One of the unique characteristics of Buddhism is its capacity to flexibly adjust to the needs of different people. This paper discusses how Buddhist texts, teaching methods, and practices frequently advocate a diversity of approaches in providing individuals with opportunities to develop faith in the Dharma and cultivate according to one’s affinities and inclinations. It is the contention of this paper that the reason for this inclination in Buddhism is the fundamentally humanistic outlook of the religion. Just as in the diagnosis of illnesses, where there is not one medicine but medicine appropriate to the ailment, likewise so in Buddhism. The various states of suffering foundational to the human condition must be treated only with the appropriate Dharma teaching and practice. These humanistic qualities of Buddhism are expressed in the following three dichotomous principles: “the good and the most good,” “the expedient and the transcendental,” and “the relative and the absolute.” In spite of flexibility in Buddhist outreach, contradiction and conflict are not the result, but rather harmony and unity where the “one sound” of the Dharma is a “perfect sound.”
