The practice of the six perfections in the Mahayana
 

The Six Perfection and the Four Dimensionalities are the main practices of the Mahayana aimed at cultivating the bodhichitta action and bodhichitta intentions respectively.
What is the Six Perfection? This is the Giving or Sacrifice, the Observance of the Commandments and the Vows, Patience, Persevering Efforts, Meditation and Wisdom.
Order here is very important, because one follows from the other. If a person does not want to engage in disinterested service and sacrifice, he will not be able to keep the commandments. If a person can not keep the commandments, then his thoughts wander, he is unable to concentrate and will not be able to endure the return of bad karma, not to mention that he has no intention of making utmost efforts to develop meditative abilities.
So, the Paramità of Sacrifice. What is this step needed for? With the help of proper donations, karma is cleared and efforts are directed to become capable of realizing high worlds. And, as already mentioned, there are three main types of sacrifice or giving. The first is the material donations of money and things to a true guru or true teaching; then - the gift of peace of mind, bringing happiness to others; and the third type of sacrifice is the preaching of the True Law (Dharma) in order to spread it.
When you can easily keep the commandments, thanks to a persistent and consistent practice, your karma will be washed away, willpower will become stronger, and the ability to patience will appear during a long meditative practice. This is the third Paramita - the strengthening of the will, the perfection of patience. Then, on the basis of what has already been achieved, it is necessary to conduct in full force the practice, which has a form. And this will be the perfection of Persevering Effort. And at the stage when this state is reached, they pass to the fifth process, that is, they begin to persevere in meditation aimed directly at achievement. This is the fifth Paramita - the perfection of meditation. In fact, all the Paramitas become truly Paramitam, only when perfection is achieved in the latter - the Paramita of Wisdom. And if after the first achievements of the state of Wisdom cultivate it constantly, then in the end the Truth is achieved. This is the teaching of Mahayana Buddhism. And this way of practice is called the Sixth Perfection.

I see the 6 perfection or rather the 5 spiritual faculties (faith, wisdom, concentration, energy and mindfulnes) as a whole that is developed together. they balance each other and slowly but surely each grows stronger by cultivating them in equal proportion.

As for the precepts.. They are originally meant as trainings. Which means you can slip up until you realize and experience that they are helpful on the path to liberation. I don't think they were ever meant to be taken at face value as commandments.

Sacrifice is something that is a result from these praises.
As for vows. Well to vow to undertake the training of keeping a precept is a vow, but leaves room to try again if you for whatever reason slip up.

I have to agree that a living master can be very valuable and speed up your progress.
But in this day and age is not absolutely necessary. People have been know to find what the buddha talked about with little guidance. That is not to say that teachers don't have tremendous value if you're serious about walking the path...

With Love
Eelco

The practice of the six perfections and the five faculties are completely different things.
Initially, the Buddha preached the teachings of Hinayana .. This is what you were talking about. This is the southern branch of Buddhism (Theravada). But at the end of his life he began preaching the teachings of a higher level to his close disciples.
The content of this sermon is reflected in the Agam Sutra. He told his aching disciples in the Hinayana that the nirvana that they achieved by the practice of calming the mind is very unstable and can be easily destroyed. And in order to achieve the perfect Maha of Nirvana, it is absolutely necessary to save the living beings. Rebirth is both bodhisattva and to recycle the karma of living beings.
This is the reason that many lamas and those who have attained are reborn for the sake of salvation, many lives.
It is impossible to cultivate true love and compassion in oneself by attaining the initial stages of liberation. Raja of yoga and kundalini. These yogis are weak and do not allow you to recycle the karma of people. And in order to achieve higher liberation, great merits are needed which can only be accumulated in the practice of salvation.

Yes they are..
I was mistaken..

With Love
Eelco

Liberation comes from piercing the 4 noble truths..
Compassion or even a desire to walk a boddhisattva path are choices one makes.
For some liberation is just enough.. That doesn't make them weak, just different.

I believe even Gautama Buddha needed some divine interventions to start teaching.

WIth Love
Eelco

Can you give me an example of someone who has?

Daniel Ingram and Kenneth Folk comes to mind.
There's a few more that claim liberation over on dharmaoverground.org..

Joseph Goldstein may be liberated. Unlike Daniel and Kenneth I never heard him make any claims about it though..

Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.) certainly seems to know what he is talking about.

