The six perfections

[ground]

... may you (?) forgive me my ignorance that I haven't realized before 

Nothing to forgive. When there is no ignorance liberation cannot arise.

Kind regards

[Hanzze]

 

[ground]

Putting aside all the idiotic yackety-yak of me and Hanzze in the foregoing and focusing on the quotations of Lama Tsongkhapa (amended by quotes from Candrakirti referring to the bhumis) what has been quoted so far can be characterised as verbalizations "rooted in the sphere of the clinging-aggregates" and therefore also fostering the perpetuation of the clinging-aggregates. Taking the perfections as presented by Lama Tsonkhapa as the basis for practice therefore can be called "the worldly bodhisattva path".


It is interesting to contrast this worldly approach suggested by Lama Tsongkhapa with what a "renunciate (no-)mind" (that which renounces the worldly) has to say about the perfections (see next post).

[ground]

A Renunciate's summary of the six perfections

Question:

"The six perfections can produce omniscience. What about this?"



Answer [by Tripitaka Dharma Master]:

"The perfections have neither self nor other, so who receives and who obtains?

The fruits of the common karma of the sentient-being class are indistinguishable from the marks of a Tathagata's field of merit. The sutra says: 'If the giver with an equal mind gives to the Invincible Tathagata and the lowest beggar in the assembly, it is equal to great compassion and is complete Dharma giving.
This is called the perfection of giving. [generosity]

There are neither events nor causes. There is no taking joy or growing weary. The substance is Thusness. Since ultimately there is no 'is-not', who seeks 'is'? If 'is' and 'is-not' do not arise, then the precept body will be pure and so will be called the perfection of morality. [ethical discipline]

The mind has no internal or external. What do this and that have to rely on? The nature of sound lacks anything to be defiled. It is sameness, like space. This is called the perfection of forbearance. [patience]

Divorced from the measurings of the various organs of perception, ultimately the mind substance opens up, but it does not abide in characteristics. This is called the perfection of striving. [energy]

The three times of present, past and future have no characteristics. Not for a moment is there a locus to abide in. One dwells in neither events nor Dharma. Quiet and disturbance are intrinsically Thusness. This is called the perfection of dhyana. [concentration]

Nirvana and Thusness are in essence invisible. When you do not engage in futile discourse, are divorced from thought, mind, and the consciousnesses, and do not abide in device [upaya, means], it is called Thusness. There is nothing to be used. You use, and yet it is not using. The sutra says: 'Teaching devices with insight is release.' Therefore, this is called the perfection of insight. [wisdom]



excerpt from The Bodhidharma Anthology, J. L Broughton

[Hanzze]

And, where do you see the contrast? *smile*

[ground]

And, where do you see the contrast? *smile*

The verbalizations are not identical. Can't you see with your eyes?

[Hanzze]

Oh oh, I see *smile* Amazing, isn't it...

[ground]

The fixed number of perfections based on high status

To fully complete the greatly effective bodhisattva deeds you need an immeasurable long succession of lifetimes. Moreover, to attain quick success on the path within these lifetimes you need a life excellent in every aspect. Our present life is not excellent in every aspect but rather has only some of the aspects of full excellence; we do not make progress with it though we practice the teachings. You need a life that has four kinds of excellence: (1) resources to use [the result of the perfection of generosity], (2) a body with which you act [the result of the perfection of ethical discipline], (3) companions together with whom you act [the result of the perfection of patience], and (4) work that you are able to accomplish once undertaken [the result of the perfection of joyous perseverance]. Since in many cases these four kinds of excellence alone may themselves become conditions for afflictions, you must not fall under the control of the afflictions [the result of the perfection of meditative stabilization]. As just the four kinds of excellence are not sufficient, you must also distinguish well, in regard to what to adopt and what to cast aside, precisely what things to do and to stop doing [the result of the perfection of wisdom]. Otherwise, just as a bamboo or plantain tree dies after giving fruit, or a mule dies with pregnancy, you will be destroyed by the four excellences.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The fixed number of perfections based on fulfilling the two aims

