- Buddha-Nature
- Compassion
- Defining Bodhicitta
- Emptiness
- Equalizing & Exchanging Self and Others
- History of Bodhicitta Teachings
- How to Develop Bodhicitta
- Interdependent Origination
- Lineage of the Profound View
- Lineage of the Vast Conduct
- Mahāyāna
- Mind Training
- Non-Self
- Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
- The Bodhisattva Ideal
- The Bodhisattva Path
- The Bodhisattva Vow
- The Bodhisattva's Goal
- The Four Immeasurables
- The Six Perfections
- The Three Higher Trainings
- The Two Accumulations
- The Two Truths
- Tonglen: The Practice of Taking and Giving
- Types of Bodhicitta
The six perfections, or pāramitā—generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom—are the primary constituents that make up the path in the Mahāyāna tradition based on the sūtras. They represent the different facets of the bodhisattva conduct, as specific areas of attention that are initially practiced in succession, yet are structured in order to produce a cumulative effect. Once the bodhisattva has reached the point of proficiency in all of the perfections they are then meant to function collectively and, together, they become the vehicle by which a bodhisattva is conveyed toward the complete awakening of buddhahood.
The Six Perfections of the Bodhisattva Path
Once a practitioner gives rise to the wish to walk the bodhisattva path to the fully enlightened state, he or she then follows a set of practical methods to help them make that wish a reality.
The range of practices that the bodhisattvas engage in is vast, but they can be condensed down into what is known as the six perfections.
The Sanskrit word pāramitā, translated as "perfection" or "transcendence," means "to have gone across to the other side," or "to have reached the other shore." In relation to the perfections, the Buddha uses an analogy of traveling on a journey, a journey in which we have to cross a river or an ocean before reaching our final destination. To have fully accomplished the perfections means that we have crossed over the ocean of samsara—traveling from our unenlightened state in cyclic existence, transcending the suffering of birth and death, and reaching the far shore of nirvana and full buddhahood. The six perfections—generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom—are a comprehensive set of practices that help the aspiring bodhisattva to start taking real steps on that long journey.
The first five perfections are part of the method side of the path and lead to the accumulation of merit. The sixth perfection, wisdom (prajñā), is connected with the wisdom side of the practice and leads to the accumulation of wisdom. This distinction is important because in order to attain the state of a fully awakened buddha, we must accumulate virtuous merit and also develop wisdom. Either one of these on their own cannot carry us all the way to enlightenment.
The six perfections are intimately connected with each other. They are not practices isolated from one another but are like the strands of a cord entwined together, mutually influencing and enhancing each other. There is also, however, a logical structure to the order in which they are presented, starting with the first of the perfections, generosity.
Generosity
By being generous with our time, resources, and knowledge, we are able to directly benefit others and also accumulate positive merit for ourselves to help us walk the path. Cultivating generosity helps us become unattached to resources, and this frees us up to adopt pure discipline.
Discipline
Without discipline, it is very difficult to control our minds. If we engage in unconstructive patterns of acting, speaking, and thinking, then it is very easy for our minds to come under the sway of negative mental states. Once we have discipline, the next perfection of patience helps us protect our practice.
Patience
Anger is one of the main obstacles that can cause the mind of bodhicitta to deteriorate. If we are angry at other beings, it is impossible to wish to attain enlightenment for their sake. With patience, we will be less dispirited with hardships and will strive more diligently on the path.
Diligence
The bodhisattva path is long, and we must be able to sustain our efforts. Diligence is not just working hard at something, because we see that many people work hard at actions that can directly cause harm to themselves and others. Diligence is taking delight in engaging in virtue and is the direct antidote to laziness. With this joyous effort it will be much easier for concentration to arise.
Meditation
Without single-pointed concentration, we become overwhelmed by distraction, and it is very hard to dedicate ourselves fully to the practices. In particular, it is very difficult to concentrate our minds on the topic of contemplation, and the strength of our meditation will be weak. To prevent this from happening, bodhisattvas cultivate the practice of concentration, working to immerse their minds in focused meditative states that can maintain attention on their chosen object for extended periods of time.
Wisdom
Once the mind has achieved some level of stability, we then use that power to look into whether things truly exist the way they appear. Wisdom looks beyond superficial appearances into the way that things actually exist. It helps us understand that the way we ordinarily perceive things is mistaken and not in accord with the reality of their nature.
