| Basic Meaning |
The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, power, aspirations, power and pristine wisdom are added to them ten perfections. |
| Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism |
In Sanskrit, “perfection,” a virtue or quality developed and practiced by a bodhisattva on the path to becoming a buddha. The term is paranomastically glossed by some traditional commentators as “gone beyond” or “gone to the other side” (see p a r a ) , although it seems in fact to derive from Skt. parama, meaning “highest” or “supreme.” The best-known enumeration of the perfections is a group of six: giving (däna), morality (śIla), patience or forbearance (ksänti), effort (vIrya), concentration (dhyäna), and wisdom (prajnä). There are also lists of ten perfections. In the M a h ä y ä n a (specif ically in the D aśabhūm ikasūtra), the list of ten includes the preceding six, to which are added method (upäya), vow (pranidhäna), power (bala), and knowledge (jnäna), with the explanation that the bodhisattva practices the perfections in this orderoneachofthetenbodhisattvastagesorgrounds(bhümi). Thus, giving is perfected on the first bhümi, morality on the second, and so on. In Päli sources, where the perfections are called pãramī, the ten perfections are giving (däna), morality (slla), renunciation (nekkhamma; S. n a i s k r a m y a ) , wisdom (paññā), effort (viriya), patience (khanti), truthfulness (sacca; S. satya), determination (adhitthāna; S. adhisthäna), loving- kindness (mettä; S. MAiTRl), and equanimity (upekkhā; S. upeksä). The practice of these perfections over the course of the many lifetimes of the bodhisattva’s path eventually fructifies in the achievement of buddhahood. The precise meaning of the perfec tions is discussed at length, as is the question of how the six (or ten) are to be divided between the categories o f merit ( p u ņ y a ) and wisdom ( j n ä n a ) . For example, according to one interpretation of the six perfections, giving, morality, and patience contribute to the collection of merit (punyasam bhära); concentration and wisdom contribute to the collection of wisdom (jnänasam bhära), and effort contributes to both. Commentators also consider what distinguishes the practice o f these six from other instances o f the practice o f giving, etc. Some M a d h y a m a k a exegetes, for example, argue that these virtues only become perfections when the bodhi sattva engages in them with an understanding of emptiness (śūnyatà); for example, giving a gift without clinging to any conception o f giver, gift, or recipient. |