By Victor M Fontane
The six paramitas, or transcendent perfections, are an essential concept in the practice of Mahayana Buddhism. They are so fundamental in fact that the “Vehicle of the Perfections” is a synonym for Mahayana itself.
Traleg Rinpoche in his Essence of Buddhism, includes two chapters on the paramitas and introduces them: “If we want to obtain enlightenment by becoming a Bodhisattva, it is necessary to actualize wisdom and compassion. This is done by the practice of what are called the six paramitas, or 'transcendental actions.'
Para in Sanskrit literally means the 'other shore.' Here it means going beyond our own notion of the self. From the Buddhist point of view in general, and from the Mahayana point of view in particular, if we want to progress properly on the path, we need to go beyond our conventional understanding of the self. So when we say that paramita means 'transcendental action,' we mean it in the sense that actions or attitudes are performed in a non-egocentric manner. 'Transcendental' does not refer to some external reality, but rather to the way in which we conduct our lives and perceive the world—either in an egocentric or a non-egocentric way. The six paramitas are concerned with the effort to step out of the egocentric mentality.”
The six are generally translated as generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Some lists enumerate ten paramitas, the last four of which are aspects of the wisdom paramita and are skillful means, strength, aspiration, and primordial wisdom. These align with the ten stages of the bodhisattva path.
The earliest source texts for the paramitas come from the buddha himself in the form of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, such as the Prajnaparamita Sutra in 10,000 lines available from 84000. But they have resonated throughout Indian, East Asian, and Tibetan literature ever since where readers may find the presentations more clear and concise.
Prajñāpāramitā (Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda Buddhism. Prajñāpāramitā refers to a perfected way of seeing the nature of reality, as well as to a particular body of Mahāyāna scriptures (sūtras) which discusses this wisdom. It also refers to the female deity Prajñāpāramitā Devi, a personification of wisdom also known as the "Great Mother" (Tibetan: Yum Chenmo).
The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā "wisdom" (or "knowledge") with pāramitā "perfection" or "transcendent". Prajñāpāramitā is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism and is generally associated with ideas such as emptiness (śūnyatā), 'lack of svabhāva' (essence), the illusory (māyā) nature of things, how all phenomena are characterized by "non-arising" (anutpāda, i.e. unborn) and the madhyamaka thought of Nāgārjuna. Its practice and understanding are taken to be indispensable elements of the Bodhisattva path.
According to Edward Conze, the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras are "a collection of about forty texts ... composed somewhere on the Indian subcontinent between approximately 100 BC and AD 600." Some Prajnāpāramitā sūtras are thought to be among the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras.
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