Scriptural Sources of the Six Perfections
The scriptural sources for the arrangement of the practices referred to as the six perfections goes back to the Mahāyāna sūtras themselves. For instance, in the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā), we find the following statement:
"Oh Bhagavān, what is the path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas? What is not the path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas?" The Bhagavān replied, "In terms of attaining complete omniscience, the path of the hearer (śrāvaka) is not the path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. The path of the solitary realizers (pratyekabuddha) is not the path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. The six perfections, preceded by the perfection of wisdom, that are for the attaining of omniscience—the state that knows in all aspects–these are the paths of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas.[1]
What Does It Mean to Be a Perfection?
To illustrate how those seeking complete enlightenment must journey using the bodhisattva's practices as their vessel, the Buddha employs the analogy of a traveler who must cross a river to reach their ultimate destination. This journey will not only free the person from the cycle of birth and death in samsara but will also help them to transcend even nirvana—the state of solitary peace. To cross this river to the other shore, they must use "the raft" of the practices, and in particular practices such as the six perfections, to ferry them across. This is the reason the perfections are said to be transcendent.
In relation to this, Geshe Lobsang Dayang's Annotated Commentary on the General Meaning of the Middle Way (དབུ་མའི་སྤྱི་དོན་མཆན་འགྲེལ་ཟབ་དོན་རབ་གསལ་སྒྲོན་མེ།) explores the deeper etymology of the Sanskrit term pāramitā:
Pāra- means the far side. And -itā means to have arrived or gone to. Through this [explanation], it is said to be a pāramitā because it has reached beyond samsara and nirvana.[2]
Thus, the literal meaning of being a pāramitā is to have gone beyond, to have crossed over samsara, and to have reached the far shore of nirvana or the fully enlightened state.
What Are the Elements That Constitute the Way of the Bodhisattvas?
Elaborating on this, the Buddha explained in The Sūtra of the Question of Subāhu (Subāhuparipṛcchāsūtra) exactly what practices are required to lead us on the complete path to enlightenment:
The Blessed One replied to the bodhisattva great being Subāhu as follows: "Subāhu, if bodhisattva great beings are to awaken swiftly and perfectly, they must constantly and relentlessly complete the six perfections. What are these six? They are the perfection of generosity, the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of patience, the perfection of diligence, [F.154.b] the perfection of concentration, and the perfection of insight. Subāhu, bodhisattva great beings must constantly and relentlessly complete these six perfections.[3]
As we find throughout the Mahāyāna sūtras, the essential practices of the bodhisattvas can be condensed into the practices of the six perfections: the perfections of generosity (dāna), discipline (śīla), patience (kṣānti), diligence (vīrya), meditation (dhyāna), and wisdom (prajñā).
The Defining Characteristics of Each Perfection
In his text Entering the Middle Way, Candrakīrti describes the defining characteristics of the each of these perfections:
Giving is what defines the perfection of generosity, discipline is the absence of torment, forbearance is the absence of anger, diligence is the absence of unwholesome action. (6.205)
Meditative absorption is characterized by focus, wisdom by the absence of attachment. These then are the defining characteristics of the six perfections. (6.206)[4]
Generosity is about perfecting giving, including giving away our material resources, all the virtue we have created, and, at the higher levels of practice, even our own physical body. The results of generosity are resources, resources that further aid us in following the path.
Discipline is to perfect our morality and is like a summer moon that helps to cool off the torment of the heat of the mental afflictions. Freeing us from these disruptive states of mind brings us mental peace and happiness.
Patience is to relinquish all forms of hostility. It is to perfect and maintain the mind’s composure and is the absence of anger. Patience results in us having a pleasing appearance.
Diligence is the perfecting of joy in virtue and is characterized by an absence of unwholesome actions and perfect engagement in virtue.
Meditation is the perfection of the single-pointed focus of the mind on virtuous objects, with the aim of gathering all virtuous factors. This concentration brings us deep mental tranquility.
Wisdom is perfecting the antidote that destroys the ignorance that is mistaken with regard to the way things actually exist. This helps lead to the absence of all the mental afflictions, including attachment and anger.
Nāgārjuna states the qualities of each of the six perfections clearly in his Precious Garland (Ratnāvalī):
Here, to present in brief the qualities of the bodhisattva, they are: generosity, morality, forbearance, diligence, meditative absorption, wisdom, compassion, and so on.
Generosity is the utter giving up of self-interest; morality refers to working for others’ welfare; forbearance is to relinquish hostility; increasing positive deeds is diligence; meditative absorption is one-pointedness with no afflictions; wisdom is to establish the meaning of truth; compassion is an intelligence that cares for all beings equally as if they're all same.
