Author: Vova Pyatsky
Translation: Roni Sherman and Marina Sherman
Translation Editor: Natasha Tsimbler
Chapters
Table of Contents The Practice of the Six Paramitas – Table of Contents
Introduction The Practice of the Six Paramitas – Introduction
1. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Wisdom
2. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Meditation
3. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Diligence
4. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Patience
5. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Self-Restraint
6. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Giving
3. The paramita of diligence
We must overcome the excitement of outer and inner speech with the paramita of diligence. The deviousness and insidiousness of hidden mental tendencies (samskaras) manifests itself In excited speech. Knowing of this treachery, teach your tongue the skill of asceticism.
Preach to the tongue-ascetic,
Seeing it as the essence of your own mind:
“You are restless like a demon in a heavenly fortress,
Behind walls of teeth.
Know that you tremble at
The blows of the whip of your own wicked speech
which you got used to whip other beings with.
You flutter like the flag of complacency waving in the wind;
Indulging in lies,
You wriggle, like a snake!
Do not be rude, do not praise yourself and do not lie,
And the flutter will be replaced by peace.
Renounce the unwholesome quest for power over impermanent phenomena subject to suffering, like you yourself are, my tongue!
Aspire for the wholesome quest for unity
With the permanent silence and Teaching,
Which are not subject to suffering.
During silence, your tongue in the mouth
Behaves like a bird in its nest.
In speech, your tongue behaves
Like a soaring bird.
Therefore, to teach your tongue the skill of asceticism,
Use the techniques of four birds:
The Raven, the Swan, the Peacock and the Phoenix.
The Technique of the Raven
Your differentiation of impermanence — is the long beak of the Raven.
Peck the senses of “mine” and “I” with it
Out of the space of the mind
Like eyes out of the eye sockets of a corpse.
The Raven — is your mind
Undecorated with ideas about
Its importance.
The mind calms in the blackness of its feathers,
And its breath grows deep and calm
Like that of a person in deep sleep.
The Technique of the Swan
The Great Ascetic gave guidance on higher conduct in the simplest words:
Those who possess the ability to make what is right pleasant for themselves while what is wrong unpleasant live a pleasant and easy life in the Teaching.
An easy life in the Teaching is like the flight of a swan along the Path of the Sun.
Your heartbeat — is its song.
Your lungs — are its body and wings,
Your windpipe — is the long swany neck,
And your tongue — is its beak.
Your inhales and exhales —
are the beating of the Swan’s wings,
Balancing your breath in the left
And right sides of your body.
By meditating on the Swan’s flight,
You will fill your entire body with breath.
The Technique of the Peacock
The Peacock charms with its open tail
The open tail of wisdom — is inner contentment.
The Great Ascetic taught:
When a lake is fed by an inner source,
It does not depend on changeable rains
Or the fullness of the rivers flowing into it.
The lake — is the contentment of the heart,
The rains — is the perception of the smells of food,
The inflowing river — is the taste of food.
The inner source — is diligence.
Think this way:
“I seek protection everywhere, I seek shelter everywhere.
In the visible world, thoughts about shelter
Come down to the desire to own land
Somewhere in a quiet, well-protected place,
Having my own house there and everything needed to live.
But do such a place and house exist?
And even if now I entertain myself with the thought
That I own or will own such a place and house,
Do I not worry, knowing their impermanence?
Isn't it safer to find shelter in my own heart?
After all, in my heart I decide
Whether to abide in happiness or be in unhappiness,
Whether to experience hope or despair.
My shelter is in the heart.
Establishing my mind in this inner house,
I'll abandon both at once the desire for impermanent happiness
And fear of impermanent unhappiness.”
The technique of the Phoenix
Behold your own mind
As the unborn witness to all states.
It is present in the actions of the body, speech and thought like a Phoenix that is constantly resurgent and burning up in its own flame.
The voice of the Phoenix — is the sound of deep breathing.
Hear its inseparability from silence,
And you've mastered the best kind of diligence —
Abiding in peace.
Correct grasp of practice
Correct diligence allows practitioners to get past the thick wall of ignorance and gives the ability to grasp the sometimes seemingly elusive essence of the Teaching. Correct grasp of the Teaching consists in employing received wisdom to correct our own vices. Let us examine this principle on the example of the following prayer:
May the ignorant turn from evil.
May the weak strengthen on the path of truth and good.
May the worthy gain the freedom of giving.
