"Skillful Means"

The Rev. Bruce Russell-Jayne
March 02, 2008
Northern Hills Fellowship

Reading: The Parable of the Burning House

This morning’s reading, the Parable of the Burning House, is a sermon of the Buddha found in the Lotus Sutra. In 1844 Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, a Unitarian, published the very first English language version of a Buddhist text; a chapter of the Lotus Sutra. That text first interested Emerson and Thoreau in eastern religions. The Lotus Sutra is is scripture for many Buddhist sects, including Rissho Kosei-kai, (pronounced Ree-show Ko-say ki as in kite) a Japanese church with which the Unitarian Universalist Association has had close ties for many years. Today’s reading is adapted from a translation by Gene Reeves, former president of Meadville Lombard Theological School, who has worked with Rissho Kosei-kai in Japan for over 15 years .

“Suppose there was a very rich man who had many fields and servants. His house was large, but had only one gate. Many people lived in the house whose halls and rooms were old and decaying, its beams and rafters dangerous and falling down.

Suddenly fire broke out, engulfing the house in flames. The rich man saw that his many children were in the house, but they were oblivious to the flames. They were engrossed in play and had no awareness, alarm or fear of the fire closing in on them. The rich man thought to himself, ‘My body and arms are strong; I can carry them out of the house.’ But then he thought again, ‘The one gate to the house is too narrow for me to carry them all through.” Still he worried that his young children would not sense the danger and would be burned up in the fire. He called up to them, ‘Come out quickly, all of you!’

Although the father tried to persuade them with kind words, the children didn’t understand why he wanted them to abandon their play or his cries that they should be afraid of their own home. They only kept running around and playing, barely glancing at their father. Then the father thought, ‘This house is already going up in a great blaze…I must find some skillful means to get my children to escape from this disaster.’
Knowing the toys his children had asked for, he called up to them, ‘There are new goat carriages, deer carriages and ox carriages for you down here in the yard. Come right now and choose the one you want.’ When they heard this, all of the children eagerly, pushing and racing with each other, came scrambling out of the burning house.

When the rich man saw that all his children were safe, he was very relieved and ecstatic with joy. The carriages he eventually gave them were much grander than the ones he had fibbed to them about during the fire. Each child received a carriage that they never expected to have.

After telling this parable, the Buddha asked, ‘Is the man guilty of falsehood or not?’ A listener responded, ‘No, by using skillful means the rich man only made it possible for his children to escape the disaster of the fire and preserve their lives. He committed no falsehood.” The Buddha said, ‘Good, good, it is just as you say, driven by his compassion and using his wisdom to conceive of skillful means he was able to save his children. His children preserved their own lives by choosing their own happiness. All people are capable of learning how to be free from the suffering of this world, but each needs to use the vehicle that suits them best. For this reason, Buddhas use the power of skillful means and thus make distinctions that attract different people to find the path to happiness.”

Sermon

Once upon a time, when I was in the Navy, my ship made a port call at Barcelona. It was 1975, and Generalissimo Francisco Franco had recently died after decades as Spain’s dictator. There was political unrest in the country, and there were reports of fighting in the Basque region. When my ship anchored out in the harbor that afternoon it was too late to start running boats so everyone could go ashore. The Captain assigned me to take a small Shore Patrol party and go check out the areas where the crew might get into trouble in the city when they were given liberty the next night. Two sailors and I donned white SP arm bands, and as the officer in charge, I was issued a pistol. This was the first time I had carried one other than on a firing range.

It was already dark when we entered the unfamiliar city, and we wandered around semi-lost for awhile. We had a good excuse for not asking directions, we didn’t speak Spanish. We were relieved when finally we came across a plaza full of people, and on the other side of it was a lighted U S O sign. We headed straight for it, but unfortunately after crossing the plaza we found the USO closed - its door locked. Turning around to retrace our steps we became aware of young people we hadn’t noticed before coming in gathering near us. They were waving anti-US signs and chanting. We felt trapped and confused. One thing was clear, they saw the US, and us as its representatives, as bad guys. I definitely didn’t want to challenge the crowd; I wished that the pistol on my belt would magically disappear. I couldn’t understand why the people didn’t like us. I wondered if they didn’t know that the United States stood for democracy – not the fascism Spain had suffered under Franco’s dictatorship?

Fortunately, there was no shooting in Spain that night. I made it out alive, but I have never forgotten that feeling - of being hated because I was an American. Now, our troops are occupying Iraq ostensibly to bring American style democracy and capitalism to the Middle East. Can you imagine what US soldiers must feel when Iraqis don’t show appreciation for their efforts and equate America with imperialism? I am ashamed when people around the world have such a low opinion of America. This is not the impression of America I want the world to have.

