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The Bodhisattva Path V - ( From Sutra Study at TBH )
The Bodhisattva Path
The Six Paramitas
This is the last in the series of seminars on the bodhisattva path. Last week we look at how to maintain and enhance bodhisattva aspiration and this week we turn to the six paramitas, which constitute the training in bodhisattva activity.
Taking the paramitas as a whole they are often presented as a hierarchy of practices linked to the stages, or bhumis, on the noble bodhisattva path; for example, the first ‘bhumi’, the Joyous, is where one perfects giving, or generosity. But they are also seen as being developed alongside each other and it is this way of understanding them that I will be presenting here. Going through each of the paramitas one by one.
The Paramita of Generosity
Generosity, or giving, is the first paramita and is often seen as the one most easy to practice for those not committed to full-time dharma practice. In the sutras, giving is often used as the template for how to practice the next four paramitas in a way that both reflects and develops other-shore wisdom. This way of giving, where one perceives the emptiness of the giver, the recipient, and the gift, is referred to by Gampopa in his discussion of how to practice the paramitas in a pure way. Giving is described by Gampopa of being of three kinds. [1]
The 1st is Giving Material Goods: this is largely self-explanatory. As our habitual relationship to the world around us is seen as being mediated through the ‘grasping’ nature of our mental processes, giving is one of the most powerful ways of working against this. The tendency to be stingy is therefore regarded as something a bodhisattva should always try to recognise in him or herself and rectify; developing an attitude of being ready to give unstintingly is seen as the best way of working with this.
The 2nd is Providing Security: this includes helping the sick, the dying, those in prison, or anyone else in fear in any way. Under this also comes the bodhisattva’s ability to engender fearlessness in others. It was this that I was thinking about when I mention in the first seminar about feeling carried by Dharmavidya’s confidence. An aspect of bodhisattva’s giving of fearlessness is therefore his or her ability to convey confidence in others.
The 3rd is Giving the Dharma: this can be either through teaching or through proving the conditions for its development.
From the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra:
“Shariputra asks:
What is the worldly and what is the super-mundane perfection of giving?”
“Subhuti says.
The worldly perfection of giving consists of this: The bodhisattva gives liberally to all those who ask, all the while thinking in terms of real things [literally supported by something]. It occurs to him: ‘I give, that one receives, this is the gift. I renounce all my possessions without stint. I act as one who knows the Buddha. I practice the perfection of giving. I, having made this gift into the common property of all beings, dedicate it to supreme enlightenment,... By means of this gift and its fruit may all beings in this very life be at ease, and may they one day enter Nirvana!’ Tied by these ties he gives the gift.”
“The supra-mundane perfection of giving, on the other hand, consists in the threefold purity. What is the threefold purity? Here a bodhisattva gives a gift, and he does not apprehend a self, nor a recipient nor a gift; also no reward of his giving. He surrenders that gift to all beings, but he apprehends neither beings nor himself. He dedicates that gift to supreme enlightenment, but he does not apprehend any enlightenment. This is called the supra-mundane perfection of giving.” [2]
What is important to note in Subuhti’s answer is that worldly giving is based on concepts; it is a conceptual practice. This does not just refer to such concepts as the giver, the recipient and the gift, but also to the self-conscious thought that one is one is practising the perfection of giving and to any sense of doing good. Looking at it in this way we can begin to get a feel for what is deficient in this kind of practice. It is also important to realise that this form of giving is the necessary first step. Having said that, the Prajnaparamita texts all stress the importance of making efforts in developing one’s practice of all the paramitas so that they becomes free of all such supports.
How Generosity can be Made Pure
Gampopa quotes Shantideva
“Through applying emptiness which has compassion as its very essence virtue will be made pure.” [3]
Emptiness, here, is the absence of a giver etc.
Compasion is described by Gampopa as: the support of compassion means being generous because one cannot bear the suffering of beings.
This format for explaining pure motivation is then used repeatedly for each of the other paramitas. An important point here is that, although this suggests it is necessary that one be genuinely moved in order for the motivation to be pure, Gampopa also says one has to take time to weigh up whether what the person is asking for is in their best interest.
The Paramita of Ethics
Ethics, discipline or right conduct is the 2nd paramita. As right conduct, it applies to all conduct including the activities of giving and meditation. Reading Gampopa’s text you begin to see how each of these paramitas is seen as strengthened by the others. Like generosity, ethics is divided into three aspects.
The 1st is Right Conduct as Commitment. This is living by commitments in the form of taking vows. These can be, either monastic vows, or the different Buddhist precepts taken by law people. Gampopa doesn’t include non-religious commitments, but these could be seen to apply here; such as commitments to ones spouse one’s children, parents, work colleagues, dharma brothers and sisters, and in therapy this could be seen as applying to one’s relationship with one’s clients.
The 2nd is Right Conduct as the Accumulation of Merit
In this section Gampopa provides a quote from the Bodhisattvabhumi which gives a very comprehensive description of what is included under right conduct:
“Relying upon and abiding within the bodhisattva’s right conduct is to apply oneself enthusiastically to study, contemplation and meditation and to remain in solitude. It is to respect teachers and to serve them and to serve and care for the sick. It is to give excellently and proclaim good qualities; to appreciate the attributes of others and be forbearing with those who are scornful. It is to dedicate virtue to enlightenment and make earnest prayers to that end, to make offerings to the Three Precious Refuges and to strive to be diligent, to be ever caring and careful, to be mindful of the training and through awareness to keep to it. To guard the doors of the senses and to know how much to consume, not to sleep in the first and last part of the night but to persevere in joining one’s mind with what is wholesome. To rely upon holy individuals and dharma mentors and to examine one’s own delusions, admit them and get rid of them. These sort of dharmas need to be practised, nurtured and brought to their maturity.” [4]
The 3rd is Right Conduct as Work for the Welfare of Others
Thirteen different aspects are given, here are a few which show the breadth of what is envisaged:
To support those involved in worthwhile activity
To teach those who lack the skill in how to cope
To appreciate what others do and to return any good deeds
To engage with others at a level corresponding to their mentality
To inspire and to make others long for what is good and wholesome
The Paramita of Forbearance
Forbearance or patience is the third paramita. In many way this paramita is seen as the backbone of the bodhisattvas path. This kind of bearing of difficulties is very closely linked to the strength of our faith, which in turn is linked to going deeper into refuge. Again it is also divided into three aspects.
