27
April

Buddhist Belief — The Six Paramitas – Sixth Paramita


“Of little importance is the loss of such things as wealth. But a terrible thing is to lose wisdom. Of little importance is the gaining of such things as wealth. Great is the importance of gaining wisdom.”

~~~ Buddha

The Sixth Paramita or perfection in Buddhist Belief is wisdom. (The Prajna Paramita). Wisdom is a central notion in Buddhism. Wisdom is an immediately experienced, intuitive knowing, that cannot be conveyed by concepts or in intellectual terms.

Buddhist Belief, meditation, nirvana, mindfulness, karma

Let’s review what we’ve posted over these past several weeks about the Six Paramitas, or Perfections. Remember, Paramita literally means “that which has achieved sufficient perfection to reach the other shore.” The Six Paramitas are giving, morality, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom.

The first perfection is giving, which means voluntary giving of one’s material goods, time or wisdom to others. It means to overcome greed and egoism which can lead to the avoidance of suffering in the future.

The second perfection is morality. When we study the Eightfold Path we learn how morality refers to right speech, right action and right livelihood. The Second Paramita is a highly ethical standard that demands not harming oneself or others through personal immoral behavior. Moral purification is not just a matter of changing the ways we think and behave. It also extends itself to how we must purify the mind and the internal attitudes that lie beneath our actions.


Patience is the third perfection. We need a lot of patience with others and with ourselves in this day and age. Patience arises from having spiritual knowledge which can lead to freedom from attachment. Patience nurtures forgiveness and understanding. Through patience we can learn to forgive those who harm us instead of hating them. Following Buddhist teachings, we can see that the person who harms us is caught up in negative attitudes and ways of living based on previous causes and conditions.

The fourth perfection is diligence. Diligence is about the power to transform what is impure into what is pure. It includes right effort, ample enthusiasm, and the energy needed to overcome unwholesome thoughts and attitudes. It also includes the cultivation of positive virtues, the study of Dharma and the choice of right actions. Diligence requires eagerness and sharp interest in pursuit of the good. It leads to active, healthy, well-balanced growth.

Meditation is the fifth perfection. Buddhists believe that everyone has a light within. We need to spend time in meditation in order to find that light and to express it in our daily life. Meditation serves to calm your mind, to eliminate distraction and to restore the true nature of the mind. Meditation helps you to become the master of your mind. Through meditation, you learn to control your mind instead of the other way around.

Now, to the sixth perfection — the Prajna Paramita — wisdom. This is when we discover the true nature of reality. Wisdom dispels the darkness of delusion which envelops our minds. Wisdom will penetrate the emptiness of reality and will lead to greater freedom and to beautiful peace. Wisdom is the door into awakening. Wisdom overturns ignorance and the attitudes that lead to those negative thoughts, feelings, words and behaviors. In their place, compassion will arise as a spontaneous expression of a deepened caring attitude toward all living beings.

Paramitas are called perfections. There is a reason for this. These paramitas are not acts in themselves. Rather, they’re goals to be reached. When we reach them they become perfections. Think about it — when could you ever stop meditating? Perhaps you could stop meditating when you reach perfection in meditation. When do you stop being generous? When you reach a level of perfection in your generosity. When there is nothing left which needs to be given. When there is no one left you need to give to. The teaching of these paramitas are the lessons to be learned. The paramitas themselves are the result of your learning.

So, the real question as we wind up the posts on the paramitas is what is our enlightened life going to look like? Actually, enlightened life doesn’t imply the need for anything in particular, but that might be a little difficult to understand. Perhaps there are no enlightened people. Maybe there is only enlightened activity. Or, maybe it’s both — one follows the other.

The word Paramita means gone beyond-ness. Each of these six principles of enlightened living lies beyond our ordinary range of perception. We don’t have to make it all “new-agey” either. It doesn’t just have to be to find “the truth.” It could be just as simple as being honest and straightforward. Wouldn’t that be pretty intense? To be straightforward and genuine with ourselves and with others. That’s extremely profound. That is truth.

It’s not trite. Just to be one’s self, through and through, and be genuine and allow others to be themselves as they are. That is love, acceptance, and compassion. That would truly be wonderful.

Let’s shoot for that, and put aside these notions of “perfect enlightenment” for now. I think a little goodness and warmth will go a long way today. Let’s be beacons in the world. Let’s be models to the young ones and shine some light on the way.

Metta ….May all beings be well and happy. May all beings live in safety. May all beings be healthy and strong. May all beings live with ease.

Namaste — Be in Peace.

Ron Rink

=====================================================

Ron’s Recommended Reading List

Just click the links that are sort of Grey in color to take you to where you can learn more about each book and how you can purchase a copy for your own library.

Anam Thubten — No Self – No Problem

No Self – No Problem
shows how to realize the ultimate meaning of life in each moment by dissolving all notions of ego-identity. It asks that spiritual seekers wake up to their true nature, which is already enlightened. Based on Buddhist wisdom traditions, this easy-to-read book discusses in simple, but profound and inspiring language, how we can live a life full of love, satisfaction, and happiness. No Self – No Problem

Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook

“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that. — From The Kindness Handbook

Eckhart Tolle’s amazing best seller, A New Earth

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s wonderful book, My Stroke of Insight: Nirvana is just a breath away!

And this one by Sharon Salzberg and is entitled: A Heart as Wide as the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom and Compassion“.

This is a new one for you by Pema Chodron entitled: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

=====================================================

Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….


“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

Shanti everyone, … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)


“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

Have a peaceful day!! —

Ron Rink

P.S. If you;d like to read my memoir/novel, you can access it here:
http://www.wecould2.com

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19
April

Buddhist Belief — The Six Paramitas – Fifth Paramita


“By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind.”

