Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

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bodhisattva or buddha not only may, but must, break
conventional precepts (including monastic vows) if
doing so will be beneficial. Thus, sex, violence, lying,
and stealing are sometimes claimed to be permissible.
This “situational” ethic leaves moral decision making
less rule-bound and more flexible, and defines virtue
in terms of motive rather than conduct, thereby hinting
at relativism and complicating judgments regarding
one’s own or others’ behavior. Nevertheless, it was
widely influential throughout the Mahayana world,
where it was used to justify a range of actions, including
trends toward laicization, particular political and
military policies, erotic and terrifying elements in
Tantra, and the behavior of spiritual masters. Especially
in tantric and Chan traditions, training sometimes
contravened standard morality and disciples
were advanced using unorthodox techniques that
sometimes included violence.
In contemporary Buddhism, upaya remains a crucial
concept, helping to shape ongoing debates about how
the dharma is to be expressed and transmitted, what
range of practices is appropriate for Buddhists, how ethical
decisions are to be made and judged, where WAR
and politics fit into Buddhism, and what constitutes
proper behavior by teachers toward their disciples.
See also: Paramita (Perfection); Prajña (Wisdom)
Bibliography
Keown, Damien. The Nature of Buddhist Ethics. New York: Palgrave,
2001.
Lopez, Donald S., Jr., ed. Buddhist Hermeneutics. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1992.
Pye, Michael. Skilful Means: A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism.
London: Duckworth, 1978.
Tatz, Mark, trans. The Skill in Means (Upayakauśalya) Su tra.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994.
Thurman, Robert A. F., trans. The Holy Teaching of Vimalaklrti:
A Mahayana Scripture. University Park: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1976.
Watson, Burton, trans. The Lotus Su tra. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1993.
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ROGER R. JACKSON
Money lending is one of many business ventures practiced
by Buddhist monks. Although commercial activities
are not usually associated with Buddhism, from the
inception of Buddhist communities as landowners to
restaurants run by American Zen communities, monasteries
have long been involved in a wide variety of economic
enterprises. Because Buddhism identifies DESIRE,
rather than the objects of desire, as a source of suffering,
wealth per se is not condemned; on the contrary,
the proper use and enjoyment of wealth is encouraged.
Commercial operations within the monastery also reflect
Buddhism’s origins in the urban, mercantile centers
of ancient India and in the systems of exchange,
trade, and commerce, as well as the legal status of property
and ownership, that developed there. The spread
of Buddhism along trade routes meant that Buddhism
and commerce traveled hand-in-hand. In China, for example,
the innovation of lending banks was introduced
by Buddhists traveling from India. The material needs
of Buddhist devotional practice also encouraged the development
of various crafts and guilds, as well as construction,
agriculture, and other technologies.
Capital resources were provided by a model of the
pure gift in which the laity contributed material goods
to the monastic community (dana) in return for religious
merit (punya) that would enable better circumstances
in future rebirths. As the wandering community
of Buddhist renunciants quickly came to live the settled
life of the vihara (monastery), monastic regulations
began to allow the accumulation of donations beyond
the immediate needs of the community. Some communities
permitted such surplus to be used to endow
funds that would generate interest for the purchase of
clothing, food, and other community needs, or even for
reinvestment. Because the funds generated interest
and the principal investment was not depleted, they
were called “inexhaustible” or “permanent” goods
(aksayanlvl; Chinese, wujinzai). With the lands, serfs,
livestock, grains, oil, cloth, gold, and silver thus acquired,
renunciant communities were able to undertake
a great variety of investment and commercial
ventures. Later Chinese pilgrims reported that Indian
monks supported themselves primarily by their land
holdings and interest-bearing investments, rather than
by daily rounds of alms seeking.
Lending at interest was one such practice. The assets
lent from the inexhaustible goods could be commodities
such as cloth, food, oils, seed, and other
goods donated to the monastery. The lendable assets
may also have included monies generated from land
rents, commercial activities, and investments. The
PRECEPTS of the various Indian schools give permission
and rudimentary procedures for these lending
872 E NCYCLOPEDIA OF B UDDHISM