The 1st is Forbearance in the Face of Harm from Others
Gampopa says:
This means practising forbearance towards those who do what one does not want them to do or who prevent oneself from doing what one wants to do – those who strike, insult, get angry at, or deeply resent… either oneself or one’s own. What does to forbear actually mean in such circumstances? Forbearance means remaining unperturbed, or not harming in retaliation, or not brooding on the event.” [5]
Of the different ways to achieve this, offered by Gampopa, some are from the tradition of Shantideva and some from the tradition of the Bodhisattvabhumi. Note that Gampopa throughout the text gives these kinds of choices, so that one has a range from which to select the one most suited to one’s situation.
1. From Shantideva’s tradition cultivating the following understandings might be helpful.
One sees that the other person is acting out of ignorance, which will only cause them suffering in the future, and one develops compassion towards them.
One lessens one’s annoyance by realising that enduring this suffering is to one’s benefit, in that it causes you to develop forbearance.
One sees that respecting and being concerned for those who harm one is but a small step in repaying the Buddhas’ vast kindness.
2. From the tradition of the Bodhisattvabhumi these ways of thinking might be useful in bearing the harm inflicted by another.
Thinking that the harmer has been ones father or mother many times in previous lives, in this way one ties to shift any fixed animosity towards them.
One tries to develop the notion that what is happening is empty of a doer and a person done to, this is the most effective remedy if one is able to develop it.
By contemplating that one should be trying to reduce suffering rather than adding to it by retaliating. This is often what relatives of those killed through violence say, which shows that one does not have to be a Buddhist to have a bodhisattva inclination.
By holding every sentient being as dear one develops the notion that it is not fitting to retaliate to trivial harms done by someone one treasures so dearly. This kind of attitude is the result of having already developed meta.
The 2nd is Forbearance as Acceptance of Suffering
This is actually quite specifically about not regretting all the suffering involved in following the bodhisattva path. This means to accept joyfully and without getting discouraged, whatever difficulty, tiredness, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, mental stress and other sufferings the path entails. There then follows a list of dharma activities which, if practised earnestly, could be difficult to bear. These are only some of them:
Insecurity regarding food and clothing etc if one is a monastic,
Finding time to studying the dharma,
Striving in meditation during the first and last period of the night,
Working for the welfare of others in the face of many obstacles.
The 3rd is Forbearance in Aspiring to Gain Certainty about the Emptiness of Phenomena
This is basically about not being discouraged in facing the abstruse and possibly disconcerting teachings on emptiness.
The Paramita of Diligence
Diligence, effort or vigour is the fourth paramita. Diligence in many ways seems the reverse side of forbearance or patience. Whereas the former is that which stops us from giving up, effort or diligence has the quality of striving forward. What I find useful from the text is the connection between diligence and the bodhisattva vow. Seen this way diligence is our sincerity with regard to really wanting to make a difference by cultivating bodhicitta. It is also divided into three aspects.
The 1st is The Armour of Diligence
The Bodhisattvabhumi say:
“If, in order to liberate even one single being from suffering, I have to stay nowhere else but in hell for a thousand cosmic ages, this fills me with joy. It does not matter how much or how little time it takes or how much or how little suffering it involves.” [6] Such an attitude is the bodhisattva’s armour like diligence.
The 2nd is Applied Diligence
This shows the range of things a bodhisattva needs to apply him, or herself, to with vigour.
1. diligence in getting rid of defilements,
2. diligence in accomplishing virtue and,
3. diligence in working for the welfare of others.
The 3rd is Diligence as Insatiability
This means striving after virtue in a way that knows no satisfaction until enlightenment is reached. As it is said: “If one can never have enough sense pleasures, which are like honey on a razors edge, how could one ever have enough of the peaceful reward found in the happiness found as a result of such diligence.” [7] The message is that we need to see where try happiness lies and motivate ourselves accordingly.
The Paramita of Meditation
Meditation is the fifth paramita
Specific meditations are given, corresponding to different defilements [negative emotions]. Again, here, we see Gampopa’s approach as one of offering a ranch to chose from:
1. the remedy for sense desire is to meditate on the unpleasant
2. the remedy for anger is to meditate on loving kindness
3. the remedy for ignorance is to meditate on dependent origination
4. the remedy for jealousy is to meditate on the similarity of self and other
5. the remedy for pride is to meditate on changing place with others
6. Gampopa says: if all the defilements are equally gross, or in the case of excessive thoughts, one practices breath meditation.
In the Shikshasamuccaya, Shantideva quotes from a Prajnaparamita Sutra to illustrate how the paramita of meditation is understood.
“The Buddha said:
When he practices the perfection of meditation for the sake of other beings his mind becomes undistracted. Moreover, Subhuti, a bodhisattva, beginning with the first thought of enlightenment, practices the perfection of meditation… When he has seen forms with his eyes, he does not seize upon them as a sign of realities which concern him… He sets himself to restrain that which, if he does not restrain his organ of sight, might give occasion for covetousness, sadness or other evil and unwholesome dharmas to reach his heart. He watches over the organ of sight. And the same with the other five sense organs, - ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.”
“Whether he walks or stands, sits or lies down, talks or remains silent, his concentration does not leave him… Calm in his body, calm in his voice, calm in his mind. His demeanour shows contentment, both in private and in public… he is frugal, easy to feed, easy to serve, of good life and habits; though in a crowd he dwells apart; even and unchanged, in gain or loss; not elated or cast down. Thus in happiness and suffering, in praise or blame, in fame or disrepute, in life or death, he is the same unchanged, neither elated or cast down. And so with foe or friend, with what is pleasant or unpleasant,… he remains the same unchanged, neither elated or cast down, neither gratified nor thwarted. And why? Because he sees all dharmas as empty of marks of their own, without true reality, incomplete and uncreated.” [8]
Here the paramita of meditation is not limited to sessions of meditation but instead appears to be a kind of constant-state samadhi, those main characteristic is equanimity. That the bodhisattva’s meditation is also seen as giving rise to love and compassion is shown by this passage from the 8000 line Prajnaparamita Sutra:
“For as he goes on dwelling day and night in those mental activities, he becomes more and more worthy of the gifts bestowed on him by all beings. Because no other being has a mind so full of love as he has, except for the Buddhas…”
“How then does that son or daughter of a good family at first aspire to that merit? This is how. He becomes endowed with that kind of wise insight which allows him to see all beings as on the way to their slaughter. Great compassion thereby takes hold of him. With his heavenly eye he surveys countless beings, and what he sees fills him with great agitation: so many carry the burden of karma and will soon be punished in the hells, others have acquired unfortunate rebirths, which keep them away from the Buddha and his teachings, others… are enveloped in a net of false views, or fail to find the path, while others who have gained a favourable rebirth are on their way to loosing it again.”
