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The Six Perfections

Key Concepts

Key Concepts

• Buddha-Nature
• Compassion
• Defining Bodhicitta
• Emptiness
• Equalizing & Exchanging Self and Others
• Equanimity
• 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 Sending and Receiving
• Types of Bodhicitta

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The six perfections, or pāramitā, 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.

Ringu Tulku on the Pāramitā of Generosity

Ringu Tulku on the Pāramitā of Discipline

Ringu Tulku on the Pāramitā of Patience

Ringu Tulku on the Pāramitā of Diligence

Ringu Tulku on the Pāramitā of Meditation

Ringu Tulku on the Pāramitā of Wisdom

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Scriptural Source 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.

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.

Notes

Bibliography: Works on The Six Perfections

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

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Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

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Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of the Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt महायान  Tib ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།  Ch 大乘  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Kṣānti - Patience is the ability to remain calm and composed when facing difficulties, suffering, or harm from others, without becoming angry or discouraged. Skt क्षान्ति  Tib བཟོད་པ་  Ch 忍;忍辱  

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Vīrya - Diligence is the joyful and consistent effort applied to virtuous actions and spiritual practice. It acts as the engine that drives progress and prevents laziness or discouragement on the path. Skt वीर्य  Tib བརྩོན་འགྲུས་  Ch 精進  

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Prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt प्रज्ञा  Tib ཤེས་རབ་  Ch 般若  

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Puṇya - The positive energy or potential created through performing good deeds, such as generosity or kindness. In Buddhism, accumulating this positive force is seen as essential for finding happiness in future lives, and crucial as a foundation for following the spiritual path. Skt पुण्य  Tib བསོད་ནམས་  Ch 福;功德  

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Prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt प्रज्ञा  Tib ཤེས་རབ་  Ch 般若  

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Puṇya - The positive energy or potential created through performing good deeds, such as generosity or kindness. In Buddhism, accumulating this positive force is seen as essential for finding happiness in future lives, and crucial as a foundation for following the spiritual path. Skt पुण्य  Tib བསོད་ནམས་  Ch 福;功德  

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Pratipakṣa - An antidote or remedy that contributes or supports the elimination or pacification of a particular ailment or affliction. Skt प्रतिपक्ष  Tib གཉེན་པོ་  Ch 對治  

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Dhyāna - A state of deep, one-pointed concentration where the mind is stable, calm, and focused on a single object, serving as a foundation for developing wisdom. Skt ध्यान  Tib བསམ་གཏན་  Ch 禪;禪那;靜慮  

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Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

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Prajñāpāramitā - A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. Skt प्रज्ञापारमिता  Tib ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་;ཤེར་ཕྱིན་  Ch 般若波羅蜜多  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt श्रावक  Tib ཉན་ཐོས།  Ch 聲聞  

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Pratyekabuddha - Pratyekabuddhas are saints who, in their last birth in the cycle of existence, are said to become enlightened through solitary practice on the nature of dependent ordination. These saints are said to appear when there is no buddha around and work either alone or in small groups. Skt प्रत्येकबुद्ध  Tib རང་སངས་རྒྱས།;རང་རྒྱལ།  Ch 緣覺  

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