today i contemplated a bit about the path of the bodhisattva and i want to share my view on it, im curious about your views and understandings. i think its a good time before ango and the jukai time to contemplate a little bit
The way of the bodhisattva is to strive to fulfill the ideal itself. That means to embody the following virtues, the paramita:
Dana paramita, the virtue of “open handedness”:
The dana paramita is embodying an openness, the unconditional love towards all beings. It means to give without expectation, without attachment. It’s the giving beyond the act of giving but with the innermost intention out of compassion and love. Its not only about giving material things but also giving your time, your being, your attention and share your presence with others.
The sila paramita, the ethical way to live:
When we are compassionate and loving, we can only act ethically. We cannot harm others in any way because how can you hurt someone through compassion, with love? We cannot speak bad about people, steal, engage in sexual misconduct and so on… what intention is behind such immoral behaviours? Its selfishness, greed, anger, aversion… the poisons of mind…
Ksanti paramita, patience:
We will encounter again and again situations, circumstances and conditions in live, that are not the conditoons we would wish, that maybe hurt, challenging us and so on… we cannot avoid it because we are human beings and bound to old age, sickness, death but also while living with others that have different views that do not fit with ours. Also, on the path we may face own ideas and our mind poisons… not to become entangled, not to react blindly to our karma but be patient, with compassion and understanding is the embodying of ksanti paramita
Virya paramita, the virtue of effort:
To walk the path with our whole heart, it takes a lot of effort sometimes… to follow the ethical ideals, to practice the dana ideal, trying being patient, keep zazen practice as daily practice, be mindful not to act to our habit patterns/karma and create more negative karma and so on, that takes much effort.
Dhyana paramita, the parmita of meditation.
Daily zazen practice, formal but also informal, make it our daily life, bring zazen into our daily life tasks and make it a part of our whole being..we embody buddha with our practice, we recognize our own true nature and practice awakening as a foundation of our life, of the live of a bodhisattva.
And the perfection of wisdom, prajna paramita.
In one hand, intellectual understanding of the dharma is a good thing but if we understand the dharma beyond our intellect, that’s highest wisdom. This way understanding anicca, anatman and dukkha, the impermanence, the interconnection/dependent origination and what dukkha is, the causes and the cessation of it… these understanding beyond intellect is
As we can see, are those paramitas also congruent with the noble eightfold path, are some kind of result of it… we have the moral virtues, the insight/wisdom virtues and the meditation/samadhi virtues. To fulfill the perfection of the paramitas means to embody them, to make it part of our being, of our nature. So we follow the path wholeheartedly and come back every time we leave it. The moment we walk the path with our whole being, we already arrived. And yet, the ideal of the bodhisattva, is an ideal and so we take the vows that cannot be finally fulfilled…to free all beings, to put all the delusions to an end, to master all the dharmas and to embody the enlightened way. We need to fulfill the vow any moment…without an end.
gassho,
ben
stlah
The way of the bodhisattva is to strive to fulfill the ideal itself. That means to embody the following virtues, the paramita:
Dana paramita, the virtue of “open handedness”:
The dana paramita is embodying an openness, the unconditional love towards all beings. It means to give without expectation, without attachment. It’s the giving beyond the act of giving but with the innermost intention out of compassion and love. Its not only about giving material things but also giving your time, your being, your attention and share your presence with others.
The sila paramita, the ethical way to live:
When we are compassionate and loving, we can only act ethically. We cannot harm others in any way because how can you hurt someone through compassion, with love? We cannot speak bad about people, steal, engage in sexual misconduct and so on… what intention is behind such immoral behaviours? Its selfishness, greed, anger, aversion… the poisons of mind…
Ksanti paramita, patience:
We will encounter again and again situations, circumstances and conditions in live, that are not the conditoons we would wish, that maybe hurt, challenging us and so on… we cannot avoid it because we are human beings and bound to old age, sickness, death but also while living with others that have different views that do not fit with ours. Also, on the path we may face own ideas and our mind poisons… not to become entangled, not to react blindly to our karma but be patient, with compassion and understanding is the embodying of ksanti paramita
Virya paramita, the virtue of effort:
To walk the path with our whole heart, it takes a lot of effort sometimes… to follow the ethical ideals, to practice the dana ideal, trying being patient, keep zazen practice as daily practice, be mindful not to act to our habit patterns/karma and create more negative karma and so on, that takes much effort.
Dhyana paramita, the parmita of meditation.
Daily zazen practice, formal but also informal, make it our daily life, bring zazen into our daily life tasks and make it a part of our whole being..we embody buddha with our practice, we recognize our own true nature and practice awakening as a foundation of our life, of the live of a bodhisattva.
And the perfection of wisdom, prajna paramita.
In one hand, intellectual understanding of the dharma is a good thing but if we understand the dharma beyond our intellect, that’s highest wisdom. This way understanding anicca, anatman and dukkha, the impermanence, the interconnection/dependent origination and what dukkha is, the causes and the cessation of it… these understanding beyond intellect is
As we can see, are those paramitas also congruent with the noble eightfold path, are some kind of result of it… we have the moral virtues, the insight/wisdom virtues and the meditation/samadhi virtues. To fulfill the perfection of the paramitas means to embody them, to make it part of our being, of our nature. So we follow the path wholeheartedly and come back every time we leave it. The moment we walk the path with our whole being, we already arrived. And yet, the ideal of the bodhisattva, is an ideal and so we take the vows that cannot be finally fulfilled…to free all beings, to put all the delusions to an end, to master all the dharmas and to embody the enlightened way. We need to fulfill the vow any moment…without an end.
gassho,
ben
stlah
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