“And he radiates great love and compassion over all those beings, and gives his attention to them, thinking: “I shall become a saviour to all those beings, I shall release them from all their suffering!” but he does not make either this or anything else into a sign with which he becomes attached, this is also the great light of a bodhisattva’s wisdom, which allows him to know full enlightenment.” [9]
A comparison of these passages shows that, although in both cases the bodhisattva is specifically said not to get caught in perceptual signs, this does not leave him, or her, coldly equanimous. The second passage says his love is unmatched, except for that of the Buddha, and great compassion takes hold of him. The references to not getting caught in signs are reminiscent of sutras from the Anguttara Nikaya that we looked at in the first seminar. There it was said of the meditator; in solidity he is not cognisant of solidity etc. i.e. not cognisant of the ‘nimitta’ or ‘sign’ of solidity etc.
Peter Harvey has pointed out that in ‘The Greater Series of Questions and Answers’ Sutta in the Majjhima nikaya, the signless freedom of mind [ceto-vimutti] is said to be attained when there is no attention paid to ‘signs’ [nimittas] but attention is paid to the ‘signless element’ i.e. nibbana. Drawing on this earlier teaching we could surmise, then, that it is the bodhisattva’s ability to put his, or her, attention on that signless element which is the hall-mark of their samadhi. They can then take this out into the world, without getting caught up in signs. This is the counterpoise to the bodhisattvas involvement with the world. Unlike the sravaka who has to keep his, or her, sense doors physically restrained, the bodhisattva who needs to be free to engage can through this samadhi. He, or she, does not get caught in perceptual signs, and so can engage in the world without getting caught up in samsara..
As to what signs means; Harvey says in the Pali Suttas, it means the singling out of objects of attention that are seen as indicating something beyond themselves or as a belonging to a general class. In terms of spiritual training this specifically means the delusive appearance of phenomena as ‘permanent’, ‘non-dukkha’ or as ‘self’ [10]. We will return to this when looking at the Mahayana approach to the ‘four errors’ found in the Ratnakuta. From the position of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, however, the crucial point is that seeing the ‘sign’ of ‘self’ in objects is not just seeing the ‘projections’, of the self, but is understood as the mistaken apprehension of the sign of ‘own being’ in the objects. These sutras want to stress not only the emptiness of ‘self’ but also the emptiness of ‘other’, seeing ‘other’ as the correlate of ‘self’ i.e. they want to stress the emptiness of the ‘own being’ of the other.
Conze defines ‘own being’ [sva-bhava] thus: “Natural or inherent condition of something existing through its own power alone… In its own being a thing is just itself, and not merely as it is relative to others.” [11]
Prajnaparamita
Prajnaparamita is the Perfection of Wisdom the sixth paramita.
As we saw when looking at generosity, there are ordinary and supra-mundane levels to each of the paramitas and Gampopa starts his presentation on wisdom with an outline of three levels of knowledge. These are: ordinary knowledge associated with worldly professions; the knowledge of the lesser paths of sravaka and pratyekhabuddha; and the knowledge which comes from traversing the bodhisattva path.
Of this he says: “This is the wisdom that arises from Mahayana study, contemplation and meditation. It is awareness that every phenomenon is by its very nature void, unborn, without foundation and without root. Thus it says in the 700-verse Prajnaparamita Sutra.”
“To understand that every phenomenon has no existence as something born; that is prajnaparamita.”
The Bodhipathapradipa says:
“One will fully understand wisdom by understanding emptiness; the is, to understand that the skandhas, four elements and sense faculties are all unborn.” [12]
The perfection of wisdom is seen as, not just as the culmination of the path, but as that which determines the meaning of the other paramitas. In the 8000 line Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Buddha says:
“The perfection of wisdom therefore gets its name from its supreme excellence [paramatvat]. Through it the ‘roots of goodness’ [kusala-mula], dedicated to ‘all knowledge’, gets the name of ‘perfections’. It is therefore because it has dedicated the ‘roots of goodness’ to ‘all knowledge’ that the perfection of wisdom controls, guides and leads the five perfections…. by the perfection of wisdom do they get the name of ‘perfections’” [13].
The term ‘roots of goodness’ is being used here as a synonym for the five other paramita i.e. those involved in the accumulation of merit. The term ‘all knowledge’, or ‘sarva jnata’, is, according to the Abhisamayalankara, the generic term for the knowledge of enlightened beings, arhats, bodhisattvas and Buddhas. Taking the passage as a whole, what we have is the general format that we looked last week: the generating of merit and its dedication to the bodhisattva’s great pranidhana. But why does dedicating merit to ‘all knowledge’ make the practice ‘other shore’, or paramita, practice? This seems to lie in two things: 1) how we are orientated towards practice and 2) the nature of ‘all knowledge’ as unsupported or [apratisthita].
In the Mahacattarisaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya we find the following:
“And what is right view? Right view, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right view with effluents [asava], siding with merit, resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble right view, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.” Mn 3.72
Using Gethin’s analogy; while we are still lost trying to find the path in the jungle our practice sides with merit and results in acquisitions. Tibetan teachers describe this as conceptual practice, where we still have a desire to attain: to attain calmness, insight, liberation, happiness etc. By enjoining the bodhisattva to dedicate merit to ‘all knowledge’ he, or she, is thus being encouraged to let go of any subtle conceptualising of something to be attained. Further, by dedicating merit to ‘all knowledge’ that which could be a cause of attachment, ‘resulting in acquisitions’, is being instead dedicating to that which is free of all attachments, because ‘all knowledge’ cannot be conceived and is itself unconditioned and free from relying on anything.
To understand these two aspects of the dedication we have to look at how the signless is related to enlightenment. Harvey says the early sutras suggest two level of signlessness, 1) meditation focused on the signless aspect i.e. nirvana, and 2) nirvana, which in being ‘apratisthita’, i.e. without any object, is itself ‘signless. He provides various references that show that the ‘stopped’ [nirodha] consciousness in the sutras is seen as an unsupported, or apratisthita, consciousness. [14] In the Digha Nikya this consciousness is said to be non-manifesting [anidassanam], infinite [anantam] and all-luminous [sabato paham]. [15] This links it to the second passage in the section on meditation, where the bodhisattva’s not taking anything as a sign is said to be ‘the great light of his wisdom’. Importantly ‘sabato paham’ as well as being rendered as ‘all-luminous’, can also be translated as ‘accessible from all around’, in other words, as ‘totally open’. It is not clear, from my limited reading of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, which of these two understandings of signless is seen as characterising the bodhisattva’s wisdom.