Generosity brings resources, morality happiness, forbearance luster, diligence majesty, meditative absorption brings tranquility, and wisdom release, and all aims are realized with a compassionate heart.[5]
The Order of the Six Perfections
The order of the perfections is also said to proceed from inferior to superior perfections and from coarser to more subtle perfections. This is said to be true because each preceding perfection is easier than the subsequent one to practice, so it is coarser than the subsequent one. Each subsequent perfection is more difficult than the preceding one to engage with and perform, so it is more subtle than the preceding one.
In his Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra), Maitreya clarifies this point, saying:
Because the next one arises in dependence on the preceding one, And each is superior to the former one, And because each is more subtle than the former one, They are taught one after the other. (17.14)[6]
The Relationship of the Six Perfections to the Ten Bodhisattva Grounds
The six perfections are themselves a condensed version of the ten perfections. The ten perfections correspond to the main practices of each of the ten grounds of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna daśa bhūmi).
The first six perfections are connected to the first six grounds (bhūmi) of the bodhisattva path to enlightenment, from the first ground of Perfect Joy to the sixth ground, The Manifest.
From the seventh ground, Gone Far Beyond, until the tenth ground, Cloud of Dharma, the last four perfections associated with them are:
- skillful means (upāya, ཐབས་ལམ་མཁས་པ་)
- strength (bala, སྟོབས་)
- aspirational prayers (praṇidhāna, སྨོན་ལམ་')
- exalted wisdom (jñāna, ཡེ་ཤེས་)
The Relationship of the Six Perfections to the Three Higher Trainings
The complete teachings of the buddhas are said to condense down into three basic categories of training—the higher training in ethical discipline, the higher training in concentration, and the higher training in wisdom. If the practices of the bodhisattvas can all be accounted for within the context of these three higher trainings, then we may wonder what the purpose would be of dividing them further into the six perfections? Tsongkhapa addresses this issue in his masterwork of the Lamrim tradition, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (ལམ་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ་). Here, he writes:
Although it is true that the entire bodhisattva path is also subsumed under other condensations such as the two collections, the three trainings [ethical discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom], and so forth, these are not able to produce the understanding that the six perfections do, so the six perfections are the best inclusive set.[7]
Although there are many ways to condense down the entire range of practices of the bodhisattva path, the division into the six perfections provides us with the deepest and most detailed understanding.
How Do the Three Higher Trainings Subsume the Six Perfections?
The practices of the three higher trainings contain the six perfections, but we may wonder how this is the case. To answer that question, Maitreya explains in The Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra)—one of the five treatises of Maitreya (བྱམས་ཆོས་སྡེ་ལྔ་)—how the six perfections are subsumed into the three higher trainings.
These six transcendent perfections The Buddha has clearly explained in terms of the three trainings: Three perfections in the first, two in the last two, And one included in all three. (17.7)[8]
The first three of the perfections—generosity, ethical discipline, and patience—are included within the higher training of discipline. Meditation is connected with the higher training in concentration (samādhi), and wisdom is associated with the higher training in prajñā. The line "And one included in all three" refers to diligence, which is required in the practice of all three of the higher trainings.
Explaining this verse of the The Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras in his A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle (ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་མདོ་སྡེའི་རྒྱན་གྱི་དགོངས་དོན་རྣམ་པར་བཤད་པ་ཐེག་མཆོག་བདུད་རྩིའི་དགའ་སྟོན་), the early twentieth-century Tibetan master Jamgön Mipham writes:
These six paths the Buddha clearly explained in terms of the three trainings immediately after explaining the six transcendent perfections, as follows. First, generosity, discipline, and patience constitute the superior training in discipline. The path of generosity without attachment is the cause of discipline. The essence of superior discipline is the path of restraint, discipline itself. And its ally is patience, the path of never abandoning sentient beings. If one has these three, one can preserve discipline correctly. [9]
In terms of generosity, if that generosity is free from attachment to those we hold dear and free from aversion to our enemies, then we will no longer be biased toward certain beings that we favor in being generous. From that unbiased foundation, true ethical conduct will flow out.
