JUSTIÇA: APLICAÇÃO NOS CASOS DE DESASTRES AMBIENTAIS

RESUMOO artigo visa verificar em que medida a mediação extrajudicial pode ser mais efetiva do que a intervenção do poder judiciário na solução, reparação e responsabilização de desastres ambientais. A partir da Resolução nº 125, de 29 de novembro de 2010, o Conselho Nacional de Justiça deu um importante passo para estimular a Mediação e a Conciliação. Por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental concluiu-se que a mediação, por ser meio célere de solução de conflito e ser intermediada por mediador imparcial, se mostra como meio hábil para a solução eficaz e sustentável dos conflitos ambientais, na linha do que impõe a atual política pública de tratamento adequado dos conflitos.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Conflitos Ambientais; Sustentabilidade; Mediação Extrajudicial. ABSTRACTThe article aims to verify the extent to which extrajudicial mediation can be more effective than the intervention of the judiciary in the solution, remediation and accountability of environmental disasters. From Resolution No. 125 of November 29, 2010, the National Council of Justice took an important step to stimulate Mediation and Conciliation. Through bibliographic and documentary research, it was concluded that mediation, because it is a quick means of conflict resolution and is mediated by an impartial mediator, proves to be a skillful means for the effective and sustainable solution of environmental conflicts, in line with what it imposes. current public policy on the proper handling of conflicts.KEYWORDS: Environmental Conflicts; Sustainability; Extrajudicial Mediation.