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Literal means and hidden meanings : a new analysis of skillful means
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Federman, Asaf. (2009) Literal means and hidden meanings : a new analysis of skillful means. Philosophy East and West, Vol.59 (No.2). pp. 125-141. ISSN 0031-8221
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0050
Abstract
Skillful means is usually used by scholars and Buddhists to denote the following simple idea: the Buddha skillfully adapted his teaching to the level of his audience.1 This very broad and somewhat oversimplified definition tries to incorporate the whole range of Buddhist views on the subject. However, it does not help to explain why there is an extensive use of the term in central Mahayana su tras while pre-Mahayana texts are almost completely silent on this issue. I suggest that skillful means has not always been an all-Buddhist concept; rather, it was developed by Mahayanists as a radical hermeneutic device. As such, skillful means is a provocative and sophisticated idea that served the purpose of advancing a new religious ideology in the face of an already established canonical knowledge. The Mahayana use of the concept exhibits an awareness, not found in pre-Mahayana thought, of a gap between what texts literally say and their hidden meaning.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BQ Buddhism |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science > Psychology |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Gautama Buddha -- Teachings, Mahayana Buddhism -- Doctrines |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Philosophy East and West |
| Publisher: | University of Hawaii Press |
| ISSN: | 0031-8221 |
| Date: | April 2009 |
| Volume: | Vol.59 |
| Number: | No.2 |
| Page Range: | pp. 125-141 |
| Identification Number: | 10.1353/pew.0.0050 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access |
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| URI: | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3143 |
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