The actual restraint from actions that have negative consequences for ourselves and others, and engagement in actions that are positive for ourselves and others, is the actual discipline, the practice of morality itself. And patience is also related to ethical discipline. Not only does it safeguard our anger by encouraging restraint from our anger but it also helps prevent the bodhisattva from abandoning any being. Lama Tsongkhapa also expresses these points very clearly in his Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment:
The nature of the training in ethical discipline [the first of the three trainings] is the practice of ethical discipline. The precondition of the training in ethical discipline is generosity, because once you have generosity that is indifferent to resources, you can properly adopt an ethical discipline. The aid to the training in ethical discipline is patience, because the patience of not retaliating when scolded, etc.safeguards your properly adopted ethical discipline. [10]
The place of the perfections of meditative absorption and wisdom can be easily understood in relation to the three higher trainings. However, that still leaves out the practice of diligence. Here, Mipham Rinpoche gives an explanation as to why diligence is required for all three higher trainings:
One transcendent perfection, diligence, belongs to all three trainings: since the other five transcendent perfections have to be practiced with the diligence of devoted and constant application, diligence in those transcendent perfections is included in all three trainings. [11]
Whichever of the practices of the bodhisattva path we follow, whether it be explained in the context of the three higher trainings or the six perfections, constant diligence in practice is required. Diligence—the practice of taking joy in virtue—must be constantly applied and maintained in order to sustain us on our long journey to enlightenment.
Mundane and Supramundane Perfections
In each of the chapters of Candrakīrti's text Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra), the divisions of the perfections are covered. Here the perfections are divided into mundane/worldly or supramundane/transcendant perfections.
In the first chapter, in relation to the perfection of generosity, Candrakīrti states:
Generosity devoid of the gift, receiver, and giver is called a supramundane perfection, but when attachment for these three arises, it is then said to be a mundane perfection. (1.16)[12]
Here, Candrakīrti does not literally mean that there is no gift, giver, or receiver of the gift. He means that when there is no clinging to these three spheres to be existent from their own side, then the perfection can be called transcendent. And when he cites attachment arising as the criteria that makes a perfection worldly, what he is specifically referring to here is the clinging to things to inherently exist, not just ordinary forms of attachment.
In his Illuminating the Intent ( དབུ་མ་དགོངས་པ་རབ་གསལ་), in commentary to this verse of the root text, Tsongkhapa further clarifies the criteria by which a perfection is considered either worldly or transcendent:
Such generosity, the intention to give, when sustained by uncontaminated wisdom devoid of the perception of truly existent gift, receiver, and giver, is called by the great mother Perfection of Wisdom sutras a "supramundane perfection."[13]
We may wonder at what stage along the path the perfections can be considered supramundane? Tsongkhapa goes on to explain at which stage of the path we begin to practice the transcendent perfections:
Since the meditative equipoise of an ārya that does not objectify is supramundane, generosity sustained by this is characterized as supramundane perfection. In contrast, generosity that is not sustained by such nonobjectification is a mundane perfection. The clear distinction between these two cannot be ascertained directly by those who have not attained the ground of the ultimate awakening mind.
The term beyond (pāra in Sanskrit) refers to the other shore or the other side of the ocean of cyclic existence, thus it refers here to buddhahood, the total elimination of two obscurations.[14]
Thus, a supramundane perfection can only exist in the continuum of a bodhisattva on the path of seeing (མཐོང་ལམ་) and above. These ārya bodhisattvas have experienced the wisdom of directly and nondualistically realizing the ultimate nature of all phenomena in the meditative equipoise on emptiness. In the state of post-meditation following this realization, their practices of the perfections are held within the influence of that previous direct realization. This is the point at which the perfections become supramundane.
Notes
- ↑ Gen Thubten Palzang 267 (NEEDS SOURCE Simon’s translation)
- ↑ (NEEDS CITATION _ SIMON)
- ↑ Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Sūtra of the Question of Subāhu (Subāhuparipṛcchāsūtra, Lag bzangs kyis zhus pa'i mdo, Toh 70), Online publication (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024), https://84000.co/translation/toh70#UT22084-043-007-17.
- ↑ Thupten Jinpa, trans., Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way, by Tsongkhapa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 502.
- ↑ See Jinpa, Illuminating the Intent, 60.
- ↑ Stephen Gethin (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle: An Explanation of the Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras; Maitreya's Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra with a Commentary by Jamgön Mipham (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2018), 532.
- ↑ Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, vol. 1, by Tsongkhapa, eds. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 103.
- ↑ Gethin, Feast of the Nectar, 78.
- ↑ Gethin, Feast of the Nectar, 529.
- ↑ Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, Great Treatise, 109.
- ↑ Gethin, Feast of the Nectar, 529.
- ↑ See Jinpa, Illuminating the Intent, 113.
- ↑ Jinpa, Illuminating the Intent, 113.
- ↑ Jinpa, Illuminating the Intent, 113.
