How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

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mettafuture
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How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

  • Dana (generous action)
  • Sila (virtue)
  • Nekkhamma (renunciation)
  • Pañña (wisdom, discernment)
  • Viriya (energy, effort)
  • Khanti (patience)
  • Sacca (truthfulness)
  • Adhitthana (determination, resolution)
  • Metta (loving-kindness, goodwill)
  • Upekkha (equanimity)
And of the paramitas, which do you contemplate the most?

I'm pretty big on metta (obviously :D), but lately I've been spending more time with patience and equanimity.
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bodom
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by bodom »

Hi mettafuture

The ten paramis are a guiding ideal to my practice.

This is my favorite book on the paramis:

A Treatise on the Paramis From the Commentary to the Cariyapitaka by Acariya Dhammapala

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el409.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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tiltbillings
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by tiltbillings »

mettafuture wrote:
  • Dana (generous action)
  • Sila (virtue)
  • Nekkhamma (renunciation)
  • Pañña (wisdom, discernment)
  • Viriya (energy, effort)
  • Khanti (patience)
  • Sacca (truthfulness)
  • Adhitthana (determination, resolution)
  • Metta (loving-kindness, goodwill)
  • Upekkha (equanimity)
And of the paramitas, which do you contemplate the most?

I'm pretty big on metta (obviously :D), but lately I've been spending more time with patience and equanimity.
Rather than contemplating them, practing the Dhamma so as to develop them would be the thing to do, but then I may not be sure what you mean by contemplate.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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mettafuture
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

bodom wrote:Hi mettafuture

The ten paramis are a guiding ideal to my practice.
:)
This is my favorite book on the paramis:

A Treatise on the Paramis From the Commentary to the Cariyapitaka by Acariya Dhammapala

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el409.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:anjali:
I don't think ive read that book before. I will read it tonight.

:namaste:
tiltbillings wrote:Rather than contemplating them, practing the Dhamma so as to develop them would be the thing to do, but then I may not be sure what you mean by contemplate.
By "contemplate them" I mean just being aware of them, and using them to counter unskillful thoughts that may arise. For example: When I'm feeling impatient, I'll remind myself of what the Buddha said about patience.
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Ytrog
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by Ytrog »

How would you contemplate, for example, Pañña (wisdom, discernment)?

What is meant by contemplating in this context? thinking about them? Trying to see how well they are developed in yourself? How would one know?

Trying to bring them into your life as a practise is something I can imagine, but what is meant here with contemplating? Sorry if this may seem like a stupid question, but this is something I wanted to ask about for some time.
Suffering is asking from life what it can never give you.
mindfulness, bliss and beyond (page 8) wrote:Do not linger on the past. Do not keep carrying around coffins full of dead moments
If you see any unskillful speech (or other action) from me let me know, so I can learn from it.
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mettafuture
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

Ytrog wrote:How would you contemplate, for example, Pañña (wisdom, discernment)?
Probably by reading the Pañña Sutta and then contemplating what the Buddha meant by it.
What is meant by contemplating in this context? thinking about them? Trying to see how well they are developed in yourself?
All of the above.
Trying to bring them into your life as a practise is something I can imagine
That would likely work too.
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by Individual »

mettafuture wrote:
  • Dana (generous action)
  • Sila (virtue)
  • Nekkhamma (renunciation)
  • Pañña (wisdom, discernment)
  • Viriya (energy, effort)
  • Khanti (patience)
  • Sacca (truthfulness)
  • Adhitthana (determination, resolution)
  • Metta (loving-kindness, goodwill)
  • Upekkha (equanimity)
And of the paramitas, which do you contemplate the most?

I'm pretty big on metta (obviously :D), but lately I've been spending more time with patience and equanimity.
All the friggin' time fortunately and unfortunately -- although not by those names.

Some more than others.
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
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mettafuture
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

Individual wrote:All the friggin' time fortunately and unfortunately -- although not by those names.

