Six Paramitas

In Zen they talk about the six 'perfections' or Pāramitās as listed in the Prajñapāramitā and Lotus Sutras. These virtues are to be cultivated to help you live an unobstructed life on the way to full awakening. The Sanskrit word paramita means to cross over to the other shore, so these can be thought of as boats or vehicles for making the crossing (from the shore of delusion to the shore of awakening). In Sanskrit they are:

  1. Dāna pāramitā: generosity, giving
  2. Śīla pāramitā : virtue, morality, discipline, proper conduct
  3. Kṣānti (kshanti) pāramitā : patience, tolerance, acceptance
  4. Vīrya pāramitā : energy, diligence, vigour, effort
  5. Dhyāna pāramitā : single-pointed concentration, contemplation
  6. Prajñā pāramitā : wisdom, insight, understanding

This week I've been mostly trying to practice kshanti.

One of the main sources of this practice has been our internet company (the internet in our house still doesn't work) and their call centre, which I assume is based in India. Nothing like a touch of down-to-earth reality in your endeavour towards enlightenment... Their advisers seem only capable of reading certain scripts written for certain situations, and the engineer they finally booked to come yesterday phoned to say he couldn't come because the parking was too difficult. Added to that I spent the day yesterday with one of Jo's relatives who gets easily distracted and finds it difficult to do anything at any speed. Needless to say he's a lovely chap and very well meaning, but kshanti practice was very much in my mind.

Kshanti and to some extent Virya have also been needed this week in relation to my yoga classes. Not many people have been coming to my classes, but I have had some enquiries about people wanting to come this evening, so there's hope!

I hope you're all having a lovely week and rowing steadily along the river of life, allowing its currents to take you where you need to go whilst allowing yourself to glance now and then in the direction of "the other shore".