~~~ Tarthang Tulku

The Fifth Paramita in Buddhist Belief is about the perfection of our meditation — the perfection of our mental stability. As many of you know, I am a strong proponent of a daily practice of meditation. It is through this practice we can discover our mind’s inherent stability, clarity and strength.

Buddhist Belief, meditation, nirvana, mindfulness, karma

Once we have entered into a daily practice of meditation, we will begin to see the truth about this individual self we work so hard to protect, feed and clothe. The more we try to locate this “self” the more we will learn how hard it is to find it. We’ll learn more about how our desire to cling to the illusions of permanence will eventually lead to suffering or dissatisfaction. It is through meditation where we can sharpen our wisdom. When we become accustomed to our meditation practice we will enter the beginning stages of training our minds to settle — to become less distracted.

In order for the other paramitas to take us toward the mind of enlightenment, we need this wisdom to break down and dismantle our conceptual ideas of who we are and what we’re doing. We slowly begin to understand that things are not as they seem. Compassion arises. We gain insight into our experience which allows us to apply generosity, discipline, patience and exertion in helping others.

I know for myself — and I’ve heard this from others who are following a Buddhist lifestyle — there are times when trying to find the energy to “be there” for others feels like it’s not possible. It’s just too much. But, one of the things I’m learning more and more every day is how when we put our compassion for others into our lives, our own suffering and dissatisfaction actually becomes relieved. If you give this some serious thought, you’ll see how placing our minds on others is a form of meditation.

Our minds tend to behave like our muscles — when we’re focused on our own craving and clinging, our minds tighten up and we usually make a mess out of our self-pursuits. But working for the happiness of others brings lightness of mind. When we know this truth, extending love and compassion is all there is to do. Then everything we encounter becomes part of our journey as practitioners of meditation. We can look at each other, at our children and at the world, and see it all as an opportunity to experience the joy of the Buddhist path.

I encourage you to find those few moments of every day to devote to your meditation practice. I do at least one hour very day — sometimes more — but rarely less. Some days I will sit for the entire hour — other days I may sit for a half hour in the morning — and other half hour midday — and perhaps another half hour in the evening. It varies, but on those days when circumstances keep me from meditating here at home, I feel a sense of withdrawal, and will still look for a way to get silent — even for a few moments.

Try it — you might like it!

Metta ….May all beings be well and happy. May all beings live in safety. May all beings be healthy and strong. May all beings live with ease.

Namaste — Be in Peace.

Ron Rink

=====================================================

Ron’s Recommended Reading List

Just click the links that are sort of Grey in color to take you to where you can learn more about each book and how you can purchase a copy for your own library.

Anam Thubten — No Self – No Problem

No Self – No Problem
shows how to realize the ultimate meaning of life in each moment by dissolving all notions of ego-identity. It asks that spiritual seekers wake up to their true nature, which is already enlightened. Based on Buddhist wisdom traditions, this easy-to-read book discusses in simple, but profound and inspiring language, how we can live a life full of love, satisfaction, and happiness. No Self – No Problem

Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook

“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that. — From The Kindness Handbook

Eckhart Tolle’s amazing best seller, A New Earth

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s wonderful book, My Stroke of Insight: Nirvana is just a breath away!

And this one by Sharon Salzberg and is entitled: A Heart as Wide as the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom and Compassion“.

This is a new one for you by Pema Chodron entitled: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

=====================================================

Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….


