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Paramita

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A bodhisattva benefitting sentient beings. Palm leaf manuscript. Nalanda, Bihar, India

Pāramitā (P. pāramī [alt. pāramitā]; T. pha rol tu phyin pa ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་; C. boluomi; J. haramitsu; K. paramil 波羅蜜) is commonly translated as "perfection," "transcendental perfection," etc.

In the context of the path of the bodhisattva, the paramitas represent qualites that the bodhisattva trains in and strives to perfect in order to purify karma and kleshas and develop bodhicitta to the highest degree possible.

The Sanskrit tradition defines a set of six paramitas (which is expanded to ten paramitas in the context of the five paths).

The Pali tradition presents a distinct, yet similar, set of ten paramitas (paramis).

Etymology

The qualities developed on the bodhisattva path are generally referred as pāramitā in the Sanskrit tradition and as pāramī in the Pali tradition. However, the term pāramitā is also used in the Pali tradition, to a lesser degree.[1]

Bhikkhu Bodhi states:

The word “pāramī” is derived from parama, “supreme,” and thus suggests the eminence of the qualities that must be fulfilled by a bodhisattva in the long course of his spiritual development. But the cognate “pāramitā,” the word preferred by the Mahāyāna texts and also used by Pāli writers, is sometimes explained as pāram + ita, “gone to the beyond,” thereby indicating the transcendental direction of these qualities.[1]

Donald Lopez states:

The term pāramitā, commonly translated as "perfection," has two etymologies. The first derives from the word parama, meaning "highest," "most distant," and hence, "chief," "primary," "most excellent." Hence, the substantive can be rendered "excellence" or "perfection." This reading is supported by the Madhyāntavibhāga (V.4), where the twelve excellences (parama) are associated with the ten perfections (pāramitā).
A more creative yet widely reported etymology divides pāramitā into pāra and mita, with pāra meaning "beyond," "the further bank, shore or boundary," and mita, meaning "that which has arrived," or ita meaning "that which goes." Pāramitā, then means "that which has gone beyond," "that which goes beyond," or "transcendent." This reading is reflected in the Tibetan translation pha rol tu phyin pa ("gone to the other side").[2]

Sanskrit tradition

Paramitas
Sanskrit tradition
Six paramitas
Four additional
For Pali tradition, see ten paramis

The Sanskrit Mahayana point of view is the basic orientation of East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.

Six paramitas

Main article: Six paramitas

Within the Sanskrit tradition, the path of a bodhisattva is described in terms of six paramitas:

The six paramitas are:

1. dāna-pāramitā - to cultivate the attitude of giving
2. śīla-pāramitā - skillful conduct, refraining from harm
3. kṣānti-pāramitā - forbearance, the ability not to be perturbed by anything
4. vīrya-pāramitā - joyous effort, to find joy in what is virtuous, positive or wholesome
5. dhyāna-pāramitā - meditative stability, not to be distracted
6. prajñā-pāramitā - discrimating wisdom, the perfect discrimination of phenomena

Note that this list is also mentioned by the Theravāda commentator Dhammapala, who says it is equivalent to the list of ten paramitas.[3]

Ten paramitas

In the context of the teachings on the ten bhumis, a list of ten paramitas is enumerated, in which the last four paramites are identified as aspects of the paramita of wisdom. In this scheme, four addtional paramitas are added to the list of six paramitas (described above). The four additional paramitas are:

7. upāya-pāramitā: skillful means
8. praṇidhāna-pāramitā: aspiration, resolution, vow, determination
9. bala-pāramitā: spiritual power
10. jñāna-pāramitā: knowledge

The Garland of Radiant Light states:

What are the ten paramitas?
(1) Generosity, giving without attachment;
(2) discipline, not failing to apply oneself to accepting and rejecting in the correct manner;
(3) patience, being unaffected by anger and the other factors that conflict with it and free from becoming upset;
(4) diligence, taking joy in virtue and practicing it consistently;
(5) concentration, the mind's resting one-pointedly and not moving from its focal point;
(6) knowledge, clearly discerning [the nature of] all phenomena;
(7) skillful means, which allows one to accomplish great benefit for oneself self and others with ease;
(8) aspiration, gathering vast accumulations of virtue without interruption;
(9) power, which keeps fundamental virtues from dissipating and subdues conflicting factors; and
(10) the wakefulness that penetrates the ultimate meaning in accordance with the principles of the Great Vehicle's intent.[4]

Pali tradition

Ten paramis

In the Pali tradition, the path of the bodhisattvas is described in terms of ten paramis:

  1. dāna-pāramī: generosity, giving of oneself
  2. sīla-pāramī: virtue, morality, proper conduct
  3. nekkhamma-pāramī: renunciation
  4. paññā-pāramī: transcendental wisdom, insight
  5. viriya-pāramī: energy, diligence, vigour, effort
  6. khanti-pāramī : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
  7. sacca-pāramī: truthfulness, honesty
  8. adhiṭṭhāna-pāramī: determination, resolution
  9. mettā-pāramī: loving-kindness
  10. upekkhā-pāramī: equanimity
Further reading

The path of the bodhisattva in the Pali tradition

Bhikkhu Bodhi (2005) suggests that, in the earliest texts of the Pali tradition (which he identifies as the first four nikāyas), those seeking the extinction of suffering (nibbana) pursued the noble eightfold path. As time went on, a back-story was provided for the multi-life development of the Buddha; as a result, the ten perfections were identified as part of the path for the bodhisattva (Pāli: bodhisatta). Over subsequent centuries, the pāramīs were seen as being significant for aspirants to both Buddhahood and arahantship. Thus, Bodhi (2005) summarizes:

It should be noted that in established Theravāda tradition the pāramīs are not regarded as a discipline peculiar to candidates for Buddhahood alone but as practices which must be fulfilled by all aspirants to enlightenment and deliverance, whether as Buddhas, paccekabuddhas, or disciples. What distinguishes the supreme bodhisattva from aspirants in the other two vehicles is the degree to which the pāramīs must be cultivated and the length of time they must be pursued. But the qualities themselves are universal requisites for deliverance, which all must fulfill to at least a minimal degree to merit the fruits of the liberating path.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Acariya Dhammapala 2005, "Introduction" by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
  2. ↑ Lopez 1988, p. 21.
  3. ↑ The passage is translated in Bodhi (1978), p. 314.
  4. ↑ Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2007, s.v. The Ten Transcendes.


Sources

External links

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