ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and categorizes the methods of inclusivism utilized by Buddhists as well as the conceptual resources employed to support those moves. It discusses the ways that Buddhists have pulled particular stories from authoritative texts and interpreted them with an eye to seeing Siddhartha Gautama and Asoka as role models for inclusivism. The chapter also discusses a similar use by inclusivists of Pali texts containing inclusivistic expressions toward Vedic religion. It describes Mahāyāna treatment of the Hīnayāna, especially as reflected in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra and the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. The notion of skillful means is one of several interrelated tools of Mahāyāna Buddhism widely used to formulate inclusivistic stances. Inclusivism by way of reinterpretation of something foreign is also common within ranking inclusivistic strategies. David Chappell, in his classification system in the article "Buddhist Responses to Religious Pluralism", mentions this appeal to emptiness as one move falling under the slightly broader category of stressing the relativity of all traditions.
