Report 57

Paramitas

The word 'paramita' is also called perfection. It can be translated as 'crossing over to the other shore' - the shore of peace and liberation. There are six in the Mahayana system that I am familiar with. These are six virtues we need to practice. This idea in Buddhism reminds me of the ethical system of virtue theory in philosophy that used to be called neo-aristotelianism because it was first proposed by Aristotle.

I am going to look at the first perfection usually given on the list: dana paramita

Some points I hope I can expand on:

We need to learn to receive as well as give

Motivation is as important as the actual giving. Giving to feel good about ourselves, being shamed into giving, giving in order to get something back, giving from these types of motivation is not real giving.

THe Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh gives an interesting analogy of an onion-like plant that grows in Asia that grows better and stronger the more you cut it back.