The implications of it being the later are made clearer by this passage at Samyutta Nikaya II 65-66:
“That which we will and that which we intend to do and that with which we are occupied, this is the object for the support of consciousness. If there is an object there is a foothold for consciousness. With consciousness growing in this foothold there is rebirth. If there is rebirth and recurrent becoming in the future, ageing and dying, grief, sorrow, lamentation and despair come into being in the future. Thus is the arising of this whole mass of suffering….
But if we neither will nor intend to do, nor are occupied with something, there is no object for consciousness; hence there is no foothold for it. From consciousness having no foothold or growth there is no decent of mind-and-body. From the stopping of mind-and-body is the stopping of the six sense fields etc. thus is the stopping of the whole mass of suffering.” [16]
Foothold here is a translation of the same term [pratisthita], otherwise translated as support, which is what the enlightened consciousness is freed from. If this is what is meant then it gives us a rather startling insight into what the bodhisattva might be being enjoined to develop. Perhaps this section from the Diamond Sutra gives an indication of what this could mean:
The Buddha asked Subhuti, “In ancient times when the Tathagata practised under Buddha Dipamkara, did he attain anything?
Subhti answered, “No World-Honoured One, in ancient times when the Tathagata was practising under Buddha Dipamkara, he did not attain anything.”
“What do you think, Subhuti? Does a bodhisattva create a serene Buddha field?”
“No World Honoured One. Why? To create a serene and beautiful Buddha field is not in fact creating a serene and beautiful Buddha field. That is why it is called creating a serene and beautiful Buddha field.” [17]
“Therefore, then, Subhuti, the bodhisattva, mahasattva, should produced an unsupported citta, that is, a citta which is nowhere supported, a citta unsupported by sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or mental objects.” [18]
So to not intend or will at creating a beautiful Buddha field could be understood as the practice of non-attainment, which is, in fact, to create a beautiful Buddha field. He, or she, should, therefore, give rise to a mind that grasps at nothing i.e. a mind that does not get caught in any signs.
In the 8000 line Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Buddha is even more emphatic:
“Where there arises an act of consciousness which has none of the skandhas for objective support, there the non-viewing of form, etc. takes place. But just this non-viewing of the skadhas is the viewing of the world. That is the way the world is viewed by the Tathagata.” [19]
Warder sheds further light on this in this discussion of the ‘four errors’ in an early Mahayana group of sutras called the Ratnakuta.
He says that the enumeration of things seen as helpful to or harmful to the development of bodhicitta is generally similar to the ideas in the early sutras about moral progress, with frequent references to ‘roots of good’. Moreover, he says there is a passage amounting to an elaboration of the theory of the ‘four errors’ which is found in the Patisambhidamagga of the Pali Canon. The four errors are explained as perceiving or thinking, in relation to phenomena, that: there is permanence in that which is impermanent, happiness in that which is suffering, existence in that which lacks existence and attractiveness in that which is ultimately not worthy. The comments on this in the Ratnakuta includes “attention to reasoning which initiates all imaginations, constructions and imaginings”, the antidote to this is ‘signlessness’, and the abandoning the three kinds of existence, the medicine for which is ‘aimlessness’. [20]
So the impression we get is that a bodhisattva should aim to engage in the world in a way where he, or she, does not get caught in concepts including that of attaining any results. But such a bodhisattva is not aloof, but, rather, is full of love and compassion. The quality of consciousness variously translated as, ‘all-luminous’, ‘accessible all around’ and ‘totally open’, suggesting, as it does, a rare sensitivity that radiates love and compassion seems to encapsulate better than anything the goal of the bodhisattva path. In its context, in the Pali Canon, it was seen as relating to arhats, bodhisattvas and Buddhas, and this is where I like to think all Buddhist paths meet.
Gampopa quotes from the 700 verse Prajnaparamita Sutra:
“To cultivate prajnaparamita means neither engaging in, holding onto nor rejecting anything. To cultivate prajnaparamita means not to abide in anything whatsoever. To cultivate prajnaparamita means not thinking about or focussing on anything whatsoever.” [21]
Gampopa merged, in his own teachings, the teachings of Atisha with that of Tilopa and Maitripa, so I want to finish with Atisha’s summary of the six paramitas:
The best generosity is non-attachment
The best discipline is a peaceful mind
The best patience is to take the lowest place
The best effort is to give up activities
The best meditation is not to alter the mind
The best wisdom is not to grasp at anything at all. [22]
[1] thar.pa.rin.po.che’i.rgyen trans. as Gems of Dharma Jewels of Freedom by Ken and
Katia Holmes, [1995] Altea Publishing, pages 167 - 178
[2] Buddhist Texts Through the Ages [1995] Conze, E. et al. Oneworld, Oxford, pages 136 – 137
[3] Ken and Katia Holmes, [1995], page 177
[4] Ibid, pages 184 – 185
[5] Ibid, page 192
[6] Ibid, page 203
[7] Ibid, page 205
[8] Conze, E. et al. [1995], pages 138-139
[9] Ibid, pages 127-128
[10] Harvey, P. [1995], The Selfless Mind, Curzon Press, Richmond, page 194.
[11] The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and its Verse Commentary, [1973] trans. Edward Conze, Four seasons Foundation, San Francisco, page 320
[12] Ken and Katia Holmes, [1995], page 230
[13] Edward Conze, [1973], pages 111 - 112
[14] Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, MA Buddhist Studies Program, BUDMO1 Buddhist Traditions, Unit 11 The Third Ennobling Truth: Nirvana, page 10
[15] The Long Discourses of the Buddha; Digha Nikaya, [1987], trans. Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston, page 179
[16] Conze, E. et al. [1995], page 71
[17] Thich Nhat Hanh, [1992] The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Diamond Sutra, Parallax Press, Berkeley, page 9
[18] Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, MA Buddhist Studies Program, BUDMO1 Buddhist Traditions, Unit 20 The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, page 4
[19] Edward Conze, [1973], page 179
[20] Warder, A.K., [1970], Indian Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, pages 300, 341
[21] Ken and Katia Holmes, [1995], page 249
[22] Kunzang Lamai Shelung trans. as Words of My Perfect Teacher, [1996] by the Padmakara Translation Group, Ed. Kerry Brown & Sima Sharma, Harper Collins, New Delhi, page 254
The Six Paramitas
This is the last in the series of seminars on the bodhisattva path. Last week we look at how to maintain and enhance bodhisattva aspiration and this week we turn to the six paramitas, which constitute the training in bodhisattva activity.