The now deceased Bill Hamilton possibly.

Shinzen young perhaps?

In theravada it appears as if any meditation "teachers" are often sotopanna's(stream enterers) and even sakadagami or anagami..
Quite a few are deemed Arahant as well although claims about that is usually very hush hush under the lay people..

Also different schools seem to hang on to a different set of criteria in order to make such claims..

I for one was very pleased to find more attainable overviews of the territory of enlightenment after years of believing enlightenment is this monumental almost impossible task.. And the roadmap seems to me to be consistent with what the Buddha talked about in the Pali Canon.

Daniel Ingram wrote mastering the core teachings of the Buddha which I really like as an overview of the different possibilities when we talk about what attainments are and how they can be perceived.

With Love
Eelco

I would have to say I don't think anyone of these people are liberated. I don't think any of them have reached the stage of an arhat, let alone that of a Buddha.

Me I don't know..

For my understanding their teachings appear genuine and freeing in a very attainable and practical sense. I didn't know the buddha so have no material to compare them with. I do know I have believed and search for the impossible for years and have to wonder how much of what I hoped for in enlightenment was fantasy..

May I ask who you consider enlightened?

With Love
Eelco

None of the famous teachers that I have seen are what I would consider enlightened.

To me the true Dharma is the light. When one has realized the light they can share that light by their presence alone.

Not talking about empowerments either.

There are some advanced guys but not any real stuff going on. Just lots of talk.

Not even Dzogchen Master Norbu claims to be liberated.

" There are some advanced guys but not any real stuff going on."

How are you personally able to judge these ' advanced guys ' against real stuff, what is real stuff?

I believe my quote answered your question.

Also, sky in how many threads do you need me to answer that question for you?

Sorry I've forgotten.
How do you personally judge the ' Advanced guys ' from the non advanced guys ?
What do you mean by the real stuff? How do you personally choose the real stuff from the non-real stuff?

Can't you feel them if nothing else? Can you not feel another's presence?

Real advanced guys can put you in such a state of silence just by being around them that there is no mistaking it.

More advanced guys can do that with a thought.

Very rare to find.

Yes the presence of all sentient beings can be felt, you don't even have to try , it's natural.
Real and More ' Advanced Guys '...... there just labels that mean nothing, All Sentient beings can have the effects you mentioned.... Mybe you put the label of Real and More 'Advanced Guy ' because you can't pick up on all Sentient beings and you feel the one's you do pick up are ' Advanced ' mybe....

Lot's of mybe in that :)

Sadguru - The experience of first-person enlightenment (Jaggy Vasudev)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZL1NIvbjs

Sadguru isn't enlightened either.

He does look the part though :smile:

Sadhguru...
 

" Enlightenment never happens. It is there; it is always there. The sadhana that you do is just to see it is there. You are not doing sadhana to construct divinity within you. All you will construct is only ego.” :D

A very wise man :smile:

Wise doesn’t mean enlightened thou does it?

He's wise to understand that we are already Enlightened :biggrin:

Then please tell me what that is like if you already are?

Amazing all the suffering and addictions in the world with everyone already enlightened.

You need to be wise to understand but here's a little clue :biggrin:

Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood carry water....

That old zen saying doesn't answer anything :)

If everyone is already enlightened then why meditate? Why all the different traditions.. for what purpose if everyone is already enlightened?

We are not, it is obscured. Which is what all the practices in all the different traditions are about.

Now please tell me what enlightenment is like since you have already achieved it.

Thanks.

" Now please tell me what enlightenment is like since you have already achieved it."


You would have to become un-enlightened to compare notes and explain what it's like, , impossible :biggrin:

It's going to be difficult to gather my random snippets of thought into any coherent post in regards to this, but I will try.

How does a person know for a 100%, infallible certainty that another is enlightened? they can't.

They may have boundless knowledge/wisdom that smells like roses...they may do many acts of charity...publish many books...be kind and generous.

Maybe they are enlightened...or maybe they are just knowledgeable, altruistic, have personal charisma and a good command of language.

Maybe the homeless bum in the street is enlightened...

People say that everybody is already enlightened, but enlightenment, last time I checked was the direct experience of a state of being and not the state itself.

This is where I come undone with Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and New-Age philosophies...as they all believe that this "Nirvana thing" is purely a mental exercise...in that the mind can experience itself as being the mind, but cannot transcend it into any awareness outside the mental sphere, because nothing 'outside mind' actually exists....i.e solipsism.

From my perspective, the mind is still the ego. It is that which believes "I am Enlightened" or "I am That" or "I have a Buddha-Mind" and these things are still mere concepts and frames of reference TO the mind!

"Enlightenment" is a concept, "Buddha" is a concept, "Shiva" is a concept, "Self" is a concept, "God/Atman" is a concept and yes, "Mind" is also a concept OF itself, so it cannot be actualised through mental gymnastics and philosophical contortions.

This is illustrated beautifully by those who will say; "Shivani cannot be enlightened because she has a temper" and whether I am or not, what makes "having a temper" in any way significant to whether one is enlightened or not? heck, I could just be pretending to 'have a temper' or just acting, like an actor does with no attachment to my current psychological state from the reference of being.

I've gone off track here, but I don't really consider or think that anybody is 'enlightened' or 'unenlightened'...people like Sadguru, Mooji, Ramana Maharishi, Jesus and even Buddha are just people to me and whatever labels are attached...whatever 'respect' is shown...just more conditioning and mental concepts of others who place people within a spiritual hierarchy for whatever personal/human agendas they have for doing so...and those who say "I am Brahman" just go along for the ride and rake in wallet loads of cash.

Religion begins with worship. Due to this, its pride is reduced. If a person does not, then he can not practice any truly teaching.
This will be a simple brain masturbation.

Isn't Buddha nature like a bud that still has to flower?

You know you actually can know if someone is enlightened. With that it is only possible if you are advanced along the path as well.

What is clarity?

Beyond 3rd eye seeing comes a knowing. With such knowing you can know where someone is along the path. Heck I know people that have such clarity they can know your deepest secrets if they wanted. They don’t do that of course but I know people who can tell you about past lives, heck can show you your past lives if they wanted.

Many, many things are possible.

Also, if one is still caught up in anger/attachments you are still in local mind. Enlightenment is beyond such things.

Thank you for your nice post.

I don’t see how believing in Buddha’s, Shiva or Jesus can have a negative effect on ones meditation practices.

As a matter of fact connecting to such beings is a very powerful means of progressing along the path.

[quote=django]Isn't Buddha nature like a bud that still has to flower?[/QUOTE,




Love that django :smile:

Without the sunshine and rain nothing happens to the bud, it either wilts away or goes dormant until the conditions are right for the flower to bloom once again.

You are welcome.

I'm reminded about the time when Jesus threw a huge 'hissy fit' in the market place: John:2 13-17.

If an 'enlightened being' shows 'righteous anger' are they still in 'local mind'?

:D Even Buddha had hissy fits....




Sariputra, it is quite late now. Why are you not in bed and still wandering in the yard?" Sariputra then related to the Buddha what happened, "We have a lot of bhiksus and there are not enough beds to go around. Some of the new bhiksus wanted to find a bed to retire for the night, so I let them rest first." When the Buddha heard this, he was very angry. He immediately called everyone to a meeting in which the Buddha preached about what respect one should have for one's seniors and elders.

Seven factors of enlightenment.
 

Mindfulness (sati)
Keen investigation of the dhamma (dhammavicaya)[3]
Energy (viriya)
Rapture or happiness (piti)
Calm (passaddhi)
Concentration (samadhi)
Equanimity (upekkha)

SN 46.14.


Buddha never mentioned anger or being able to read the thoughts of others as an attribute of enlightenment...

Have you ever seen a parent look angry to get a point across to little kids?

Same thing :)

You sure?

Just mentioned teaching dragons, God’s, teleportation and a whole bunch of other things your quote leaves out.

I need to find the sutra where it talks about bodhisatvvas knowing how many beings there are. Being able to shake infinite worlds and the like.

Lots of amazing stuff in Buddhism and other traditions.

Link please.

You do know that goes against everything that is Buddhism. Just look at what an arhat is compared to a bodhisatvva.

Point noted and taken, but is the mere expression of anger to get a point across, thus resorting to stern, judgmental criticism a hallmark of the 'local mind' of an enlightened being? yay or nay?

Is pretending to be angry at a child real anger?

Also, is what he was saying judgmental or true?

Was the Buddha being judgmental about the cast society of his time or that other traditions didn’t go far enough?