One of the six paramitas, as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches them is diligence. Other translations of the six paramitas call this one effort. The other paramitas are generosity, ethics, patience, concentration, and wisdom. The value of diligence is demonstrated when we commit to daily practice. We can also demonstrate the value of diligence […]
Get-What-You-Want Buddhism
May 25, 2015 by
Jan Nattier is a scholar of Early Indian Buddhism, Early Mahayana Buddhism, and Chinese Buddhist Translation and author of A Few Good Men (Studies in the Buddhist Traditions). She was a professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University and held the post of the Shinnyōen Consulting Professor (Buddhist Studies) […]
Give As If There Is Nothing To Lose
May 24, 2015 by
These words of wisdom from Sallie Tisdale, author of Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom advises us to give as if there is nothing to lose. And really, what do we have to lose? All of our urgently felt needs for security vanish in light of our ultimate fate. Seeing the […]
Seven Pieces of Advice from Rumi
July 26, 2014 by
These seven pieces of advice from Rumi touched my heart. In generosity and helping others be like the river. In compassion and grace be like the sun. In concealing others’ faults be like the night. In anger and fury be like the dead. In modesty and humility be like the soil. In tolerance be like […]
The Power Of Giving
November 8, 2013 by
In continuation of the series of articles about the six paramitas, I came across this lovely quote from the Buddha. If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way. – the Buddha The essence of the first paramita – the […]
How To Give
October 28, 2013 by
During this week of talking about the 6 paramitas, Bhikkhu Samahita sent me an email with the subject line, “How to give with good and Joyous Result 🙂 .” You may recall that generosity is the first paramita. This what he sent: There might be the case, where one gives wealth, but without joy! Then, […]
The Six Paramitas
October 26, 2013 by
After almost two weeks of articles about giving and the six paramitas, we come to a great video by Pema Chodron from a retreat she led in 1999 called, “Awakening Bodhichitta.” Bodhichitta literally means “heart-mind,” and is refers to awakening the mind of love, compassion, and awakening. The subject of the retreat is the training […]
The Perfection Of Concentration
October 24, 2013 by
The perfection of concentration is the next paramita in the series of articles on the six paramitas taught by the Buddha. Paramita is a Sanskrit word meaning “crossing to the other shore.” By practicing the paramitas of generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom, we cross over to the other shore from ill-being to well-being, […]
The Perfection Of Diligence
October 23, 2013 by
According to Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, the fourth paramita is the perfection of diligence. In previous articles, we learned that the Sanskrit word, paramita, means, “Crossing over to the other shore,” from ill-being to well-being. Perfection and completeness are also acceptable translations. The traditional way of talking about the perfection of diligence is to […]
The Perfection Of Ethics
October 21, 2013 by
In the previous post, The Perfection of Generosity, we learned that the perfection of ethics was one of the paramitas taught by the Buddha. The paramitas are practices that take us to the other shore from ill-being to well-being. A common translation of the Sanskrit word, paramita, is perfection or completeness, as was stated previously. […]
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