Some more than others.
:D

To stay in-tune with the paramitas, I'll occasionally ask myself...
  • Am I being generous?
  • Am I being virtuous?
  • Is there something unneeded in my life that can be renounced?
  • Am I being wise in my choices and thoughts?
  • Am I putting in enough energy and effort?
  • Am I being patient?
  • Am I being honest?
  • Am I determined?
  • Am I treating others with loving-kindness?
  • Are my thoughts even and unbiased?
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by Individual »

mettafuture wrote:
Individual wrote:All the friggin' time fortunately and unfortunately -- although not by those names.

Some more than others.
:D

To stay in-tune with the paramitas, I'll occasionally ask myself...
  • Am I being generous?
  • Am I being virtuous?
  • Is there something unneeded in my life that can be renounced?
  • Am I being wise in my choices and thoughts?
  • Am I putting in enough energy and effort?
  • Am I being patient?
  • Am I being honest?
  • Am I determined?
  • Am I treating others with loving-kindness?
  • Are my thoughts even and unbiased?
All of those things, really? That's a lot. With me, it's more of a general sense of, "Am I doing the right thing?" A guilt about my morality that peaks right after I wake up and right before I go to bed.

And in specific situations, too, I dwell on whether I'm being considerate to others.

Immediately after yelling or getting into an argument, I tend to self-reflect on why what I did probably wasn't necessary, but it's not like you can scream at somebody and apologize 5 seconds later, because that seems a bit crazy, huh?

I used to think about how great it would be, every night before going to sleep (as a bit of a nightly ritual) if everybody in the world was happy. I still do this sometimes, but I do it spontaneously when I feel particularly moved, because I would only rather do it sincerely, and I honestly don't feel Buddha-like compassion all the time, because honestly quite a lot of the time I don't really care about others' happiness.
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
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mettafuture
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

Individual wrote:All of those things, really?
Not all at once, but when circumstances call for them...
That's a lot. With me, it's more of a general sense of, "Am I doing the right thing?"
But what is the 'right thing'? The 10 Parmitas present one of many ways a person can remind themselves of what the right thing is.
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Mettafuture,

In my case, it's only when I'm reading about them.

This particular list doesn't mean much to me, as the Buddha himself devised many lists and the "ten paramitas" was not one of them. This particular paramita listing is a commentarial device, seemingly co-opted/adapted from Mahayana Buddhism.

To that end, I find lists such the Noble Eightfold Path to be more useful and direct (since I do not strive to follow a bodhisattva path).

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Kim OHara
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by Kim OHara »

Hi, mettafuture,
I'm with retro on this, though perhaps for slightly different reasons: your list overlaps almost completely with the 8FP and the four Brahmaviharas (as it should, if the main messages are going to be consistent from one part of the dhamma to another), and those lists are more familiar ad therefore easier to call to mind.
:namaste:
Kim
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mettafuture
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

I guess it's a matter of personal preference.

Although the 10 paramitas can be considered a commentarial device, I've found that they do a nice job at bringing some key points from the 8-fold path and the 4 brahma-viharas together into a single list. Of course we should place the 8-fold path and 4 noble truths at the top, but, personally, I don't believe the wisdom that can be found in some of the commentaries should be entirely dismissed.
Last edited by mettafuture on Tue Sep 21, 2010 2:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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retrofuturist
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Mettafuture,
mettafuture wrote: I don't believe the some of the wisdom that can be found in the commentaries should be entirely dismissed.
Likewise. It is possible to not practice something, without having to be explicitly against it, or dismissive of it. Then again, it's good to not falsely believe that Buddha explicitly taught it either.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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mettafuture
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Re: How often do you contemplate the 10 Paramitas?

Post by mettafuture »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Mettafuture,
mettafuture wrote: I don't believe the some of the wisdom that can be found in the commentaries should be entirely dismissed.
Likewise. It is possible to not practice something, without having to be explicitly against it, or dismissive of it. Then again, it's good to not falsely believe that Buddha explicitly taught it either.

Metta,
Retro. :)
I agree.

:toast:
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