When someone in such a life of high status learns the bodhisattva deeds, these activities are comprehensively categorized as two: those which fulfill your own aims and those which fulfill the aims of others. Therefore there is a fixed number of perfections based on fulfilling the two aims.
To fulfill the aims of others you must first help them with material goods. Since no benefit will come from generosity accompanied by harmfulness toward living beings, you need ethical discipline, which has a great purpose for others in that it is the state of desisting from harm to others and the causes of such harm. To bring this to its full development you also need patience that disregards the harm done to you, for, if you are impatient with harm and retaliate a time or two, you will not attain pure ethical discipline. When you do not retaliate because of your patience, you prevent others from accumulating a great amount of sin and bring them to virtue by inspiring them with your patience. So this practice has a great purpose for others.
You attain your own aim, the bliss of liberation, through the power of wisdom. Since you will not attain this with a distracted mind, you must set your mind in meditative equipoise by means of meditative stabilization, obtaining a mental serviceability wherein you intentionally set your attention on any object of meditation. Since a lazy person does not produce this, you need joyous perseverance day and night that never slackens, so this is the basis of the other perfections. ... In these six there is no complete fulfillment of other's aims.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The fixed number of perfections based on perfecting the complete fulfillment of other's aims

You first relieve other's poverty by giving away material goods. Then you do no harm to any living being and, in addition, are patient with harm done to you. Without becoming dispirited you joyously persevere at helping those who harm you. You depend on meditative stabilization and inspire them through displaying supernormal powers and so forth. When they become suitable vessels for the teachings, you rely on wisdom and give good explanations, cut through their doubts and thereby bring them to liberation. Because you do all this, the perfections are fixed as six in number.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The fixed number of perfections based on their subsuming the entire Mahayana

You are indifferent to resources because you are not attached to those you have and do not pursue those you lack. since you then have the ability to safeguard precepts, you adopt and respect ethical discipline. You are patient with the suffering that comes from living beings and inanimate things and you are enthusiastic about whatever virtue you set out to cultivate, so you do not get dispirited by either of these. You cultivate a non-discursive yoga of meditative serenity and a non-discursive yoga of insight. These six comprise all the Mahayana practices through which you advance by the six perfections, for you accomplish these practices in stages by means of the six perfections and you do not need any more than these six perfections.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The fixed number of perfections in terms of the completeness of paths and methods

The path - i.e. method - for not being attached to the resources that are your possesions is generosity, because you become free from attachment to your things by becoming habituated to giving them away. The method for restraining yourself from distraction of trying to possess what you do not possess is ethical discipline, for when you maintain a monks vows, you do not have all the distractions of making a living. The method for not abandoning living beings is patience, because you do not despair at the suffering caused by the harm others inflict. The method to increase virtues is joyous perseverance, because you increase them when you joyously persevere at what you undertake. The method for clearing away obscurations are the final two perfections, because meditative stabilization clears away the afflictions and wisdom clears away the cognitive obscurations. Thus the perfections are fixed as six in number.
...
The following explanation produces strong conviction about the six perfections. In order to avoid being dominated by the distractions of sensual objects, you need generosity that is free from attachment. To prevent sensory experiences that have not occurred, you need ethical discipline that restrains distraction by things that are pointless [deeds that are wrong by prohibition] or counterproductive [deeds that are wrong by nature]. Given that there are a great number of living beings whose behaviour is bad and who are constantly in danger of meeting, you need powerful conditioning to patience as a remedy for giving up on their welfare. In order to increase virtue in terms of the great number of actions and its practice over long periods of time, you need joyous perseverance that has the intense and long-term enthusiasm that comes from reflecting on the benefits of virtuous actions, etc. In order to suppress afflictions you need meditative stabilization, and to destroy their seeds, and the cognitive obscurations you need wisdom.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The fixed number of perfections based on the three trainings

The nature of the training in ethical discipline [the first of the three trainings] is the practice of ethical discipline. The precondition of the training in ethical discipline is generosity, because once you have generosity that is indifferent to resources, you can properly adopt an ethical discipline. The aid to the training in ethical discipline is patience, because the patience of not retaliating when scolded, etc. safeguards your properly adopted ethical discipline. Meditative stabilization is the training of mind [the second training, the training of meditative concentration], and wisdom is the training in wisdom [the third training]. As for joyous perseverance, it is included in all three trainings. So the perfections are fixed at six in number.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

By a certain kind of excellent life you bring to completion either others' or your own aims; you practice certain kinds of trainings by possessing a diversity of methods, depending on which vehicle you are in. Understand in this way that the six perfections comprise and bring to completion the above perspectives on their fixed number - life, aims, the Mahayana, the methods, and the trainings. Reflect until you get a deep conviction about how the six perfections are the summation of all the key points of bodhisattva practice.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The fixed number of perfections based on their being remedies that eliminate the class of phenomena that are incompatible with virtue

Furthermore, there are two causes of not initially transcending or rising above cyclic existence - attachment to resources and attachment to a home. The remedies for these are generosity and ethical discipline.
You may rise above these attachments once, but still turn back without reaching the end. There are two causes of this - suffering from the wrongdoing of living beings and becoming dispirited at the length of time you have to pursue virtue. The remedies for these are patience and joyous perseverance, respectively. Once you understand how to sustain a disregard for all suffering and harm, as well as enthusiasm which views even an eternity as though it were one day, you must practice them in various ways. If you do this, you will produce the patience and joyous perseverance that are capable of functioning as remedies to what causes you turn back. Thus, they are extremely crucial. Never mind the matter of the bodhisattva deeds, even with regard to present-day cultivation of virtue, there are many who start out but few who do not turn back after a while because (1) their forebearance of the slightest hardship is tiny, and (2) their enthusiasm for the path they cultivate is tepid. This is the result of their not putting into practice the personal instructions associated with patience and joyous perseverance.
There are two causes for letting your virtue go to waste even if you do not turn back after a while - distraction, wherein your attention does not stabilize on a virtuous object of meditationm and faulty wisdom. The remedies for these are meditative stabilization and wisdom, respectively. Meditative stabilization is a remedy because it is said that even virtuous practices such as repetition of mantra and daily recitations are senseless if your attention wanders elsewhere. Wisdom is a remedy because if you fail to develop the wisdom that fully delineates the topics in the collections of Buddhist knowledge, you will be mistaken about what to adopt and what to cast aside, even the obvious, and will then conduct yourself wrongly. This fixes the number of perfections at six in terms of their being remedies that eliminate the class of phenomena that are incompatible with virtue.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The number of perfections is fixed at six based on the fact that they are the foundation for achieving every quality of a buddha. This is because the first four perfections are preconditions for meditative stabilization, so through these four you accomplish meditative stabilization - the perfection of non-distraction. Furthermore, when you cultivate insight based on this, you will know reality.
Fixing the number of perfections at six in terms of their being concordant with helping living beings to mature is similar in meaning to the third one [perfecting the complete fulfillment of others' aims] mentioned earlier.
I have explained the noble Asanga's assertions as presented by the master Haribhadra [in his Long Explanation of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines (Abhisamayalamkaraloka)]. It is extremely crucial to gain conviction about the six perfections.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The order of arising

When you have generosity that is desinterested in and unattached to resources, you take up ethical discipline. When you have an ethical discipline which restrains you from wrongdoing, you become patient with those who harm you. When you have the patience wherein you do not become dispirited with hardships, the conditions for rejecting virtue are few, so you are able to persevere joyously. Once you joyously persevere day and night, you will produce the meditative concentration that facilitates the application of your attention to virtuous objects of meditation. When your mind is in meditative equipoise, you will know reality exactly.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)

The perfection of generosity

What generosity is

... it is the virtue of a generous attitude, and the physical and verbal actions which are motivated by this.
... you perfect generosity after you destroy your stingy clinging to all that you own - your body, your resources, and roots of virtue - and you completely condition your mind to giving them away to living beings from the depth of your heart and, not only that, but also to giving to others the effects of this giving as well.


The gift of the teachings

The gift of the teachings is teaching the sublime teachings without making mistakes, teaching the arts and the like (worldly occupations which are blameless and proper to learn), and involving others in upholding the fundamental precepts.


The gift of fearlessness

The gift of fearlessness is protecting living beings from fear of humans such as kings and robbers, from fear of non-human beings such as lions, tigers, and crocodiles, and from fear of the elements such as water and fire.


Material gifts
...


Recipients of giving

1. friends and relatives who help you
2. enemies who harm you
3. ordinary people who neither harm nor help you
4. those with good qualitites such as ethical discipline
5. those with flaws such as faulty ethical discipline
6. those inferior to you
7. those equal to you
8. those superior to you
9. the rich and happy
10. the miserable and destitute

...

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)



The perfection of generosity (continued)

The Joyous (Pramudita)

...
The generative cause of the sons (& daughters) of the conquerors are the thought of compassion, non-dualistic knowledge and the thought of awakening.
...
Before all else I praise compassion;
...
The first [stage in generation of the thought of awakening] is dominated by compassion directed toward the liberation of all living beings, and fixed in happiness that grows from the vow of universal good. Because he (she) has obtained [the thought of awakening], from this moment on he (she) is designated by the title bodhisattva.

He (she) is born into the family of the tathagatas and rids himself (herself) completely of the three bonds (attachment to philosophical views; attachment to conventional standards of morality, custom and ritual practices; doubt or confusion about the possibility of attaining awakening), the bodhisattva fosters sublime joy, and is capable of shaking a hundred world systems.

Mounting from stage to stage he (she) will make his (her) ascent, [but even] at this time he (she) will have eradicated the paths leading to rebirth in bad migrations. For him (her) [any possibility of] life as a common man (woman) is now absolutely exhausted, and he is assigned the same status as a saint of the eighth rank (stream enterer).
...
During this time generosity predominates in [the bodhisattva] as the initial cause of awakening; and because this generosity insures devotion even in giving one's own flesh, so it furnishes and inferential sign of [qualities] that can not become manifest [at this stage]
...
Those who carry in their hearts the resolution to act for the benefit of all living beings obtain, through [the practice of] generosity, immediate happiness.
...
Even the happiness that comes from entering into the peace [of nirvana] is unlike that happiness experienced by a son (daughter) of the conquerors when he (she) thinks about hearing the word give. What can be said of [the joy that arises] from abandoning all [inner and outer possessions]?
...
That act of generosity which is empty of giver, giving, and recipient is called supramundane perfection; and that which is attached to [concepts of] these three is taught as mundane perfection.
In this way the joy abiding in the heart of the son (daughter) of the conquerors infuses its pure receptacle with beautifully radiant light, and like the precious liquid cristal of the moon, it conquers and dispels the blackest darkness.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)


Kind regards

The perfection of ethical discipline

... ethical discipline does indeed have three devisions [the ethical discipline of restraint, the ethical discipline of gathering virtue, and the ethical discipline of acting for the welfare of living beings] ...


The ethical discipline of restraint

The Bodhisattva-Bhumi says the ethical discipline of restraint is the seven types of vows for individual liberation. Thus given that there are those who have taken vows of individual liberation and are also keeping the bodhisattva vows, the ethical discipline of restraint is either the actual vows of individual liberation for the group of either laypersons or renunciates, or it is a practice of restraint and abstention that would be associated with those actual vows. Also, given that there are those who have taken the bodhisattva vows who are unsuited to be recipients of the vows of individual liberation, the ethical discipline of restraint is the practice of restraint and abstention that gives up any deed that is wrong by nature or any deed that is wrong by prohibition that would be associated with the vows of individual liberation.
...
Also, within the three devisions of ethical discipline, the ethical discipline of restraint - the actual rules of the individual liberation vows or the practices of engaging in what is to be adopted and rejecting what is to be cast aside that would be associated with these vows - is initially very important even for bodhisattvas, so train in this.
...
If you think that the vows of individual liberation are for sravakas, and if you cast aside their prescriptive and proscriptive rules and say "There are other precepts, bodhisattva precepts, to train in," then you have not grasped the key point of the bodhisattva training in ethical discipline, for it is often said that the ethical discipline of restraint is the basis and source of the next two types of ethical discipline.


The ethical discipline of gathering virtue

The ethical discipline of gathering virtue means that you focus on virtues such as the six perfections and then develop the virtues that you have not developed in your mind, do not spoil the ones that you have already developed, and increase both of these ever further.


The ethical discipline of acting for the welfare of living beings

The ethical discipline of acting for the welfare of living beings means that you focus on the welfare of eleven sorts of living beings*, and then accomplish their aims in this and future lives in a suitable manner and without wrongdoing.

*
[size=85][The eleven sorts of living beings are 1. those who need help, 2. those who are confused as to the proper method, 3. those who have given help, 4. those afflicted by fear, 5. those afflicted with sorrow, 6. those poor in goods, 7. those who want a dwelling
8. those you want mental harmony, 9. those who proceed correctly
10. those who proceed wrongly, 11. those who need to be disciplined by supranormal powers][/size]

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)



The perfection of ethical discipline  (continued)

The Immaculate (Vimala)

The Bodhisattva posses the qualities of most prefect morality and therefore, even when dreaming, he (she) renounces any defilement which would violate his (her) moral behaviour. From purification of physical, verbal, and mental acts he (she) consolidates the ten paths of pure conduct.
With his (her) entry into [the second stage] this tenfold path of virtue is brought to extreme purity. Like the autumn moon he (she) is always pure, and through following these [then paths] he (she) is made beautiful with the radiant light of peace.
If, however, he (she) were to view [any aspect of] this pure morality as instrinsically existent, then it would no longer be "pure" morality. Therefore he (she) remains totally aloof from the influence of dualistic ideas concerning any of the three supports.
For a person whose morality is deficient, the goods resulting from charity may appear even in a bad migration; but when the bulk of them has been spent along with any other which the produced, there will be no more such goods in the future.
When [a person] lives with independence and under agreeable circumstances and still neglects to take firm hold of himself (herself), then he (she) will tumble into the abyss and be delivered over to the power of others; and once this has happened, who will lift him (her) up?
Because of this, the Conqueror gave instructions in moral conduct just after teaching about generosity. [All] good qualities thrive in the soil of morality, and the enjoyments of its fruits never ceases.
For common men (women), for [sravakas] born from the words [of a buddha], for the individual [awakening] of pratyekabuddhas, and for the sons (& daughters) of the conquerors, the essential cause of temporary happiness as well as incomparable bliss is none other than morality.
Just as in the case of the ocean with respect to a corpse, or as it is with prosperity in the face of misfortune - so a mighty one governed by the force of morality is unwilling to live with any transgression.
When there is any [belief in an] objective support associated with these three - he (she) who abstains, the act of abstention, and the object of that act - then such morality is called a mundane perfection; but that which is empty of attachment to the three of them is referred to as a supramundane perfection.
Issuing forth from that moon which is the son (daughter) of the conquerors, this immaculate [stage] is not worldly, and yet it is the glory of the world. Stainless and pure as light from the autumn moon, it dispels the burning heat that torments the heart of every living being.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)

The perfection of patience


What patience is

Patience is (1) disregarding the harm done to you, (2) accepting the suffering arising in your mind-stream, and (3) being certain about the teachings and firmly maintaining belief in them. There are three sets of factors incompatible with these: for the first, hostility; for the second, hostility and loss of courage; and for the third, disbelief and dislike. Perfecting patience means that you simply complete your conditioning to a state of mind wherein you have stopped your anger and the like. ...


(1) disregarding the harm done to you in terms of practice means

a) Stopping impatience with those who harm you:

Stopping impatience with those who prevent your happiness and those who cause you to suffer.
Stopping impatience with those who prevent your praise, fame, or honor, and with those who have contempt for you, or say offensive or unpleasant things to you.
Stopping both dislike for harmdoers' attainments and delight in their troubles

b) Stopping both dislike for harmdoers' attainments and delight in their troubles


(2) accepting the suffering arising in your mind-stream in terms of practice means developing the patience of accepting suffering


(3) being certain about the teachings and firmly maintaining belief in them in terms of practice means developing the patience of certitude about the teachings

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)




The perfection of patience (continued)

The Luminous (Prabhakari)

This third stage is [called] "The Luminous" because here appears the light of the fire which burns away without remainder its fuel of the objects of knowledge. At this time, within the son (daughter) of the tathagata there arises a brilliance, the color of polished brass, like the sun.
If someone angered without provocation should gradually, measure by measure, cut away the flesh and bone from an bodhisattva's body, his patience with the person doing the cutting would grow to an extreme.
Even the things associated with such an act of mutilation - that which [is being cut], he who [is cutting], and the time [of the event] - are seen as mere reflections by a bodhisattva who directly perceives the absence of a self. On this account he (she) is patient.
...
Anger directed against a son (daughter) of the conquerors destroys in a single moment merit accumulated through generosity and morality practiced over the course of eons. Therefore there is no sin greater than impatience.
Impatience creates an ugly appearance, it leads to association with the ignoble, it steals the discrimination that distinguishes between right and wrong behaviour, and before long it casts the offender into a bad migration. Patience engenders qualities the opposite of those [faults] just mentioned.
Patience beautifies and leads to association with noble people, it is the knowledge involved in distinguishing between right and wrong conduct. Moreover it brings about the disintegration of sin, and birth as a god or man.
...
Even as applied toward the awakening of a perfect buddha, when [patience is associated with] attachment to reified concepts concerning the existence of the three supports, it remains a mundane perfection. That [patience] that is devoid of any support was taught by the buddha as a supramundane perfection.
At this stage the son (daughter) of the conquerors experiences, along with his (her) practice of meditation (dyana) and higher mental faculties, the complete exhaustion of craving and hostility. He (she) is also capable at any time of vanquishing the passionate craving of the world.
The sugatas commonly recommend these three principles - generosity, [morality, and patience] to laypeople. These same principles constitute the provision of merit, and are the cause of the buddha's body of form.
When it has completely dispelled the darkness of the son (daughter) of the conquerors within whom it resides, [the thought of awakening associated with] this luminous [stage] brings with it a longing for total victory over the darkness of all living beings. At this stage, even though he has become extremely zealous, [the bodhisattva] is never subject to anger.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)

The perfection of joyous perseverance


Armor-like joyous perseverance

When bodhisattvas joyusly persevere, prior to actively engaging themselves they put on the armor of a preliminary enthusiastic thought such as, "For a trillion sets of three immeasurable great eons each composed of days as long as thousand great eons, I shall not relinquinsh my practice of joyous perseverance. For the sake of relieving the suffering of a single living being, I would rejoice at remaining only as a hell-being until I attain buddhahood. As I exert myself in this manner for the sake of complete enlightenment, what neeed is there to mention my perseverance over a shorter period in the face of lesser sufferings"?
Such is the joyous perseverance that is like armor.


Joyous perseverance of gathering virtue

The joyous perseverance of gathering virtue is applying yourself to the practice of the six perfections in order to properly accomplish them.


Joyous perseverance of acting for the welfare of living beings

The joyous perseverance of acting for the welfare of living beings is properly applying yourself to the practice of the eleven activities for others' welfare.




The method of developing joyous perseverance

1. Eliminating unfavorable conditions:
1.1 Stopping the laziness of procrastination
1.2 Stopping attachment to ignoble activites
1.3 Stopping discouragement of self-contempt

2. Gathering the forces of the favorable conditions
2.1 Developing the power of aspiration
2.2 Developing the power of steadfastness
2.3 Developing the power of joy
2.4 The power of relinquishment

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)



The perfection of joyous perseverance (continued)

The Radiant (Arcismati)

All good qualities follow after energy (virya). Energy is a cause for both of the two types of provisions: merit and discerment. The stage where it is kindled is the forth, called "The Radiant".
At this stage, within the son (daughter) of the sugatas, from intense meditative cultivation of the ancillaries to perfect awakening, a brilliance is produced which is superior to the shining of brass, and any [reified concepts] associated with the philosophical view of a subjective self are completely eradicated.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)

The perfection of meditative stabilization


What meditative stabilization is

Meditative stabilization is a virtuous, one-pointed state of mind that stays fixed on its object of meditation, without distraction to other things.


How to begin the cultivation of meditative stabilization

Think over the benefits of cultivating meditative stabilization and the faults of not cultivating it.


The divisions of meditative stabilization

... if you subdivide meditative stabilization according to nature, there are two kinds: mundane and supramundane; if you do so according to orientation, there are three kinds [oriented toward serenity, toward insight, or toward both conjoined]. If you subdivide it according to function, there are three types: meditative stabilization that stabilizes the body and mind in bliss within this present life, meditative stabilization that achieves good qualities, and meditative stabilization that carries out the welfare of living beings. The first, meditative stabilization that stabilizes the body and mind in bliss within this present life, is all meditative stabilizations that generate mental and physical pliancy, when you enter them with equipoise. The second, meditative stabilization that achieves good qualities, is all meditative stabilizations which accomplish good qualities shared with the sravakas - the superknowledges, liberations, totalities, masteries, etc. The third, meditative stabilization that carries out the welfare of living beings, is meditative stabilization that accomplishes the eleven activities for others' welfare.


How to practice

Whenever you practice any virtuous meditative stabilization, you should do so in association with the six supremacies and all six perfections. The generosity of meditative stabilization is maintaining meditative stabilization yourself and then establishing others in it.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)





The perfection of meditative stabilization (continued)

The Unconquerable (Sudurjaya)

At this stage called "The Unconquerable", the mighty one cannot be subdued even by all the forces of Mara. [Perfection of] meditation predominates, and [the bodhisattva] gains extreme skill in comprehension of the profound instrinsic nature of the [four] truths of the noble-minded.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)

The perfection of wisdom


How to begin the generation of wisdom

The way to begin the generation of wisdom is to contemplate the benefits of generating wisdom and the faults of not generating it.


The divisions of wisdom

Wisdom that knows the ultimate

Wisdom that knows the ultimate cognizes the reality of selflessness, either by means of concept or in a direct manner.

Wisdom that knows the conventional

Wisdom that knows the conventional is wisdom that is proficient at the five topics of knowledge [Buddhist knowledge, grammer, logic, technical arts and medicine].
The topics are distinguished by different sorts of purposes for pursuing them. To refute those who do not believe in the teaching, you pursue knwoledge of grammar and logic. To help those who do believe, you pursue knowledge of the arts and medicine. To achieve knowledge of all for yourself, you pursue Buddhist knowledge. But to attain buddhahood, there are no such distinctions between them; you must pursue all the topics of knowledge.

Wisdom that knows how to act for the welfare of living beings

Wisdom that knows how to act for the welfare of living beings knows the way to accomplish blamelessly the welfare of beings in their present and future lives.


How to practice

When you develop the three kinds of wisdom, you do so in association with the six supremacies and all six perfections. The generosity of wisdom is establishing others in wisdom after you have stabilized yourself in it.

Lama Tsongkhapa (LRCM)



The perfection of wisdom (continued)

The Directly Facing (Abhimukhi)


At the stage called "The Directly Facing", fixed in balanced concentration (samadhi) and directly facing the Dharma of a perfect buddha, [the bodhisattva] who perceives the nature of conditionality abides in perfect wisdom and thereby attains cessation.
Just as an entire group of blind men is easily conducted to its destination by a single person gifted with sight, so in this case also [perfect wisdom] goes on to the [stage of] the conquerors, taking along with it the [previous five] qualities that are without the eye of discrimination.
...
The seed of a perfect buddha's discrimination lies within such a person. This person is a proper vessel for teachings on reality, it is to him that the truth of the highest meaning is to be taught, and he posseses the qualitites which must accompany that [instruction].
Always he lives morally, gives offerings, practices compassion, and fosters patience. He applies the merit from these [virtues] toward his awakening for the liberation of all living beings.
He is devoted to the perfect bodhisattvas. A person who is expert in this profound and vast way, who has by degrees obtained the stage called "The Joyous", and who is intent on this [stage] - he alone should attend to this path.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)




Beyond

The Far Advanced (Durangama)

At the stage [called] "The Far Advanced" [the bodhisattva] enters into the cessation [of dualistic thought*] from one moment to the next, and his skillful means also attain a glorious brilliance.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)



* [size=85]"It is called 'cessation in suchness' because at the time of [his] noble balanced concentration (aryasamadhi) all conceptual diffusion associated with the appearance of dualism ceases in 'suchness'" (Lama Tsongkhapa)[/size]




Beyond (continued)

The Immovable (Acala)

The [thought of awakening] becomes irreversible when, for the purpose of gaining greater an greater virtue, the mighty one enters into the [stage called] "The Immovable". His vow [to rescue all living beings] is entirely purified, and the conquerors lift him from cessation.

The wisdom of non-clinging does not abide in the company of any faults, and therefore at the eighth stage these impurities along with their roots are thoroughly eradicated. The afflictions have been extinguished, yet even though [the bodhisattva] is preeminent in the triple world, still he is unable to obtain the treasure of the [qualities] of the buddhas, which is limitless as the heavens.

Although the round of transmigration has been stopped, [the bodhisattva] will go on to obtain the ten powers and use them for the benefit of living beings.

Candrakirti, Madhyamakavatara (CW Huntington, jr)



_________________


A Renunciate's summary of the six perfections

Question:

"The six perfections can produce omniscience. What about this?"



Answer [by Tripitaka Dharma Master]:

"The perfections have neither self nor other, so who receives and who obtains?

The fruits of the common karma of the sentient-being class are indistinguishable from the marks of a Tathagata's field of merit. The sutra says: 'If the giver with an equal mind gives to the Invincible Tathagata and the lowest beggar in the assembly, it is equal to great compassion and is complete Dharma giving.
This is called the perfection of giving. [generosity]

There are neither events nor causes. There is no taking joy or growing weary. The substance is Thusness. Since ultimately there is no 'is-not', who seeks 'is'? If 'is' and 'is-not' do not arise, then the precept body will be pure and so will be called the perfection of morality. [ethical discipline]

The mind has no internal or external. What do this and that have to rely on? The nature of sound lacks anything to be defiled. It is sameness, like space. This is called the perfection of forbearance. [patience]

Divorced from the measurings of the various organs of perception, ultimately the mind substance opens up, but it does not abide in characteristics. This is called the perfection of striving. [energy]

The three times of present, past and future have no characteristics. Not for a moment is there a locus to abide in. One dwells in neither events nor Dharma. Quiet and disturbance are intrinsically Thusness. This is called the perfection of dhyana. [concentration]

Nirvana and Thusness are in essence invisible. When you do not engage in futile discourse, are divorced from thought, mind, and the consciousnesses, and do not abide in device [upaya, means], it is called Thusness. There is nothing to be used. You use, and yet it is not using. The sutra says: 'Teaching devices with insight is release.' Therefore, this is called the perfection of insight. [wisdom]



excerpt from The Bodhidharma Anthology, J. L Broughton