Taking the paramitas as a whole they are often presented as a hierarchy of practices linked to the stages, or bhumis, on the noble bodhisattva path; for example, the first ‘bhumi’, the Joyous, is where one perfects giving, or generosity. But they are also seen as being developed alongside each other and it is this way of understanding them that I will be presenting here. Going through each of the paramitas one by one.
The Paramita of Generosity
Generosity, or giving, is the first paramita and is often seen as the one most easy to practice for those not committed to full-time dharma practice. In the sutras, giving is often used as the template for how to practice the next four paramitas in a way that both reflects and develops other-shore wisdom. This way of giving, where one perceives the emptiness of the giver, the recipient, and the gift, is referred to by Gampopa in his discussion of how to practice the paramitas in a pure way. Giving is described by Gampopa of being of three kinds. [1]
The 1st is Giving Material Goods: this is largely self-explanatory. As our habitual relationship to the world around us is seen as being mediated through the ‘grasping’ nature of our mental processes, giving is one of the most powerful ways of working against this. The tendency to be stingy is therefore regarded as something a bodhisattva should always try to recognise in him or herself and rectify; developing an attitude of being ready to give unstintingly is seen as the best way of working with this.
The 2nd is Providing Security: this includes helping the sick, the dying, those in prison, or anyone else in fear in any way. Under this also comes the bodhisattva’s ability to engender fearlessness in others. It was this that I was thinking about when I mention in the first seminar about feeling carried by Dharmavidya’s confidence. An aspect of bodhisattva’s giving of fearlessness is therefore his or her ability to convey confidence in others.
The 3rd is Giving the Dharma: this can be either through teaching or through proving the conditions for its development.
From the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra:
“Shariputra asks:
What is the worldly and what is the super-mundane perfection of giving?”
“Subhuti says.
The worldly perfection of giving consists of this: The bodhisattva gives liberally to all those who ask, all the while thinking in terms of real things [literally supported by something]. It occurs to him: ‘I give, that one receives, this is the gift. I renounce all my possessions without stint. I act as one who knows the Buddha. I practice the perfection of giving. I, having made this gift into the common property of all beings, dedicate it to supreme enlightenment,... By means of this gift and its fruit may all beings in this very life be at ease, and may they one day enter Nirvana!’ Tied by these ties he gives the gift.”
“The supra-mundane perfection of giving, on the other hand, consists in the threefold purity. What is the threefold purity? Here a bodhisattva gives a gift, and he does not apprehend a self, nor a recipient nor a gift; also no reward of his giving. He surrenders that gift to all beings, but he apprehends neither beings nor himself. He dedicates that gift to supreme enlightenment, but he does not apprehend any enlightenment. This is called the supra-mundane perfection of giving.” [2]
What is important to note in Subuhti’s answer is that worldly giving is based on concepts; it is a conceptual practice. This does not just refer to such concepts as the giver, the recipient and the gift, but also to the self-conscious thought that one is one is practising the perfection of giving and to any sense of doing good. Looking at it in this way we can begin to get a feel for what is deficient in this kind of practice. It is also important to realise that this form of giving is the necessary first step. Having said that, the Prajnaparamita texts all stress the importance of making efforts in developing one’s practice of all the paramitas so that they becomes free of all such supports.
How Generosity can be Made Pure
Gampopa quotes Shantideva
“Through applying emptiness which has compassion as its very essence virtue will be made pure.” [3]
Emptiness, here, is the absence of a giver etc.
Compasion is described by Gampopa as: the support of compassion means being generous because one cannot bear the suffering of beings.
This format for explaining pure motivation is then used repeatedly for each of the other paramitas. An important point here is that, although this suggests it is necessary that one be genuinely moved in order for the motivation to be pure, Gampopa also says one has to take time to weigh up whether what the person is asking for is in their best interest.
The Paramita of Ethics
Ethics, discipline or right conduct is the 2nd paramita. As right conduct, it applies to all conduct including the activities of giving and meditation. Reading Gampopa’s text you begin to see how each of these paramitas is seen as strengthened by the others. Like generosity, ethics is divided into three aspects.
The 1st is Right Conduct as Commitment. This is living by commitments in the form of taking vows. These can be, either monastic vows, or the different Buddhist precepts taken by law people. Gampopa doesn’t include non-religious commitments, but these could be seen to apply here; such as commitments to ones spouse one’s children, parents, work colleagues, dharma brothers and sisters, and in therapy this could be seen as applying to one’s relationship with one’s clients.
The 2nd is Right Conduct as the Accumulation of Merit
In this section Gampopa provides a quote from the Bodhisattvabhumi which gives a very comprehensive description of what is included under right conduct:
“Relying upon and abiding within the bodhisattva’s right conduct is to apply oneself enthusiastically to study, contemplation and meditation and to remain in solitude. It is to respect teachers and to serve them and to serve and care for the sick. It is to give excellently and proclaim good qualities; to appreciate the attributes of others and be forbearing with those who are scornful. It is to dedicate virtue to enlightenment and make earnest prayers to that end, to make offerings to the Three Precious Refuges and to strive to be diligent, to be ever caring and careful, to be mindful of the training and through awareness to keep to it. To guard the doors of the senses and to know how much to consume, not to sleep in the first and last part of the night but to persevere in joining one’s mind with what is wholesome. To rely upon holy individuals and dharma mentors and to examine one’s own delusions, admit them and get rid of them. These sort of dharmas need to be practised, nurtured and brought to their maturity.” [4]
The 3rd is Right Conduct as Work for the Welfare of Others
Thirteen different aspects are given, here are a few which show the breadth of what is envisaged:
To support those involved in worthwhile activity
To teach those who lack the skill in how to cope
To appreciate what others do and to return any good deeds
To engage with others at a level corresponding to their mentality
To inspire and to make others long for what is good and wholesome
The Paramita of Forbearance
Forbearance or patience is the third paramita. In many way this paramita is seen as the backbone of the bodhisattvas path. This kind of bearing of difficulties is very closely linked to the strength of our faith, which in turn is linked to going deeper into refuge. Again it is also divided into three aspects.
