The author finds significant commonality between a central concept of Buddhist practice and one that characterizes modern psychoanalytic theory and technique. Upaya, or “skillful means,” forms the basis for many of that spiritual tradition's assumptions about how to approach individual and universal suffering. Put simply, an Upaya is any intervention that aims to achieve a practical, worldly effect and is guided not by adherence to a specific praxis but instead is oriented toward the particular circumstances of the subject upon whom it is being applied. The modern psychoanalytic technique of joining the patient's resistance is harmonious with Upaya in that treatment is adapted to suit the psychic reality of the patient, and prioritizes emotional experience and self-generated interpretation rather than analyst interpretation or intellectual insight.