Yet, one again my sense of pride in America is taking a hit. US intelligence agencies say the invasion of Iraq has stimulated anti-US attitudes. While America uses its military might to “help” Iraq it shows little respect for human rights or the true desires of the people of the region. Our actions in Iraq do not represent the best of who we are as a country. The world is becoming more afraid of America. Many Americans feel outrage at this state of affairs. At an anti-war rally I attended last year in Utah, I saw thousands who were deeply cynical about our elected officials in Washington. Up until this election cycle there seemed to be no outlet for the frustration.
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It is disheartening to see cynicism about government, because deep down I believe Americans have a yearning for a government which will foster a world of kindness and generosity. This is not a new development; it has always been at the root of our American democracy. The great 19th century Unitarian minister and social reformer, Theodore Parker, believed America’s task was to organize human rights for the betterment of the world. He thought that the nation’s faults, the worst of which during his lifetime was slavery, could be corrected once we began “to realize our great national idea, and accomplish the great work of organizing into institutions the inalienable rights of man.” In Parker’s ideal democracy, “justice is organized in the laws; government becomes more and more of all, by all and for all” the people.” Abraham Lincoln used Parker’s concept in his Gettysburg Address to summarize why America fought that war – that is to extend democracy.

In thinking about the role our faith can play in civil society, Bill Sinkford said, “Unitarian Universalism has always had a spiritual center and a civic circumference.” Unitarian Universalism gives us spiritual resources for our participation in politics. Achieving peace, justice and well being requires a capacity to respond to nature and the human condition with awe and wonderment, but it also requires an involvement in changing public policies. It is particularly important to remain religiously grounded in this election year so that we can keep the focus on a liberating vision for our country and our world. Religion is not the enemy of politics; religion probes the enduring questions of human existence and meaning, and thus lends depth and serves as a corrective to politics. Personal spiritual growth and social change are two sides of one coin.
I chose the Burning House parable for today because the Lotus Sutra teaches a kind of “Engaged Buddhism” which has strong resonances with our Unitarian Universalist principles. The Lotus Sutra advocates engaging our modern world both compassionately and pragmatically. Its stories function to affirm the value and importance of the lives and practices of human beings as they confront the ultimate realities of this world. Stories in the Lotus Sutra are not meant to be understood as historical accounts, but as prototypes if you will, examples of how to make meaning from life’s quandaries. The Lotus Sutra doesn’t see salvation as a matter of freedom from suffering in this life or in an afterlife but rather as an ongoing process of overcoming suffering by helping others in this world.

In the Parable, when the father saw flames threatening his children, he could tell they didn’t know about the fire, an example of how we can become too focused on our immediate surroundings and miss what’s going on in the larger world. The parable describes Skillful Means as a way to practice compassion through wisdom, reasoning, and creativity. Before he acted, the father first did a thought experiment by which he determined that he could not carry all of the children out of the burning house through the narrow gate. Next he tried calling them to him without telling them about the fire because he was afraid they would panic. When this didn’t work, he promised them something they would want. The third idea worked because it was appropriate to the condition of the children, and it saved their lives.
The father did not force the children out of the burning house, he appealed to something already in them. The children preserved their lives by choosing their own happiness. The Lotus Sutra teaches that people can create practical, real-world solutions to the causes of suffering in life through skillful means. Skillful Means implies people who are free to make meaning from their own truths can effectively use reason and creativity to make life better.

Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor says, “As Buddhism encounters the contemporary world, it discovers a situation where creativity and imagination are central to individual and social freedom. The Buddhist vision seeks to cultivate practices that lead to liberating experiences of self and world. It cannot accept the notion that authentic freedom can be realized in a repressive and unjust society. The democratic imperative of the world demands an individuated community, where creative imagination and social engagement are valued. A Buddhist vision of culture must emphasize the freedom and responsibility to create a more awakened and compassionate society on this earth.” Skillful Means combines creative imagination and social engagement. Unitarian Universalism shares these values with Engaged Buddhism.