The 1st is Forbearance in the Face of Harm from Others
Gampopa says:
This means practising forbearance towards those who do what one does not want them to do or who prevent oneself from doing what one wants to do – those who strike, insult, get angry at, or deeply resent… either oneself or one’s own. What does to forbear actually mean in such circumstances? Forbearance means remaining unperturbed, or not harming in retaliation, or not brooding on the event.” [5]
Of the different ways to achieve this, offered by Gampopa, some are from the tradition of Shantideva and some from the tradition of the Bodhisattvabhumi. Note that Gampopa throughout the text gives these kinds of choices, so that one has a range from which to select the one most suited to one’s situation.
1. From Shantideva’s tradition cultivating the following understandings might be helpful.
One sees that the other person is acting out of ignorance, which will only cause them suffering in the future, and one develops compassion towards them.
One lessens one’s annoyance by realising that enduring this suffering is to one’s benefit, in that it causes you to develop forbearance.
One sees that respecting and being concerned for those who harm one is but a small step in repaying the Buddhas’ vast kindness.
2. From the tradition of the Bodhisattvabhumi these ways of thinking might be useful in bearing the harm inflicted by another.
Thinking that the harmer has been ones father or mother many times in previous lives, in this way one ties to shift any fixed animosity towards them.
One tries to develop the notion that what is happening is empty of a doer and a person done to, this is the most effective remedy if one is able to develop it.
By contemplating that one should be trying to reduce suffering rather than adding to it by retaliating. This is often what relatives of those killed through violence say, which shows that one does not have to be a Buddhist to have a bodhisattva inclination.
By holding every sentient being as dear one develops the notion that it is not fitting to retaliate to trivial harms done by someone one treasures so dearly. This kind of attitude is the result of having already developed meta.
The 2nd is Forbearance as Acceptance of Suffering
This is actually quite specifically about not regretting all the suffering involved in following the bodhisattva path. This means to accept joyfully and without getting discouraged, whatever difficulty, tiredness, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, mental stress and other sufferings the path entails. There then follows a list of dharma activities which, if practised earnestly, could be difficult to bear. These are only some of them:
Insecurity regarding food and clothing etc if one is a monastic,
Finding time to studying the dharma,
Striving in meditation during the first and last period of the night,
Working for the welfare of others in the face of many obstacles.
The 3rd is Forbearance in Aspiring to Gain Certainty about the Emptiness of Phenomena
This is basically about not being discouraged in facing the abstruse and possibly disconcerting teachings on emptiness.
The Paramita of Diligence
Diligence, effort or vigour is the fourth paramita. Diligence in many ways seems the reverse side of forbearance or patience. Whereas the former is that which stops us from giving up, effort or diligence has the quality of striving forward. What I find useful from the text is the connection between diligence and the bodhisattva vow. Seen this way diligence is our sincerity with regard to really wanting to make a difference by cultivating bodhicitta. It is also divided into three aspects.
The 1st is The Armour of Diligence
The Bodhisattvabhumi say:
“If, in order to liberate even one single being from suffering, I have to stay nowhere else but in hell for a thousand cosmic ages, this fills me with joy. It does not matter how much or how little time it takes or how much or how little suffering it involves.” [6] Such an attitude is the bodhisattva’s armour like diligence.
The 2nd is Applied Diligence
This shows the range of things a bodhisattva needs to apply him, or herself, to with vigour.
1. diligence in getting rid of defilements,
2. diligence in accomplishing virtue and,
3. diligence in working for the welfare of others.
The 3rd is Diligence as Insatiability
This means striving after virtue in a way that knows no satisfaction until enlightenment is reached. As it is said: “If one can never have enough sense pleasures, which are like honey on a razors edge, how could one ever have enough of the peaceful reward found in the happiness found as a result of such diligence.” [7] The message is that we need to see where try happiness lies and motivate ourselves accordingly.
The Paramita of Meditation
Meditation is the fifth paramita
Specific meditations are given, corresponding to different defilements [negative emotions]. Again, here, we see Gampopa’s approach as one of offering a ranch to chose from:
1. the remedy for sense desire is to meditate on the unpleasant
2. the remedy for anger is to meditate on loving kindness
3. the remedy for ignorance is to meditate on dependent origination
4. the remedy for jealousy is to meditate on the similarity of self and other
5. the remedy for pride is to meditate on changing place with others
6. Gampopa says: if all the defilements are equally gross, or in the case of excessive thoughts, one practices breath meditation.
In the Shikshasamuccaya, Shantideva quotes from a Prajnaparamita Sutra to illustrate how the paramita of meditation is understood.
“The Buddha said:
When he practices the perfection of meditation for the sake of other beings his mind becomes undistracted. Moreover, Subhuti, a bodhisattva, beginning with the first thought of enlightenment, practices the perfection of meditation… When he has seen forms with his eyes, he does not seize upon them as a sign of realities which concern him… He sets himself to restrain that which, if he does not restrain his organ of sight, might give occasion for covetousness, sadness or other evil and unwholesome dharmas to reach his heart. He watches over the organ of sight. And the same with the other five sense organs, - ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.”
“Whether he walks or stands, sits or lies down, talks or remains silent, his concentration does not leave him… Calm in his body, calm in his voice, calm in his mind. His demeanour shows contentment, both in private and in public… he is frugal, easy to feed, easy to serve, of good life and habits; though in a crowd he dwells apart; even and unchanged, in gain or loss; not elated or cast down. Thus in happiness and suffering, in praise or blame, in fame or disrepute, in life or death, he is the same unchanged, neither elated or cast down. And so with foe or friend, with what is pleasant or unpleasant,… he remains the same unchanged, neither elated or cast down, neither gratified nor thwarted. And why? Because he sees all dharmas as empty of marks of their own, without true reality, incomplete and uncreated.” [8]
Here the paramita of meditation is not limited to sessions of meditation but instead appears to be a kind of constant-state samadhi, those main characteristic is equanimity. That the bodhisattva’s meditation is also seen as giving rise to love and compassion is shown by this passage from the 8000 line Prajnaparamita Sutra:
“For as he goes on dwelling day and night in those mental activities, he becomes more and more worthy of the gifts bestowed on him by all beings. Because no other being has a mind so full of love as he has, except for the Buddhas…”
“How then does that son or daughter of a good family at first aspire to that merit? This is how. He becomes endowed with that kind of wise insight which allows him to see all beings as on the way to their slaughter. Great compassion thereby takes hold of him. With his heavenly eye he surveys countless beings, and what he sees fills him with great agitation: so many carry the burden of karma and will soon be punished in the hells, others have acquired unfortunate rebirths, which keep them away from the Buddha and his teachings, others… are enveloped in a net of false views, or fail to find the path, while others who have gained a favourable rebirth are on their way to loosing it again.”
