The First Treatise on the Perfections
[Previously this was chapter VII, entitled On Miscellany, but the whole chapter is only about one subject, the perfections (pāramī), hence I have retitled it. And as its content fits better with the Further Explanations I have included it here.]
Homage to the Fortunate One, the Worthy One,
the Perfectly Self-Awakened One
What follows are miscellaneous notes on the perfections for the benefit of those who aspire to Buddhahood. Here we furnish miscellaneous notes on the ten perfections (pāramī) as mentioned in the commentary on the Basket of Conduct (Cariyā-piṭaka) for the benefit of those who aspire to the supreme goal of Perfect Self-Awakening and omniscience, and to enable them to acquire skill in comprehending, practising and accumulating the requisites for Awakening.
This chapter will deal with the following pertinent features of the perfections in the form of 16 questions and answers.
1. What are the perfections?
2. Why are they called perfections?
3. How many perfections are there?
4. In what sequence are the perfections arranged?
5. What are the characteristics, functions, etc. of the perfections?
6. What are the basic conditions of the perfections?
7. What are the factors which defile the perfections?
8. What are the factors which purify the perfections?
9. What are the factors which oppose the perfections?
10. What is the method for practising the perfections?
11. What is the complete analysis of the perfections?
12. What is the synopsis of the perfections?
13. What factors accomplish the perfections?
14. How long does it take to accomplish the perfections?
15. What advantages accrue from the perfections?
16. What is the fruit of the perfections?
1. What are the Perfections?
The answer to the question is: The noble qualities, such as generosity, morality, etc., not spoiled by craving, pride or wrong view, but founded on great compassion and wisdom which is skill in seeking merit, are to be named perfections (pāramī).
When giving alms (dāna), if it is tainted with craving, thinking: “This is my alms giving;” if it is tainted with pride, thinking: “This alms giving is mine;” if it is tainted with wrong view, thinking: “This alms giving is myself,” such alms giving is said to be spoiled by craving, pride or wrong view. It is only the kind of alms giving not spoiled by craving, pride or wrong view which could be termed a perfection. The same applies to the observance of morality, renunciation, etc.
To be qualified as a perfection, deeds of merit, such as generosity, morality, etc., should not only be free from the taints of craving, pride or wrong view, but should be founded on great compassion (mahā-karuṇā) and wisdom which is skill in seeking merit (upāya-kosalla-ñāṇa).
A Bodhisatta should be able to develop immense sympathy for all beings, close or distant, as if they were all his own children, this is great compassion (mahā-karuṇā). Without discriminating between friend and foe, he should look upon all sentient beings as poor sufferers in Saṁsāra, where they are burning with the fires of craving, hatred and delusion, and also with the fires of birth, ageing, death, grief, lamentation, pain, distress and despair. Contemplating thus, he should develop vigorous compassion for them. His compassion should be so great as to enable him to go to the rescue of all beings from Saṁsāra, even sacrificing his life. Such compassion is called great compassion (mahā-karuṇā) which forms the basis of all the perfections.
The Bodhisatta, in his life as the recluse Sumedha, was so accomplished in spiritual attainments at the time he met Buddha Dīpaṅkara that he could achieve his own liberation right there and then had he so desired. But as a great being endowed with supreme compassion, he bore personal suffering in Saṁsāra for the long duration of four immeasurable periods and 100,000 aeons to fulfil the perfections in order to liberate suffering beings.
The wisdom which is skill in doing deeds of merit, such as generosity, morality, etc., so that they become basic means and support for the attainment of omniscience is called skill in seeking merit (upāya-kosalla-ñāṇa). A man of good family, who aspires to Buddhahood, should engage in meritorious deeds such as generosity, morality, etc., with the sole aim of attaining omniscience. He should not wish for benefits that really lead to suffering in Saṁsāra. The wisdom that enables him to aim at, and wish for, omniscience as the only fruit of his good deeds, is called skill in seeking merit.
The aforesaid great compassion and skill in seeking merit are the fundamentals for his becoming a Buddha and for the practice of the perfections. One who aspires to Buddhahood should, first of all, endeavour to become accomplished in these two fundamentals. Only the qualities, such as generosity, morality, etc., developed on the basis of these two principles can become true perfections.
2. Why Are They Called Perfections?
It may be asked why the ten virtues, such as generosity, morality, etc., are called perfections. The Pāḷi word “pāramī” is the combination of “parama” and “ī.” “Parama” means “supreme” and is used here as a designation of Bodhisattas, because they are the highest of beings endowed with the extraordinary virtues of generosity, morality, etc. they are supreme.
Or, because they fulfil and protect such special virtues as generosity, morality, etc.; because they behave as though they bind on and attract other beings to them by means of these virtues; because they purify others by removing their defilements in a most ardent manner; because they proceed to the supreme Nibbāna; because they know their next existence as they comprehend the present life; because they practise virtues, such as generosity, morality, etc., in an incomparable manner, as if these virtues were ingrained in their mental continuum; because they dispel and destroy all alien hordes of defilements which threaten them the Bodhisattas are called supreme (parama).
A Bodhisatta is incomparably endowed with special virtues, such as generosity, morality, etc. This accounts for the emergence of the utterance and the knowledge: “This person is a Bodhisatta; he is a parama, a supreme being.” Thus, the special virtues of generosity, morality, etc., come to be known as what belongs to a supreme being, the perfections (pāramī).
Again, only Bodhisattas are able to perform deeds of merit, such as generosity, morality, etc., in an unparalleled manner. Hence, these deeds of merit are called the perfections (pāramī), meaning the duties of Bodhisattas (paramānaṁ kammaṁ pāramī), or the properties of Bodhisattas (paramānaṁ ayaṁ pāramī).
The set of ten virtues [This section originally stood alone, as a short piece in the Further Explanation of Words and Phrases above. I have moved it here, as it helps to explain the perfections, which is the subject of this Treatise.] including alms giving (dāna), morality (sīla), etc. are called perfections (pāramī). A Bodhisatta, being endowed with these ten virtues, such as generosity, morality, etc. is known as a parama or extraordinary personality. On this basis, therefore, the etymology of the perfections (pāramī) is: paramānaṁ bhāvo, the state of extraordinary personalities, which is derived from two things: the knowledge of those who see and know them as such, and the sayings of those who see and know them as they really are. An alternative etymology is paramānaṁ kammaṁ, the work of extraordinary personalities; hence their course of conduct, which consists of generosity, morality, etc., is called the perfections (pāramī).