“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

Shanti everyone, … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)


“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

Have a peaceful day!! —

Ron Rink

P.S. If you;d like to read my memoir/novel, you can access it here:
http://www.wecould2.com

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Posted by Ron Rink under Buddhist Belief | Comment now » |
08
April

Buddhist Belief — The Six Paramitas – Fourth Paramita


“By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind.”

~~~ Tarthang Tulku

The Fourth Paramita in Buddhist Belief is about the perfection of our effort. It is also known as the Virya Paramita. Virya (the root of which is related to our word “virtue”) can be explained in several ways: energy in pursuit of the good, effort, diligence, zeal, or by extension, courage.

Buddhist Belief, meditation, nirvana, mindfulness, karma

Sure sounds like a heck of a lot of hard work, doesn’t it? Right up there with cold showers, in a way. How do we put more virtuousness into our efforts? Where are we going to find this amazing, heroic effort?

Well, the fact is we don’t have to create something at all. What we need is already there. We already possess as much energy as we need. We just need to find better ways of directing it. We need to be more aware of our decisions as we make them. It is, again, about awareness — mindfulness. The process of making decisions involves deciding against one type of effort in favor of another type of effort. We have to decide to cut something out of our lives. When we choose, we are deliberately narrowing our lives in one sense, but also deepening them considerably in another sense.

The practice of the Virya Paramita can be thought of as having three components. The first component is the development of virtue in ourselves. The second component is the study of Buddhist teachings, and the third component is helping others. As you can see, these three components apply beautifully with the dharma.

If we are familiar with the Four Noble Truths we know there is something not right with our experience with the world around us. We are generally dissatisfied. We discover how it is our actions, our efforts, which cause these dissatisfying aspects of our lives. We know we have to do something to change this. We also learn there is, in fact, something which can be done to bring about those changes. We also learn that this “something” which needs doing is our responsibility — ours and only ours. We need to make some decisions to cease living our lives in ways which will bring about dissatisfaction.

In order to make these decisions, we need to carefully examine our lives — a process which is essential to our Buddhist practice. “To study Buddhism is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all things.” When we forget ourselves (that is the small self, which consists of greed, aversion and delusion) in the activity of our lives we find that the world cooperates in unexpected ways. This is one of the great mysteries — I can’t explain how or why this works, I can only assure you it does.

Much of this self-examination is done through our regular practice of meditation. Our life and practice is also enriched by others. To see others change—an easier thing than to see change in ourselves—or to appreciate the virtue and courage of our teachers, and good spiritual friends—is a source of great nourishment. It can give us the courage to press on when we feel disheartened by our own progress. Perhaps we’ve either experienced or known of folks who aren’t able to sit in meditation alone for more than a couple of minutes, but when meditating with a group can easily sit for twenty or thirty minutes.

This paramita also includes the study of Buddhist teachings. This study can, of course, include our examination of ourselves, but it will also include a study of how the world around us functions. We also need to include working for the benefit of others as an integral part of this paramita of virtue of effort.

To sum up, the practice of the virya paramita is not to embark on a useless effort of flogging ourselves to great feats of endurance. Rather, it is to develop a profound silence at our core, which will bring with it the full potential to provide us with the energy needed to make good decisions. We have this energy already within us, we just need to learn to direct it to making the right decisions for ourselves and for the benefit of others and the world.

Metta ….May all beings be well and happy. May all beings live in safety. May all beings be healthy and strong. May all beings live with ease.

Namaste — Be in Peace.

Ron Rink

=====================================================

Ron’s Recommended Reading List

Just click the links that are sort of Grey in color to take you to where you can learn more about each book and how you can purchase a copy for your own library.

Anam Thubten — No Self – No Problem

No Self – No Problem
shows how to realize the ultimate meaning of life in each moment by dissolving all notions of ego-identity. It asks that spiritual seekers wake up to their true nature, which is already enlightened. Based on Buddhist wisdom traditions, this easy-to-read book discusses in simple, but profound and inspiring language, how we can live a life full of love, satisfaction, and happiness. No Self – No Problem

Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook

“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that. — From The Kindness Handbook

Eckhart Tolle’s amazing best seller, A New Earth

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s wonderful book, My Stroke of Insight: Nirvana is just a breath away!

And this one by Sharon Salzberg and is entitled: A Heart as Wide as the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom and Compassion“.

This is a new one for you by Pema Chodron entitled: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

=====================================================

Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….


“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

Shanti everyone, … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)


“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

Have a peaceful day!! —

Ron Rink

P.S. If you;d like to read my memoir/novel, you can access it here:
http://www.wecould2.com

http://www.buddhistbelief.com

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Posted by Ron Rink under Buddhist Belief | Comment now » |