“And he radiates great love and compassion over all those beings, and gives his attention to them, thinking: “I shall become a saviour to all those beings, I shall release them from all their suffering!” but he does not make either this or anything else into a sign with which he becomes attached, this is also the great light of a bodhisattva’s wisdom, which allows him to know full enlightenment.” [9]
A comparison of these passages shows that, although in both cases the bodhisattva is specifically said not to get caught in perceptual signs, this does not leave him, or her, coldly equanimous. The second passage says his love is unmatched, except for that of the Buddha, and great compassion takes hold of him. The references to not getting caught in signs are reminiscent of sutras from the Anguttara Nikaya that we looked at in the first seminar. There it was said of the meditator; in solidity he is not cognisant of solidity etc. i.e. not cognisant of the ‘nimitta’ or ‘sign’ of solidity etc.
Peter Harvey has pointed out that in ‘The Greater Series of Questions and Answers’ Sutta in the Majjhima nikaya, the signless freedom of mind [ceto-vimutti] is said to be attained when there is no attention paid to ‘signs’ [nimittas] but attention is paid to the ‘signless element’ i.e. nibbana. Drawing on this earlier teaching we could surmise, then, that it is the bodhisattva’s ability to put his, or her, attention on that signless element which is the hall-mark of their samadhi. They can then take this out into the world, without getting caught up in signs. This is the counterpoise to the bodhisattvas involvement with the world. Unlike the sravaka who has to keep his, or her, sense doors physically restrained, the bodhisattva who needs to be free to engage can through this samadhi. He, or she, does not get caught in perceptual signs, and so can engage in the world without getting caught up in samsara..
As to what signs means; Harvey says in the Pali Suttas, it means the singling out of objects of attention that are seen as indicating something beyond themselves or as a belonging to a general class. In terms of spiritual training this specifically means the delusive appearance of phenomena as ‘permanent’, ‘non-dukkha’ or as ‘self’ [10]. We will return to this when looking at the Mahayana approach to the ‘four errors’ found in the Ratnakuta. From the position of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, however, the crucial point is that seeing the ‘sign’ of ‘self’ in objects is not just seeing the ‘projections’, of the self, but is understood as the mistaken apprehension of the sign of ‘own being’ in the objects. These sutras want to stress not only the emptiness of ‘self’ but also the emptiness of ‘other’, seeing ‘other’ as the correlate of ‘self’ i.e. they want to stress the emptiness of the ‘own being’ of the other.
Conze defines ‘own being’ [sva-bhava] thus: “Natural or inherent condition of something existing through its own power alone… In its own being a thing is just itself, and not merely as it is relative to others.” [11]
Prajnaparamita
Prajnaparamita is the Perfection of Wisdom the sixth paramita.
As we saw when looking at generosity, there are ordinary and supra-mundane levels to each of the paramitas and Gampopa starts his presentation on wisdom with an outline of three levels of knowledge. These are: ordinary knowledge associated with worldly professions; the knowledge of the lesser paths of sravaka and pratyekhabuddha; and the knowledge which comes from traversing the bodhisattva path.
Of this he says: “This is the wisdom that arises from Mahayana study, contemplation and meditation. It is awareness that every phenomenon is by its very nature void, unborn, without foundation and without root. Thus it says in the 700-verse Prajnaparamita Sutra.”
“To understand that every phenomenon has no existence as something born; that is prajnaparamita.”
The Bodhipathapradipa says:
“One will fully understand wisdom by understanding emptiness; the is, to understand that the skandhas, four elements and sense faculties are all unborn.” [12]
The perfection of wisdom is seen as, not just as the culmination of the path, but as that which determines the meaning of the other paramitas. In the 8000 line Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Buddha says:
“The perfection of wisdom therefore gets its name from its supreme excellence [paramatvat]. Through it the ‘roots of goodness’ [kusala-mula], dedicated to ‘all knowledge’, gets the name of ‘perfections’. It is therefore because it has dedicated the ‘roots of goodness’ to ‘all knowledge’ that the perfection of wisdom controls, guides and leads the five perfections…. by the perfection of wisdom do they get the name of ‘perfections’” [13].
The term ‘roots of goodness’ is being used here as a synonym for the five other paramita i.e. those involved in the accumulation of merit. The term ‘all knowledge’, or ‘sarva jnata’, is, according to the Abhisamayalankara, the generic term for the knowledge of enlightened beings, arhats, bodhisattvas and Buddhas. Taking the passage as a whole, what we have is the general format that we looked last week: the generating of merit and its dedication to the bodhisattva’s great pranidhana. But why does dedicating merit to ‘all knowledge’ make the practice ‘other shore’, or paramita, practice? This seems to lie in two things: 1) how we are orientated towards practice and 2) the nature of ‘all knowledge’ as unsupported or [apratisthita].
In the Mahacattarisaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya we find the following:
“And what is right view? Right view, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right view with effluents [asava], siding with merit, resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble right view, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.” Mn 3.72
Using Gethin’s analogy; while we are still lost trying to find the path in the jungle our practice sides with merit and results in acquisitions. Tibetan teachers describe this as conceptual practice, where we still have a desire to attain: to attain calmness, insight, liberation, happiness etc. By enjoining the bodhisattva to dedicate merit to ‘all knowledge’ he, or she, is thus being encouraged to let go of any subtle conceptualising of something to be attained. Further, by dedicating merit to ‘all knowledge’ that which could be a cause of attachment, ‘resulting in acquisitions’, is being instead dedicating to that which is free of all attachments, because ‘all knowledge’ cannot be conceived and is itself unconditioned and free from relying on anything.
To understand these two aspects of the dedication we have to look at how the signless is related to enlightenment. Harvey says the early sutras suggest two level of signlessness, 1) meditation focused on the signless aspect i.e. nirvana, and 2) nirvana, which in being ‘apratisthita’, i.e. without any object, is itself ‘signless. He provides various references that show that the ‘stopped’ [nirodha] consciousness in the sutras is seen as an unsupported, or apratisthita, consciousness. [14] In the Digha Nikya this consciousness is said to be non-manifesting [anidassanam], infinite [anantam] and all-luminous [sabato paham]. [15] This links it to the second passage in the section on meditation, where the bodhisattva’s not taking anything as a sign is said to be ‘the great light of his wisdom’. Importantly ‘sabato paham’ as well as being rendered as ‘all-luminous’, can also be translated as ‘accessible from all around’, in other words, as ‘totally open’. It is not clear, from my limited reading of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, which of these two understandings of signless is seen as characterising the bodhisattva’s wisdom.
