practice the six paramitas, such as generosity and so forth, yourself; you teach others using words that make them also embrace the teachings. This includes both the six paramitas and the four means of magnetizing. Therefore, make the pledge to endeavor in practicing these ten paramitas consistently, not sometime in the future, but from this very moment onward. You must take that kind of pledge to unmistakenly, and to the best of your ability, embark upon that practice from now on.
At first, one should arouse bodhichitta either in the presence of a master or in front of a specific sacred object. On a daily basis, one arouses bodhichitta by oneself, which is how it is developed here.
Imagine that the guru, Noble Tara, surrounded by all the victors and their heirs, is vividly present in the sky before you. In her presence, you form the resolve to arouse bodhichitta—the mind set on supreme enlightenment, embodying both aspiration and application—for the benefit of all sentient beings. While keeping that in mind, recite the following verse repeatedly:
HOH
In order to ensure that all sentient beings, my mothers,
Attain the state of enlightenment,
I will refrain from negative actions,
Gather all virtuous qualities,
And always generate the bodhichitta that benefits others.
At the end, totally dispense with mental constructs of the three spheres and settle in the state of equanimity. That is called “sealing the relative bodhichitta with ultimate bodhichitta.”
First there is a general statement and then a specific explanation.
THE GENERAL STATEMENT
Once you have aroused the bodhichitta of application, you must train in its stages, which can all be condensed into the three superior trainings. As taught in the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment:
If you want to summarize the nature of the bodhichitta of application, then it is to train oneself thoroughly in the training of discipline, etc., with a great devotion in the threefold training.
Thus, you must develop the superior training in discipline, the superior training in samadhi, and the superior training in knowledge or insight. Of these three, the training in discipline includes the paramitas of generosity, discipline, and patience. The training in samadhi is the fifth paramita of concentration, and the training in knowledge is the sixth paramita, the transcendent knowledge. The fourth paramita of diligence supports all three trainings.
The Ornament of the Sutras says:
In terms of the threefold trainings,
The victorious ones have thoroughly taught those to be the six paramitas.
The first three are the first training,
The last two have one each,
And one belongs to all three of them.
So it is said. These six paramitas embody or complete every single activity that is necessary for attaining enlightenment. As the Buddha taught in the Sutra Requested by Laxan:
Laxan, in order for a bodhisattva mahasattva to quickly obtain true and complete enlightenment, he or she must thoroughly and constantly perfect the six paramitas.
Thus he said.
The main aim is to attain the higher realms and the definitive excellence of liberation and enlightenment. The causes for attaining these are complete within the six paramitas.
In order to attain birth in the higher realms, one practices material generosity and maintains pure ethics and discipline. In order to have a retinue of followers, one practices patience. In order to attain the definite goodness of liberation and enlightenment, one practices diligence, the cause for developing virtuous qualities. The cause of shamatha is concentration, and the cause of vipashyana is knowledge or insight. Since they are progressively more subtle and more difficult to engage in, they are taught in that order. Therefore, form this pledge: “For the sake of accomplishing enlightenment through the path of the higher realms and definite goodness of liberation, I will train myself in the six paramitas, progressively, beginning with the first ones, which are easier, and moving gradually to the latter, more difficult, ones.”
The six paramitas can also be included within the two accumulations in the following way: Generosity and discipline belong to the accumulation of merit, while knowledge is the accumulation of wisdom. The three remaining paramitas of patience, concentration, and diligence belong to both accumulations.
Each of the paramitas is also endowed with four qualities: eliminating their opposites, which are the adverse circumstances; promoting non-conceptual wisdom; fulfilling all desires; and bringing benefit to sentient beings.
The first five paramitas, generosity and so forth, must be embraced by the knowledge that does not conceptualize the three spheres; otherwise, they do not become causes for enlightenment. If they are imbued with the transcendent knowledge, they are truly paramitas, meaning “transcendental,” and are counted among them. In this way, you will attain the state of the omniscient Buddha. This is mentioned in The Compendium:
Thousands and millions of blind people, without a guide,
Will not find their way and never reach their destination.
Lacking knowledge, the first five paramitas,
Being without a guide,
Lack the ability to attain enlightenment.
Accordingly, for whatever action you engage in, such as generosity and the like, be sure to imbue it with the three excellences of preparation, the main part, and the conclusion—and, in particular, with the flawless insight that does not conceptualize the three spheres. As well, think, “For the sake of all sentient beings, from within a state free of conceptualizing the three spheres, I will engage in the six paramitas, which are contained within the two accumulations and endowed with the four qualities, and I will do so continuously, like a magical illusion.” Train in that way.
THE SPECIFIC EXPLANATION
Here there are three sections: a brief explanation of the first four paramitas and detailed explanations of concentration (dhyana) and of insight (prajna).
Generosity, the first of the six paramitas, which is the training for the bodhichitta of application, has three aspects. The first aspect is the giving of material things, such as food, clothing,