Part 4: The Method
Training in Action Bodhicitta
འཇུག་སེམས་སྦྱོང་བ།
'jug sems sbyong ba
Chapter Summary
Having established aspiration bodhicitta, this chapter introduces its application through the six paramitas. The three moral trainings—superior morality, superior thought, and superior wisdom—correspond to the six perfections, which are explained through their definite number, order, characteristics, definitions, divisions, and groupings into the two accumulations.
The wish alone is not enough. You can wish to cross a river all day long, but until you start swimming — or building a boat — you remain on the same shore. This chapter marks the transition from aspiration to action, from wanting to achieve buddhahood for all beings to actually training in the practices that make it possible.
Gampopa organizes these practices through three moral trainings that encompass the entire path: training in superior morality, training in superior thought, and training in superior wisdom awareness. These three, in turn, are accomplished through the six perfections — generosity, ethical discipline, patience, perseverance, meditative concentration, and wisdom — which will be the subject of the next six chapters.
The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment says:
If one maintains the vow of And trains well in the three types of moral ethics, Devotion for the three moral trainings will increase.
Correspondence of Trainings and Paramitas
Training in Superior Morality: Generosity, moral ethics, and patience
Training in Superior Thought: Meditative concentration
Training in Superior Wisdom: Discriminating wisdom awareness
Support for All Three: Perseverance
The Ornament of Mahayana Sutra says:
With respect to the three trainings, The Victorious One explained the six paramitas well. The first three belong to the first training, The last two belong to the last two, And one belongs to all three.
Therefore, the summary:
Generosity, moral ethics, patience, Perseverance, meditative concentration and discriminating wisdom— These six comprise the training in .
The Subahu-Requested Sutra says:
Subahu, in order for a mahasattva to achieve enlightenment quickly, he must persistently concentrate on full perfection of the six paramitas. What are these six? They are: perfection of generosity, perfection of moral ethics, perfection of patience, perfection of perseverance, perfection of meditative concentration, and perfection of wisdom awareness.
Explanation of the Six Paramitas
The summary:
Definite number, definite order, Characteristics, definition, Division, and grouping— These six comprise the six paramitas.
1. Definite Number
Why exactly six paramitas? They are explained according to two goals: temporary higher status and definite goodness.
Three for Temporary Higher Status:
- Generosity — for wealth
- Moral ethics — for excellent body (rebirth)
- Patience — for excellent surroundings (companions)
Three for Definite Goodness (Liberation):
- Perseverance — for increasing virtue
- Meditative concentration — for calm abiding (shamatha)
- Wisdom awareness — for special insight (vipashyana)
The Ornament of Mahayana Sutra says:
Excellent wealth, excellent body, And excellent surroundings Are for temporary higher status.
2. Definite Order
The order reflects how they develop in the mind:
- Through generosity, one will accept pure morality without focusing on material concerns
- When one has moral ethics, one will have patience
- When one has patience, one can make effort with perseverance
- When one has made effort with perseverance, meditative concentration will arise
- When absorbed in meditative concentration, one will perfectly realize the nature of all phenomena through wisdom
Alternatively, the order moves from lower to higher practice—those which are lower are explained first, superior ones later.
Or, from gross to subtle—those easier to follow come first, those more difficult come later.
The Ornament of Mahayana Sutra says:
The second arises in dependence on the first; Because some abide lower and higher, Because of being gross or subtle, In this way, the orders abide respectively.
3. Characteristics
Each of the six paramitas has four characteristics:
- Decreases its opposite — Each paramita directly counters a particular obstacle
- Produces primordial wisdom of non-conceptual thought — When practiced purely
- Fulfills all that is desired — Accomplishes both worldly and transcendent aims
- Matures sentient beings in the three ways — Through generosity, pleasant speech, and beneficial action
The Ornament of Mahayana Sutra says:
Generosity destroys its opposite, Possesses the primordial wisdom of non-conceptual thought, Fulfils all desires, and Matures sentient beings in the three ways.
4. Definition
The meaning of each paramita:
- Generosity (dana) — Dispels poverty
- Moral Ethics (shila) — Achieves coolness (freedom from the heat of afflictions)
- Patience (kshanti) — Endures hatred
- Perseverance (virya) — Applies to the Supreme One (aspires to enlightenment)
- Meditative Concentration (dhyana) — Brings the mind inside
- Wisdom Awareness (prajna) — Realizes the ultimate meaning
They are the cause to cross samsara and achieve nirvana. Therefore, they are called "paramitas" (perfections, or "gone beyond").
The Ornament of Mahayana Sutra says:
Therefore it is said: Dispelling poverty, Obtaining coolness and enduring hatred, Applying to the supreme and holding the mind inside, Realizing the ultimate meaning.
5. Division
Each paramita contains all six within it:
- Generosity of generosity
- Moral ethics of generosity
- Patience of generosity
- Perseverance of generosity
- Meditative concentration of generosity
- Wisdom awareness of generosity
And so forth for each of the six, totaling thirty-six divisions.
The Ornament of Clear Realization says:
The six paramitas, generosity and so forth, Grouped individually Are the practice of the armour of enlightenment Which precisely explains multiplying six by six.
6. Grouping
The six paramitas are grouped into the :
Accumulation of Merit:
- Generosity
- Moral ethics
Accumulation of Perfect Wisdom:
- Wisdom awareness
Included in Both:
- Patience
- Perseverance
- Meditative concentration
The Ornament of Mahayana Sutra says:
Generosity and moral ethics Are the accumulation of merit. Wisdom awareness is the accumulation of perfect wisdom. The other three belong to both.
Introduction to the Six Perfections
The following six chapters will explain each paramita in detail:
- Perfection of Generosity — Giving material things, fearlessness, and Dharma
- Perfection of Moral Ethics — Restraint, gathering virtue, and benefiting beings
- Perfection of Patience — Bearing harm, accepting suffering, and contemplating Dharma
- Perfection of Perseverance — Armor-like, gathering virtue, and benefiting beings
- Perfection of Meditative Concentration — Calm abiding and the dhyanas
- Perfection of Wisdom — Understanding emptiness and dependent origination
These six perfections constitute the actual training in —the practice that transforms aspiration into accomplishment.
Study Questions
The six paramitas are said to arise in a definite order, each depending on the one before it. Looking at your own experience, which paramita feels most naturally developed in you, and which feels most distant? What does this suggest about where your practice needs attention?
Gampopa teaches that each paramita contains all six within it—for example, the "patience of generosity" or the "wisdom of moral ethics." Can you think of a concrete example from your own life where practicing one perfection naturally required another?
The paramitas serve two purposes: temporary higher status (good rebirth) and definite goodness (liberation). When you engage in virtuous activity, how honest can you be about which of these two motivations is actually driving you?
Perseverance is said to support all three moral trainings—superior morality, superior thought, and superior wisdom. In what areas of your life or practice do you notice a lack of joyful effort, and what might be underlying that resistance?
The six paramitas are grouped into the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. How do you understand the relationship between these two accumulations? Why would both be necessary rather than just one? --- *This is the eleventh chapter, dealing with the explanation of the six paramitas, from The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, the Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings.*