Skillful means

(skt.: upaya; tib.: thabs) Skillful means are efficacious skills or expedient methods, which enable a Buddha or Bodhisattva to help sentient beings in the best possible way (according to the capacities, circumstances and the needs of each sentient being). The path of Skillful Means or Method, parallel with the path of Wisdom, paves the Path of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattvabumi-Shastra specifies that there are two sets of skillful means. With the first set Bodhisattvas accomplish the qualities of Buddhahood. Thanks to the second group, Bodhisattvas bring beings to maturation. Chandrakirti said in the Madhyamakavatara: Conventional reality therefore becomes their means and by this means, the ultimate is reached.