The purpose of this prayer is to develop goodwill. Thanks to differentiation of evil, weakness and worthy (virtuos) behaviour, there appears an ability to wish beings the form of good that is available to them in their state. For ignorant beings, the greatest good — is turning from evil (wrong acts of the body, speech and mind). For weak beings whose morality has not yet strengthened, the most necessary good — is embarking on the path of learning higher morality. For strengthened beings who've mastered the fundamentals of the Teaching, the good needed for further growth — is to devote themselves to serving other beings
(Giving). By wishing beings those forms of good which are available and necessary for them at the present moment, we develop genuine, empathetic goodwill.
To develop such sublime goodwill and achieve its effectiveness, we must correctly grasp the meaning of the prayer with respect to our own inner life.
Who are “ignorant” within us? It is our thoughts. What is inner evil? It is identifying with an impermanent body subject to suffering and decay. Therefore we must turn thoughts from the belief “I'm — a body”.
Who are “weak” within us? It is our feelings.
What is the inner path of truth and good? It is the immeasurable goodwill, compassion, detachment and their combined joy. Therefore we must develop immeasurable feelings.
Who is “worthy” within us? It is our wholesome volition. Therefore power must be given to it for realization.
To better remember these ideas, let us refer to the image of a candle. Its flame has three parts: the inner dark, the middle light, and the invisible outer. The inner part is the coldest while the outer — the hottest. The dark part of the flame, closest to the wick, is a convenient symbol for a correctly focused thought which does not get distracted from the emptiness which engenders it. The light part of the flame is a convenient symbol for the Immeasurable Feelings, which illuminate the path of seekers. The invisible part of the flame is a symbol for volition, which, remaining unmanifested, sets everything in motion.
Coping with the excitement of the heart through correct effort
Since the excitement of the heart is a result of incorrectly applied effort, the principal skill in developing diligence is mastering correct effort. How to learn that?
The method of applying the five kinds of correct effort.
The five kinds of wholesome effort which do not cause strain and suffering and lead to peace and fulfillment are:
1. Conception of wholesome aspiration in the heart.
2. Eradication of existing vicious qualities
3. Growth of existing wholesome qualities.
4. Prevention of the rise and development of new vicious qualities
5. Abiding in equilibrium of peace without effort to add anything to the pure mind.
1. Conception of wholesome aspiration in the heart.
Practitioners think: “Wisdom, concentration, diligence, patience, self-restraint, giving — those are qualities good in all respects, leading to inner peace. Why don't I acquire these virtues? They have no flaw. I'm confident in those qualities. I wish to possess them. May they manifest in my thoughts, speech and behaviour. I wish to remember the grace of those qualities.”
2. Eradication of existing vicious qualities
Practitioners examine their mental state by observing: “Currently, I feel excitement or covetousness, or doubt about the absolute value of virtue, or wickedness or stagnancy and dumbness”. Wishing to eradicate one vicious quality or another, practitioners say: “I'll reduce and bring about the disappearance of this bad, mind-tormenting quality, ill deprive this quality of support, will see its unprofitability, will realize that the desires and thoughts arising from it are negligible and also bring stress and a state of misery. I'll become completely disillusioned with my habit for this vicious quality. I'll throw it away like throwing away a rotten piece of food.”
3. Growth of existing wholesome qualities
Practitioners note: there are virtuous, wonderful qualities my mind is familiar with — those are peace, goodwill, compassion, detachment, contentment. I know them as good, as bringing pleasure both now and then. Therefore I'll grow those qualities, increase them immeasurably, will merge entirely with those qualities. I'll recognize and welcome them, allow them to fully embrace my mind. Doing anything, I'll check myself — have I made sure that this action of mine is endowed with a virtuous quality? I'll fill my thoughts, speech and actions with virtuous qualities.
4. Prevention of the rise of new vicious qualities
Practitioners must be vigilant about received perceptions. Perceiving external phenomena, living and nonliving, beautiful and ugly, pleasant and unpleasant, practitioners must not allow for the rise of new vicious qualities: we must avoid comparing ourselves to others, thinking “I'm better”; we must also not envy others, thinking “why do they have that and I don't?”.
Diligent practitioners reflect on what is pleasant and unpleasant as follows: when what is pleasant contributes to the purity of my mind and peace, it is good… when what is unpleasant contributes to the purity of my mind and peace, it is good… when what is pleasant pollutes and confuses my mind, it is bad… when what is unpleasant pollutes and confuses my mind, it is bad… what is good, i'll accept, pleasant it is or not, what is bad, ill reject, be it pleasant or unpleasant.
