What does it mean to be skillful?

[Lester]

The dhamma puts an emphasis on being skillful. But what is it exactly?

Being honest is good as is pointed out in the 5 precepts. But how about being a honest person without skillfulness?

As evident in the first story of the Jataka, the Buddha was a clever merchant in his previous life. Seeing through the deception of a goblin king. He could not see a dark cloud in the distant sky, nor hear thunder, nor see lightening strikes.

A skillful mind is the mind of a thief. But not skillful in the sense of formulating lies, rather he is skillful in detecting lies. A honest heart with a mind of a thief. This is the skillful mind.

But what about a skillful mind with a deceptive heart? The cowardly heart is dishonest. He is a narcissist.

The heart of a warrior is honest, but the heart of a thief is deceptive and opportunistic.

But what about the mind of a warrior? The mind of a warrior is dumb, for there is a thin line between the brave and the asinine. The honest mind is not skillful, for it is easy prey for deceptions.

But what if someone is dumb with a dishonest heart? For sure he is to fall into hell. For an unskilful mind is a guarantee for wrong view and delusion.

But skillfulness is not the sole domain of the mind. Some are skillful in using the sword. Some are skillful to forge a sword. Some are skillful with words. Some are skillful with commerce. Some are skillful hunters with the bow. Some are skillful with computers and cars. Some are skillful to deal with people.

[SarathW]

Could some one give the Pali word for "skilful" please?

[mjaviem]

Could some one give the Pali word for "skilful" please?

Kusala, I would say

[maniture_85]

Maybe it is a matter of what is meant as skillful.
Skillful can be tought as something which brings good results for one and for others, where good results have to be intended in a dhammic way.
So, i think, whatever action brings good results, whatever quality brings good results, can be seen as skillful.
So being skillful is doing what brings good results ( doing good karma as much as one can ), which is the way for Enlightenment.

A liar may detect other lies because he has certain qualities; then some (skillful) qualities give him this skill. Detecting the lie, he is not being unskillful in a dhammic way. A liar may lie because of unskillful qualities, for example pushed by greed. Telling a lie, he is being unskillful in a dhammic way.

[Dhammapardon]

Pretty sure defining specifics of skillful and unskillful depend upon some specific skill.
Stating "I'm skillful" is similar to stating "I'm knowledgeable". The question "of what?" comes up.

[maniture_85]

As far as i can remember on my (limited) sutta readings, i can recall many times when the expression "skillful qualities" and "unskillful qualities" has been used in different contexts.

The word skillful may eventually disappear

"In the future, as morality continues to degenerate, human life will continue to shorten to the point were the normal life span is 10 years, with people reaching sexual maturity at five. "Among those human beings, the ten courses of action (see AN 10.176) will have entirely disappeared... The word 'skillful' will not exist, so from where will there be anyone who does what is skillful?"

from https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

[SarathW]

Could some one give the Pali word for "skilful" please?

Kusala, I would say

Thanks.
Based on that definition I would say that skillful means any action based on words, deeds, and mental which are not leading to a woeful destination.

By kusala is meant (moral) "good " in the sense of destroying or disturbing contemptible states; or in the sense of wholesomeness, faultlessness, and accomplishment by skill...

The Atthasalini, in the same section (63), defines kusala as follows :

its characteristic is that it has faultless. happy results,
its function is the destruction of immoralities,
its manifestation is purity.
its proximate cause is wise attention
The Atthasalini gives a second method of defining kusala:

its characteristic is faultlessness by being opposed to fault,
its function is purity.
its manifestation is desirable results,
its proximate cause is wise attention.

Kuśala (कुशल) or Daśakuśala refers to the “ten unwholesome things” as defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 56):

prāṇātipāta (killing living creatures),
adattādāna (taking what has not been given),
kāmamithyācāra (sexual misconduct),
mṛṣāvāda (false speech),
paiśunya (malicious speech),
pāruṣya (rough speech),
sambhinnapralāpa (frivolous talk),
abhidhyā (avarice),
vyāpāda (ill-will),
mithyādṛṣṭi (wrong view).

https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kushala

[frank k]

Without pointing to a specific pāḷi word, you can't answer that question.
Translators most often are referring to 'kusala' (skillful, or wholesome is the usual translation).
The kind of general skillfulness, like a skillful liar or skillful thief, skillful craftsman, could be the pāḷi word 'nipako'

nipaka 1
adj. intelligent; wise; discerning; astute [nipa + ka] ✓
grammarexamplesdeclensionword familycompound familyfrequencyfeedback
nipaka 2
masc. chief; master ✗

This is one of the big objections I have for people overtranslating 'dhamma' instead of leaving 'dhamma' untranslated.
This happens most often with Thanissaro's and Sujato's "skillful qualites" (instead of "skillful Dharmas")
which leads to the very common misunderstanding causing you consternation.

If you had been reading my translations instead, seeing "skillful and unskillful Dharmas" all over the place, that should be clear then that a skillful thief skillful at killing and lying and stealing is not in accordance with Dharma, therefore not a skillful dharma.

The dhamma puts an emphasis on being skillful. But what is it exactly?

Being honest is good as is pointed out in the 5 precepts. But how about being a honest person without skillfulness?

As evident in the first story of the Jataka, the Buddha was a clever merchant in his previous life. Seeing through the deception of a goblin king. He could not see a dark cloud in the distant sky, nor hear thunder, nor see lightening strikes.

A skillful mind is the mind of a thief. But not skillful in the sense of formulating lies, rather he is skillful in detecting lies. A honest heart with a mind of a thief. This is the skillful mind.

But what about a skillful mind with a deceptive heart? The cowardly heart is dishonest. He is a narcissist.

The heart of a warrior is honest, but the heart of a thief is deceptive and opportunistic.

But what about the mind of a warrior? The mind of a warrior is dumb, for there is a thin line between the brave and the asinine. The honest mind is not skillful, for it is easy prey for deceptions.

But what if someone is dumb with a dishonest heart? For sure he is to fall into hell. For an unskilful mind is a guarantee for wrong view and delusion.

But skillfulness is not the sole domain of the mind. Some are skillful in using the sword. Some are skillful to forge a sword. Some are skillful with words. Some are skillful with commerce. Some are skillful hunters with the bow. Some are skillful with computers and cars. Some are skillful to deal with people.

[mjaviem]

...
This happens most often with Thanissaro's and Sujato's "skillful qualites" (instead of "skillful Dharmas")
which leads to the very common misunderstanding causing you consternation.
...

Yes, and some go even further , "skilfull mental qualities". I like better "beneficial stuff" (or "beneficial matters"). It's better related with the pali word dhamma I think. And makes more sense with the definition of kusala dhammas in suttas.