The ten paramis (perfections) are taught within the Theravada Buddhist tradition as heart qualities that the Buddha-to-be perfected over many lifetimes. The tradition considers them to be requisites to enlightenment. They are the fertile soil upon which the insight of meditation practice can land.
The paramis are: generosity, renunciation, morality, wisdom, effort, patience, truthfulness, resolve, kindness and equanimity. These qualities are wonderful adjuncts to formal meditation practice as they can be developed in all of life’s activities. You can practice them at work, when parenting, in recreation, and in any interaction with others. When meditation just does not seem to be in the cards, pull a parami out of your pocket and practice it!
These are talks given at Peter’s online meditation on Thursday mornings. To get email announcements of these talks and Peter’s other dharma offerings, click here.
Generosity
September 22, 2022 17:45 AUDVID
Generosity is the foundation of the Buddhist path, the first practice that is taught to all. Generosity is the outer expression of inner letting go. When we practice generosity we feel good and others feel good. So why wait? You can start giving right now!
Ethics without Right and Wrong
September 29, 2022 19:04 AUDVID
In Buddhism, ethics are seen not as judgmental codes of behavior, but, rather, as signposts to wake us up. We need to be aware of our behavior because when we harm others we also harm ourselves by enacting unskillful states of mind. Thus, ethics is both care for others and self-care. Further, virtue is a gateway to real happiness.
Renunciation: Prioritizing What Really Matters
Renunciation, rather than being deprivation or restriction, is a way of saying yes to what really matters. While we may need to let go of some things to accomplish this, it is easier to do so when we keep our eye on the “yeses” that animate us. Renunciation is putting spiritual joy and awakening front and center in your life.
Wisdom: Three Insights that Free the Heart
Wisdom is seeing clearly what leads to suffering and what leads to happiness. The Buddha distilled wisdom into three key insights (the three characteristics): our experience is riddled with change, that which is changing is unreliable for lasting happiness, and the change is not controlled by a separate self. In short, everything is changing in our life out of our control and that is difficult. However, when we see these three characteristics clearly, we let go and experience our deep spiritual nature and a happiness that is reliable.
Wise Effort in Meditation and in Life
Wise effort in meditation consists of “short moment, many times,” as is said in Tibetan Buddhism. We remember we want the benefits of meditation – letting go, ease, presence, a tender heart – and we keep coming back. We can make the moment of realizing we are distracted a “yay” moment, because in this moment we are already mindful. Wise effort in life is to replace the three root reactive states of greed, aversion and delusion with the three root helpful states of generosity, love, and wisdom.
Patience
November 10, 2022 15:59 AUDVID
Impatience kills this moment. Patience helps us move at the speed at which our life is actually happening. Anytime we feel impatient we can replace waiting with present moment awareness. Mindfulness is patience and with it we never need to wait again.
Truthfulness
September 15, 2022 18:38 AUDVID
Truthfulness is so important it is considered to be the one precept the Buddha-to-be cannot break over many lifetimes of bodhisattva training. Dharma practice is based on understanding the reality of our experience and lying betrays reality. If we do not take our stand on reality, our reference point becomes ego and power. Speaking truthfully is a powerful antidote to the lies that are currently being spread in public life.
Resolve and Determination
November 17, 2022 18:26 AUDVID
Resolve, or determination, is a key quality of the spiritual path. It is not grim effort, but a willingness to prioritize what matters and persevere to realize your goal. In meditation practice, we can use resolve to let go of thought projects, or to push our boundaries and sit with physical pain. In life, we can use resolve to stay out of unhealthy thought patterns or to stick with a decision once it has been made.
The Practice of Kindness
The Dalai Lama has said, “My religion is kindness.” Because we are such social animals, connection with others is possibly the most important reality of our lives. Kindness to ourselves is the basis of strength, passion and meaning. Our ability to love is not a pregiven personality trait, but a function how we train ourselves to perceive and relate to others. Loving well, as much as being mindful, is a deep spiritual path.
Equanimity: How to See a Rainbow
Equanimity is the state, sublime as a rainbow, of radical ease with the flux of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral experiences. The Buddha called this hedonic flavor experience feeling tone and our relationship with it determines whether we are happy or struggling. The essence of Buddhist practice is to replace reactivity to feeling tone with mindfulness of it.
Equanimity in Relationship
December 15, 2022 23:37 AUDVID
Equanimity in the context of the four brahma viharas is a relational practice. It helps the other brahma viharas – kindness, compassion and sympathetic joy – be unconditional. In equanimity meditatiion we remind ourselves that as much as we love and care for people, there is only so much we can do to help. We remind ourselves that people are the architects of their own happiness. Includes a guided meditation.