ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 23, 2016
“To Whom Does Kisā Gotamī
Speak?” Grief, Impermanence, and Upāya
Richard K. Payne
Institute of Buddhist Studies, at the Graduate Theological Union
This article develops a perspective on the nature of
Buddhist pastoral care by considering the needs of the bereaved.
Differentiating the interpretive frameworks of different audiences and
understanding different contexts of interpersonal relations are necessary
for effective pastoral care. A distinction between the goal of realizing
impermanence and the goal of resolving mourning is heuristically useful in
theorizing Buddhist pastoral care. The discussion also seeks to underscore
the value of upāya as a positive moral injunction on teachers, indicating
the need to properly match their audience and to employ the textual
tradition responsibly.
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