Six paramitas 六波羅蜜多，六度

Bodhisattva sangha from the Longchen Nyingtik field of merit

The six paramitas or 'transcendent perfections' (Skt. ṣaṭpāramitā; Tib. ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་དྲུག་, parol tu chinpa druk; Wyl. pha rol tu phyin pa drug) comprise the training of a bodhisattva, which is bodhichitta in action.

1. Generosity (Skt. dāna; Tib. སྦྱིན་པ་, jinpa): to cultivate the attitude of generosity.
2. Discipline (Skt. śīla; Tib. ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་, tsultrim): refraining from harm.
3. Patience (Skt. kṣānti; Tib. བཟོད་པ་, zöpa): the ability not to be perturbed by anything.
4. Diligence (Skt. vīrya; Tib. བརྩོན་འགྲུས་, tsöndrü): to find joy in what is virtuous, positive or wholesome.
5. Meditative concentration (Skt. dhyāna; Tib. བསམ་གཏན་, samten): not to be distracted.
6. Wisdom (Skt. prajñā; Tib. ཤེས་རབ་, sherab): the perfect discrimination of phenomena, all knowable things.

The first five paramitas correspond to the accumulation of merit, and the sixth to the accumulation of wisdom. The sixth paramita can be divided into four, resulting in ten paramitas.

Written Sources

Sutras

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• Fortunate Aeon Sutra

Shastras

The six paramitas are mentioned and explained in many of the most important Indian sources, such as

• Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend,
• Chandrakirti’s Introduction to the Middle Way and
• Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara.

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzogchen Beara, Ireland, 8 July 2012
• Dzogchen Rinpoche, London, 19-23 June 1998

Further Reading

• Dzogchen Ponlop, Rebel Buddha (Boston: Shambhala, 2010), pages 124-132.
• Geshe Sonam Rinchen, The Six Perfections, translated by Ruth Sonam (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1998)
• Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher (Boston & London: Shambhala, 2004), pages 181-219.
• Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Boston: Shambhala, Revised edition, 1998), pages 234-261.
• Khenpo Kunpal, The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, translated by Padmakara Translation Group. Published by Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6
• Khenpo Palden Sherab Rinpoche,Ceasless Echoes of the Great Silence, a Commentary on the Heart Sutra. Translated by Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche. Pages 81-96. Published by Sky Dancer Press. ISBN 1-880976-01-7

Internal Links

• Ten paramitas