Abstract
An exploration of the relatively rare references to skill in means in early Buddhist texts points to a close relationship to the cultivation of mindfulness, under the overarching aim of establishing the mind in wholesome conditions and preventing the arising of what is unwholesome. At the same time, however, a particular narrative related to the Buddha’s half-brother Nanda and his struggle with sensual desire testifies to incipient tendencies for the evolution of a different conception of skill in means; in fact, to some extent this episode could even be considered an instance of proto-tantra.