5. Abiding in peace.
Making an effort to abide in peace is the subtlest of all the efforts. To master it, we must hold three abilities:
1. The ability not to let the mind wander in the three times. When there is a memory, desire or vision of the future, we must weigh them like croup on the scales. We must weigh their usefulness, novelty, the reason why they arose and also the reason why they will disappear.
2. The ability not to contain stress by stress but by relaxation. This means that the calming of the mind must happen thanks to ending the mind-stressing ternary thirst (thirst of the senses, thirst for existence and thirst for decay)
3. Practitioners are content with peace and see it as their inalienable nature, they do not try to improve peace or add some additional sensual happiness to it.
Such is the application of the five wholesome efforts. Once practitioners begin to seriously form wholesome effort, it is important for them to clarify for themselves what is the correct way of dealing with the notion of “I”. This notion plays a leading role in the formation of an effort, therefore we must understand how and when using this “I” would be useful and when — it would be useless. The following passage is about this.
The Three Ways to Use Cow Urine
In the healing arts, cow urine is used in three ways — internally, externally and also as material for the preparation of remedies.
In urine, there are traces of bodily fluids which participate in food digestion and blood production, therefore with skillful internal application, it can have a healing effect on the internal organs of the body.
Due to the presence of primordial vitality which forms in the kidneys in the urine, it, applied externally, can have a healing effect in treating the sinuses, joints, skin and tendons.
Cow urine is also used to purify medicinal metals and stones from the poisons contained in them. Thanks to the ability of the urine to absorb and retain what is harmful for the body, it purifies materials soaked in it from substances which are harmful for health.
Correct use of the notion of “I” is like correct use of cow urine in treating the body.
Skillful mediators show wholesome differentiation and volition by making the decision: ”I'll develop the existing wholesome qualities of the mind, I'll give rise to those wholesome qualities which have not yet arisen; I'll eradicate the existing unwholesome qualities of the mind, I'll prevent the rise of new unwholesome qualities of the mind”. Such use of the notion of “I” is like the use of cow urine in treating the tissues of the body. It empowers differentiation and volition with the energy needed for their correct functioning.
Skillful meditators identify with limitless space, with light, with emptiness, with the unborn mind by thinking: “I — am limitless space, I — am infinite light, I — am conscious emptiness, I — am the unborn mind. Such use of the notion of “I” is like the external use of urine in treating the sinuses, tendons, joints and skin. It helps acquire a steady view, peace of the senses and vitality.
Skilfull meditators cut off attachment to form and name with the thought: “I'm — not a body, not a feeling, not a view, not volition, not consciousness fettered by vices. They are impermanent, and the “I” I endow them with suffers from impermanence. Therefore such an “I” is unsatisfactory. Such use of the notion of “I” is like the purification of medicinal metals and stones with the help of cow urine. After all, the body, feeling, view, volition and consciousness fettered by vices, all of them, being impermanent, subject to deterioration and contamination, must be purified from the sense “this — is I, that — is mine, I'm such”, by the sense of “I” itself.
Author
Author: Vova Pyatsky
Translation: Roni Sherman and Marina Sherman
Translation Editor: Natasha Tsimbler
Chapters
Table of Contents The Practice of the Six Paramitas – Table of Contents
Introduction The Practice of the Six Paramitas – Introduction
1. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Wisdom
2. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Meditation
3. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Diligence
4. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Patience
5. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Self-Restraint
6. The Practice of the Six Paramitas – The Paramita of Giving
3. The paramita of diligence
We must overcome the excitement of outer and inner speech with the paramita of diligence. The deviousness and insidiousness of hidden mental tendencies (samskaras) manifests itself In excited speech. Knowing of this treachery, teach your tongue the skill of asceticism.
Preach to the tongue-ascetic,
Seeing it as the essence of your own mind:
“You are restless like a demon in a heavenly fortress,
Behind walls of teeth.
Know that you tremble at
The blows of the whip of your own wicked speech
which you got used to whip other beings with.
You flutter like the flag of complacency waving in the wind;
Indulging in lies,
You wriggle, like a snake!
Do not be rude, do not praise yourself and do not lie,
And the flutter will be replaced by peace.
Renounce the unwholesome quest for power over impermanent phenomena subject to suffering, like you yourself are, my tongue!
Aspire for the wholesome quest for unity
With the permanent silence and Teaching,
Which are not subject to suffering.
