The Six Perfections

Description

Generosity, ethical discipline, patience, enthusiastic effort, concentration, and wisdom are practiced by Bodhisattvas with the supreme intention of attaining enlightenment for the sake of all living beings. These six are called perfections because they give rise to complete enlightenment – a perfected state in which liberation from disturbing emotions and their seeds, and from obstructions to the knowledge of all phenomena, has been attained.

Practicing the six perfections insures that we will have an excellent body and mind in the future and leads to even more favorable conditions for development than we experience at present. Generosity results in the enjoyment of ample material resources, ethical discipline gives a good rebirth, and patience leads to an attractive appearance and supportive companions. Enthusiastic effort endows us with the ability to complete what we undertake, concentration makes the mind invulnerable to distraction, and through the growth of wisdom we will be capable of discriminating between what should be cultivated and discarded. These six incorporate all of the Buddha’s advice on the Bodhisattva way of life and include every practice needed for our own fullest development and for accomplishing the ultimate good of others.