Now, it seems to me in recent decades Theodore Parker’s vision has become blurred. In our post 9/11 world, we feel the need to do something to stand up for our country, but it is hard to know how we average Americans can help. We need to put on our thinking caps like the father in the Skillful Means story and find ways to participate in and be proud of our civil society. We can’t all go after Al Qa-ida, but we can work to strengthen our democracy and improve our image in the world.
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, has articulated a contemporary version of Parker’s ideas. Lerner says, “I believe in the goodness of the American people and in our ability to build a framework of meaning and purpose that transcends the selfishness of our contemporary market-driven society. We can build a morally and ecologically healthy, just, and peace-oriented society. In such a society, behaviors would be judged not only for their abilities to maximize wealth and power, but more importantly by the extent to which they maximize human capacities to be loving, ethically, ecologically, and spiritually sensitive, and capable of overcoming narrow utilitarian attitudes towards others.” It is time for us to reclaim our forebear Theodore Parker’s idealistic vision – a government of, by, and for all the people.
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In this election year, there is heightened interest in politics. How can we, as religious liberals, bring our values into the political arena? In Ohio, where national elections hinge on our votes, we need to use “Skillful Means” in order to affect progress on social justice issues.

I very definitely encourage the people of Northern Hills Fellowship to take action on social issues. As we do so, we must be prudent and use appropriate means for political involvement. In order to allay concerns about separation of church and state, the Unitarian Universalist Association has published The Real Rules, a summary of the laws governing churches in regard to politics. The purpose of The Real Rules is not to make churches afraid of social action. Quite the contrary. I have put a one page summary of The Real Rules inside your Order of Service and a longer version on the bulletin board, and you can find it on the UUA website.

Of course, churches are prohibited from engaging in partisan politics. As a church we can’t endorse or oppose candidates for public office, advise anyone to vote for or against specific candidates or political parties, or make financial contributions. However, the church as a whole, its committees, and its members are encouraged to do all of the following: Publicly comment and educate the general public and elected officials on moral and political issues. Advocate for or against specific public policies by speaking out on decisions by government agencies, executives, or courts. Call, write, and meet with elected officials to support or oppose specific pieces of legislation. It is especially important to be active during elections. We can: Conduct non-partisan voter registration drives, register and encourage people to vote, hold candidate forums, and make efforts to educate candidates on the issues important to us and encourage them to adopt a sympathetic position.

A great example of effective political involvement is our participation in the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati, called MARCC for short. I attended MARCC’s Annual Meeting this week along with Northern Hills folks Corky Bonekamp, Leslie Edwards, MJ Pierson and Sean McBride. You’ll be proud MJ was elected as the representative for all the UU churches in Cincinnati. In MARCC, we work together with other churches on issues of concern to all of us - such as race relations, public schools and poverty. Working in coalition is a good way to increase the power of our church to get politicians to serve our interests. MARCC has long established relationships of trust with our political representatives. When MARCC approaches them on an issue, they listen. Through MARCC we can leverage our liberal religious values and act with purpose and power. I thank everyone who has participated in any of MARCC’s projects over the years and encourage all of us to stay involved with MARCC.

Last but not least, I encourage you to vote in Tuesday’s primary election, and I urge you to look for candidates who have compassion and who project a vision of universal human rights for the entire world. Buddhists describe great teachers as ‘fingers pointing to the moon.’ The ‘moon’ they speak of is the view of life lived more whole, more connected, more aware and more responsibly. Vote for the candidates whose fingers point toward the moon; they will be the ones who let their lives be directed by that deeper awareness, broader sense of connection and higher calling. Get out and work for your candidates; invest in them, but don’t assume any one politician will solve all our problems. It’s a mistake to turn politicians into saviors or demons. The object is to see the moon, not to worship the finger. Instead, keep them human and try to form relationships with them, no matter who wins.

May we Unitarian Universalists make the voice of liberal religion heard as we work toward a world wide Beloved Community of Love and Justice. Practice your faith in every aspect of life, work, commerce and government. I leave you with my adaptation of Theodore Parker’s doctrine: “Let us have faith in the exuberant creativity of nature, the great life-force of the universe that lives in all things, and faith in humanity to use intelligence and altruism as we act as nature’s co-creators to bring about a wholesome future for our children. Let us build our societies on the golden platform of mutual respect, tolerance, and love, and our nations on unchanging justice and respect for universal human rights. Then our descendents will say of us they were true to their own consciousness, and the entire world is better because they were alive.”

Parker, Theodore. Collected Works, Vol. IV, Discourses of Politics – “The Political Destination of America, and the Signs of the Times”, ed. Frances Power Cobbe, Trubner & Co. (London: 1863) 77-110.
Sinkford, William G. The Soul of Our Democracy: A Pastoral Letter from the Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA (Boston: Sept. 2003).
Batchelor, Stephen. Buddhism Without Beliefs, Riverhead Books (New York: 1997) 109.