The bodhisattvayana is more utilitarian than that. The goal is to maximize enlightenment; if avoiding final nirvana for yourself allows you to enlighten two others who wouldn’t have made it, you should avoid final nirvana.
A better example of lionized hypocrisy would be the idea of ‘skillful means’ (upaya) in Buddhism. Might be better translated ‘cheating as technique’, the idea that highly enlightened beings can and should violate ordinary moral norms for the greater good. Though that’s less about living with moral inconsistency and more about living with taboo tradeoffs between causes, I think.
The bodhisattvayana is more utilitarian than that. The goal is to maximize enlightenment; if avoiding final nirvana for yourself allows you to enlighten two others who wouldn’t have made it, you should avoid final nirvana.
A better example of lionized hypocrisy would be the idea of ‘skillful means’ (upaya) in Buddhism. Might be better translated ‘cheating as technique’, the idea that highly enlightened beings can and should violate ordinary moral norms for the greater good. Though that’s less about living with moral inconsistency and more about living with taboo tradeoffs between causes, I think.