48 / 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

37 Quaint gate.jpg
一百八法明門
IPPYAKUHACHI-HOMYOMON
One Hundred and Eight Gates of Dharma-Illumination

[48] Hidden expedient means are a gate of Dharma-illumination; for they are sensitive to many kinds of suffering.

In Buddhism, specifically the Lotus Sutra, "secret and wonderful expedient means" refers to the Buddha’s skillful, compassionate methods used to guide people to enlightenment. It signifies that for 40+ years, the Buddha concealed the ultimate truth—that all people possess inherent Buddha nature—revealing it only in the Lotus Sutra. Expedient means are provisional, skillful, and adaptable teachings tailored to a person's capacity, whereas the "hidden/secret" aspect is the ultimate truth of universal Buddhahood. These methods are "secret" because they are difficult for ordinary, unenlightened people to immediately grasp, but they are "wonderful" because they possess the power to lead everyone to the one, true, and highest path of Buddha wisdom.

What are ways in which you may have used expedient means to explain Buddhism to someone who is resistant to thinking outside the box? How did you feel using those skills?


合掌,生開
gassho, Shokai
stlah
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"

[Ryūdō-Liúdào]

For me, it's all about connection and communication, not explanation. When someone is resistant to Buddhism, or any learning, really, I don’t try to sell the teaching. I listen first, then meet them where they already are. Sometimes that means talking about stress instead of suffering, attention instead of mindfulness, balance instead of enlightenment. Other times it means using humor, shared frustration, or very ordinary language. Let's be honest, it USUALLY means humor and a cheeky wink when it's coming from me!

As a teacher of both philosophy and ESL, I’ve noticed that when people feel understood rather than instructed, their resistance softens on its own. The teaching can remain mostly hidden, embedded in the conversation, doing its work quietly. I have to let go of wanting to be right, or wanting someone to “get it,” and trust that what’s offered will land where it needs to. When I focus on working with whatever state another’s garden is in, from clearing brush to tilling soil to planting seeds, the point isn’t how much gets done that day. It’s whether they enjoyed tending it. If they did, they’ll keep returning to it on their own.

Gasshō,
流道-Ryūdō-Liúdào
Satlah

[Tenryu]

It often comes down to timing and tone. When someone closes off at the sound of Buddhist language, I don’t try to open that door. I stay with what is already familiar to them and speak from shared experience, or I stay silent. Acting this way feels unremarkable. There’s no sense of having applied a skill. Attention shifts to what the moment can bear, and the response adjusts on its own. If anything happens, it happens quietly.

Gasshō,
Tenryū
sat+lah

[dorgan]

Suffering is not uniform. What alleviates one person's anguish may intensify another's. A teaching that liberates in one circumstance might bind in another. The hiddenness of expedient means lies in their responsiveness—they don't operate according to a predetermined formula but rather arise appropriately to the situation's requirements. The gate suggests that genuine skillfulness works beneath the level of standardized application. It's the difference between applying a technique you've learned and meeting suffering where it actually arises, which may require means so particular, so fitted to circumstance, that they remain "hidden" even as they function.

I have used this forum consistently to express my innermost reflections on each gate. The day lies ahead, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, for me to share Soto Zen Buddhism more widely, expanding our sangha.

The koans are skillful in that each can be directed at the right time to the right practitioner to help them break through what holds back their realization. I am not a great master, and can only hope that one day I will have the skill to use koans in this way to benefit all beings. In the meantime, I sit in zazen, live mindfully, and love universally.

gassho, david
stlah

[Tairin]

Thank you Shokai.

This one is an easy answer. I have not consciously used expedient means to explain Buddhism to someone who is hesitant. I don’t believe that is my place. As I’ve said in other Gate responses, I prefer to just live my life and hopefully provide a good example. If someone was to ask then sure I’d explain that my life has this Practice as its centre.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[Seikan]

To be honest, I rarely discuss Buddhism with folks outside of the greater Buddhist community unless I am asked directly to speak to certain points, beliefs, etc. I'm not much into proselytizing.

On the other hand, I do try to be as "skillful" as possible in my general interactions/conversations with others so that I might (to whatever degree I can) best embody the Buddhadharma at those times. If that approach leads to others inquiring about my practice, then I will gladly share.

Gassho,
Seikan
stlah

[Shokai]

Tenryu said:

I stay with what is already familiar to them and speak from shared experience,

This is basically expedient means, meeting them where they are.

gassho, Shokai

[Choujou]

I have actually used metaphors that spoke to that person to try and explain Buddha nature to people. For an hunter friend I used the metaphor of a bullseye target, the center being Buddha nature and the arrow being attention… for a computer/tech oriented friend I used the computer itself (it shows images, makes sounds, we feel the emotions as media is shown to us… but you don’t use a computer and call yourself the computer right?) As Shokai said above, I try to explain things in terms familiar to their worldview and preferences hoping to “meet them where they are”. I will continue however to hone my expedient means skills…

Gassho,
Choujou

sat/lah today

[Chikyou]

This is something that I appreciate deeply but honestly feel I don’t have a lot of practice with. For one thing, I don’t usually talk about Buddhism outside of the Sangha (except in a “comparative religion” sort of way because the subject interests me and I’m not trying to convert anyone at all). For another thing, I haven’t been practicing very long, so the opportunities haven’t really come up (nor do I feel knowledgeable enough to handle those conversations skillfully if they do.)

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō