Welcome to Class Six in this Paramitas series. This is the big one!
“Paramita”, as we’ve discussed, means perfection or transcendent.
We’ve talked about Perfect Generosity, Perfect Patience, Discipline, Effort and Meditation. Each time, we’ve talked about how there are two versions of these qualities - normal, conventional, call it relative Generosity for example and then perfect, transcendent, absolute, enlightened versions of Generosity.
Relative Generosity is sharing your food, giving to charity, etc. but with a mindset that reinforces your ego, your identity, your sense of self. That’s fine and good to do, but it’s not the paramita of generosity. Transcendent Generosity is giving without expecting anything in return. Giving knowing that giver and receiver are the same. Giving in a way that cuts through or dissolves or recognizes the immateriality of our individualness.
The Wisdom that we are talking about here, Perfect Wisdom, Transcendent Wisdom, is the same. There are all kinds of examples of relative wisdom - the Golden Rule for example. They range from cliche to deeply moving and helpful. But they are not Transcendent Wisdom, because they can all be used to reinforce the illusion that we exist, reinforce duality, reinforce separateness, and therefore reinforce suffering.
The key that unlocks this door is the word “Emptiness”. In Sanskrit, it’s the word ‘shunyata’. In Tibetan it’s རྟག་ཆད་དང་བྲལ་བ་, [tak ché dang dralwa,](https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Emptiness#:~:text=Emptiness (Skt.,such as Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti.) which translates as: ‘free from permanence and non-existence'.
How do we understand emptiness? Well, that’s a lifelong journey. Happily, thanks to the Buddha and the unbroken lineage of thousands of years of meditators, we have hundreds of meditation practices to help.
Personally, the crispest and most pithy is a chant done throughout the Buddhist world called “The Sutra on the Heart of Transcendent Knowledge” aka “The Prajna (Wisdom) Paramita”
[excerpt]
Shariputra - “How should a son or daughter practice the Wisdom Paramita?”
Avalokiteshvara - “Seeing in this way - form is emptiness, emptiness also is form… [keep reading]”
OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA!
There are a million other practices, and frankly all aspects of our practices have emptiness deeply woven in. If they don’t, or if they do and we forget them, we are just using all this spiritual stuff to build up a mistaken view in ourselves.
From a philosophical point of view, an intellectual view, there are also a thousand things to read, including Shantideva, Patrul Rinpoche and the scores of commentaries on their incredible works.
Let me relate a story of Shantideva:
Shantideva was a scholar in the eighth century from the monastic university Nalanda, one of the most celebrated centers of learning in ancient India. According to legend, Shantideva was greatly inspired by the celestial bodhisattva Manjushri, from whom he secretly received teachings and great insights. Yet as far as the other monks could tell, there was nothing special about Shantideva. In fact, he seemed to do nothing but eat and sleep. In an attempt to embarrass him, the monks forced Shantideva's hand by convincing him to publicly expound on the scriptures. To the amazement of all in attendance that day, Shantideva delivered the original and moving verses of the Bodhicharyavatara. When he reached verse thirty-four of the ninth chapter, he began to rise into the sky, until he at last disappeared. Following this, Shantideva became a great teacher.
Here are those verses: