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The Six Paramitas
The pāramitās are practices that allow us to cross the river of suffering to reach the shore of well-being, joy, and peace. Our mind has two layers: store consciousness, where seeds are buried like compact discs, and mind consciousness, where these seeds manifest. Progress in the practice, called vīrya or diligence, consists of four exercises:
- Not watering the negative seeds in us and signing a peace treaty with our loved ones so as not to activate anger or despair.
- Changing the CD if a negative seed manifests, using the intelligence and art of the practice to invite peace.
- Helping positive seeds to manifest every day, such as joy and compassion, especially by listening to the Dharma.
- Convincing the good CD to continue, by keeping the positive seeds in mind consciousness for as long as possible.
The practice is comparable to a six-petaled flower representing the six pāramitās:
- Dāna: giving, of which the most precious gift is our true presence offered through mindfulness.
- Śīla: the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
- Kṣānti: the capacity to embrace suffering with an immense heart, including the four elements of love which are loving kindness, compassion, joy, and non-discrimination.
- Vīrya: zeal, diligence, and daily progress.
- Dhyāna: meditation, composed of stopping and looking deeply, which allows for the relaxation and healing of body and mind.
- Prajñā: insight and understanding, which constitute the indispensable foundation of all the other practices.
Prajñā is the liberating factor that heals ignorance, the root of fear and anger. In the light of insight, love is a living, organic thing subject to impermanence. A person is neither the same nor different over time; thus, to safeguard love, we must maintain our own freshness and inner beauty. By understanding that the other person is our own continuation, we practice organic gardening of the mind, capable of transforming the garbage of suffering into flowers of understanding and happiness.
Part of the following collection
First Peace Treaty: Do Not Water the Thorns