#john schroeder

[S]uffering is a deeply personal experience that is irreducible to an abstract category or general rule. No two people suffer in the same way, and when the Buddha changes his ‘view’ he is simply responding to the unique karmic formations of human beings. […] Thus, the issue in the Buddha’s supposed ‘inconsistencies’ is not about truth in the abstract but about how to respond to the concrete manifestations of dukkha. From the perspective of ‘skillful means,’ his ability to shift viewpoints shows that wisdom (prajna) is not bound by any single doctrine, practice, or metaphysical view, and exhibits the transformative intimacy of a Bodhisattva’s love.