The implications of it being the later are made clearer by this passage at Samyutta Nikaya II 65-66:
“That which we will and that which we intend to do and that with which we are occupied, this is the object for the support of consciousness. If there is an object there is a foothold for consciousness. With consciousness growing in this foothold there is rebirth. If there is rebirth and recurrent becoming in the future, ageing and dying, grief, sorrow, lamentation and despair come into being in the future. Thus is the arising of this whole mass of suffering….
But if we neither will nor intend to do, nor are occupied with something, there is no object for consciousness; hence there is no foothold for it. From consciousness having no foothold or growth there is no decent of mind-and-body. From the stopping of mind-and-body is the stopping of the six sense fields etc. thus is the stopping of the whole mass of suffering.” [16]
Foothold here is a translation of the same term [pratisthita], otherwise translated as support, which is what the enlightened consciousness is freed from. If this is what is meant then it gives us a rather startling insight into what the bodhisattva might be being enjoined to develop. Perhaps this section from the Diamond Sutra gives an indication of what this could mean:
The Buddha asked Subhuti, “In ancient times when the Tathagata practised under Buddha Dipamkara, did he attain anything?
Subhti answered, “No World-Honoured One, in ancient times when the Tathagata was practising under Buddha Dipamkara, he did not attain anything.”
“What do you think, Subhuti? Does a bodhisattva create a serene Buddha field?”
“No World Honoured One. Why? To create a serene and beautiful Buddha field is not in fact creating a serene and beautiful Buddha field. That is why it is called creating a serene and beautiful Buddha field.” [17]
“Therefore, then, Subhuti, the bodhisattva, mahasattva, should produced an unsupported citta, that is, a citta which is nowhere supported, a citta unsupported by sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or mental objects.” [18]
So to not intend or will at creating a beautiful Buddha field could be understood as the practice of non-attainment, which is, in fact, to create a beautiful Buddha field. He, or she, should, therefore, give rise to a mind that grasps at nothing i.e. a mind that does not get caught in any signs.
In the 8000 line Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Buddha is even more emphatic:
“Where there arises an act of consciousness which has none of the skandhas for objective support, there the non-viewing of form, etc. takes place. But just this non-viewing of the skadhas is the viewing of the world. That is the way the world is viewed by the Tathagata.” [19]
Warder sheds further light on this in this discussion of the ‘four errors’ in an early Mahayana group of sutras called the Ratnakuta.
He says that the enumeration of things seen as helpful to or harmful to the development of bodhicitta is generally similar to the ideas in the early sutras about moral progress, with frequent references to ‘roots of good’. Moreover, he says there is a passage amounting to an elaboration of the theory of the ‘four errors’ which is found in the Patisambhidamagga of the Pali Canon. The four errors are explained as perceiving or thinking, in relation to phenomena, that: there is permanence in that which is impermanent, happiness in that which is suffering, existence in that which lacks existence and attractiveness in that which is ultimately not worthy. The comments on this in the Ratnakuta includes “attention to reasoning which initiates all imaginations, constructions and imaginings”, the antidote to this is ‘signlessness’, and the abandoning the three kinds of existence, the medicine for which is ‘aimlessness’. [20]
So the impression we get is that a bodhisattva should aim to engage in the world in a way where he, or she, does not get caught in concepts including that of attaining any results. But such a bodhisattva is not aloof, but, rather, is full of love and compassion. The quality of consciousness variously translated as, ‘all-luminous’, ‘accessible all around’ and ‘totally open’, suggesting, as it does, a rare sensitivity that radiates love and compassion seems to encapsulate better than anything the goal of the bodhisattva path. In its context, in the Pali Canon, it was seen as relating to arhats, bodhisattvas and Buddhas, and this is where I like to think all Buddhist paths meet.
Gampopa quotes from the 700 verse Prajnaparamita Sutra:
“To cultivate prajnaparamita means neither engaging in, holding onto nor rejecting anything. To cultivate prajnaparamita means not to abide in anything whatsoever. To cultivate prajnaparamita means not thinking about or focussing on anything whatsoever.” [21]
Gampopa merged, in his own teachings, the teachings of Atisha with that of Tilopa and Maitripa, so I want to finish with Atisha’s summary of the six paramitas:
The best generosity is non-attachment
The best discipline is a peaceful mind
The best patience is to take the lowest place
The best effort is to give up activities
The best meditation is not to alter the mind
The best wisdom is not to grasp at anything at all. [22]
[1] thar.pa.rin.po.che’i.rgyen trans. as Gems of Dharma Jewels of Freedom by Ken and
Katia Holmes, [1995] Altea Publishing, pages 167 - 178
[2] Buddhist Texts Through the Ages [1995] Conze, E. et al. Oneworld, Oxford, pages 136 – 137
[3] Ken and Katia Holmes, [1995], page 177
[4] Ibid, pages 184 – 185
[5] Ibid, page 192
[6] Ibid, page 203
[7] Ibid, page 205
[8] Conze, E. et al. [1995], pages 138-139
[9] Ibid, pages 127-128
[10] Harvey, P. [1995], The Selfless Mind, Curzon Press, Richmond, page 194.
[11] The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and its Verse Commentary, [1973] trans. Edward Conze, Four seasons Foundation, San Francisco, page 320
[12] Ken and Katia Holmes, [1995], page 230
[13] Edward Conze, [1973], pages 111 - 112
[14] Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, MA Buddhist Studies Program, BUDMO1 Buddhist Traditions, Unit 11 The Third Ennobling Truth: Nirvana, page 10
[15] The Long Discourses of the Buddha; Digha Nikaya, [1987], trans. Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston, page 179
[16] Conze, E. et al. [1995], page 71
[17] Thich Nhat Hanh, [1992] The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Diamond Sutra, Parallax Press, Berkeley, page 9
[18] Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, MA Buddhist Studies Program, BUDMO1 Buddhist Traditions, Unit 20 The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, page 4
[19] Edward Conze, [1973], page 179
[20] Warder, A.K., [1970], Indian Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, pages 300, 341
[21] Ken and Katia Holmes, [1995], page 249
[22] Kunzang Lamai Shelung trans. as Words of My Perfect Teacher, [1996] by the Padmakara Translation Group, Ed. Kerry Brown & Sima Sharma, Harper Collins, New Delhi, page 254
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