During silence, your tongue in the mouth
Behaves like a bird in its nest.
In speech, your tongue behaves
Like a soaring bird.
Therefore, to teach your tongue the skill of asceticism,
Use the techniques of four birds:
The Raven, the Swan, the Peacock and the Phoenix.
The Technique of the Raven
Your differentiation of impermanence — is the long beak of the Raven.
Peck the senses of “mine” and “I” with it
Out of the space of the mind
Like eyes out of the eye sockets of a corpse.
The Raven — is your mind
Undecorated with ideas about
Its importance.
The mind calms in the blackness of its feathers,
And its breath grows deep and calm
Like that of a person in deep sleep.
The Technique of the Swan
The Great Ascetic gave guidance on higher conduct in the simplest words:
Those who possess the ability to make what is right pleasant for themselves while what is wrong unpleasant live a pleasant and easy life in the Teaching.
An easy life in the Teaching is like the flight of a swan along the Path of the Sun.
Your heartbeat — is its song.
Your lungs — are its body and wings,
Your windpipe — is the long swany neck,
And your tongue — is its beak.
Your inhales and exhales —
are the beating of the Swan’s wings,
Balancing your breath in the left
And right sides of your body.
By meditating on the Swan’s flight,
You will fill your entire body with breath.
The Technique of the Peacock
The Peacock charms with its open tail
The open tail of wisdom — is inner contentment.
The Great Ascetic taught:
When a lake is fed by an inner source,
It does not depend on changeable rains
Or the fullness of the rivers flowing into it.
The lake — is the contentment of the heart,
The rains — is the perception of the smells of food,
The inflowing river — is the taste of food.
The inner source — is diligence.
Think this way:
“I seek protection everywhere, I seek shelter everywhere.
In the visible world, thoughts about shelter
Come down to the desire to own land
Somewhere in a quiet, well-protected place,
Having my own house there and everything needed to live.
But do such a place and house exist?
And even if now I entertain myself with the thought
That I own or will own such a place and house,
Do I not worry, knowing their impermanence?
Isn't it safer to find shelter in my own heart?
After all, in my heart I decide
Whether to abide in happiness or be in unhappiness,
Whether to experience hope or despair.
My shelter is in the heart.
Establishing my mind in this inner house,
I'll abandon both at once the desire for impermanent happiness
And fear of impermanent unhappiness.”
The technique of the Phoenix
Behold your own mind
As the unborn witness to all states.
It is present in the actions of the body, speech and thought like a Phoenix that is constantly resurgent and burning up in its own flame.
The voice of the Phoenix — is the sound of deep breathing.
Hear its inseparability from silence,
And you've mastered the best kind of diligence —
Abiding in peace.
Correct grasp of practice
Correct diligence allows practitioners to get past the thick wall of ignorance and gives the ability to grasp the sometimes seemingly elusive essence of the Teaching. Correct grasp of the Teaching consists in employing received wisdom to correct our own vices. Let us examine this principle on the example of the following prayer:
May the ignorant turn from evil.
May the weak strengthen on the path of truth and good.
May the worthy gain the freedom of giving.
The purpose of this prayer is to develop goodwill. Thanks to differentiation of evil, weakness and worthy (virtuos) behaviour, there appears an ability to wish beings the form of good that is available to them in their state. For ignorant beings, the greatest good — is turning from evil (wrong acts of the body, speech and mind). For weak beings whose morality has not yet strengthened, the most necessary good — is embarking on the path of learning higher morality. For strengthened beings who've mastered the fundamentals of the Teaching, the good needed for further growth — is to devote themselves to serving other beings
(Giving). By wishing beings those forms of good which are available and necessary for them at the present moment, we develop genuine, empathetic goodwill.
To develop such sublime goodwill and achieve its effectiveness, we must correctly grasp the meaning of the prayer with respect to our own inner life.
Who are “ignorant” within us? It is our thoughts. What is inner evil? It is identifying with an impermanent body subject to suffering and decay. Therefore we must turn thoughts from the belief “I'm — a body”.
Who are “weak” within us? It is our feelings.
What is the inner path of truth and good? It is the immeasurable goodwill, compassion, detachment and their combined joy. Therefore we must develop immeasurable feelings.
Who is “worthy” within us? It is our wholesome volition. Therefore power must be given to it for realization.
To better remember these ideas, let us refer to the image of a candle. Its flame has three parts: the inner dark, the middle light, and the invisible outer. The inner part is the coldest while the outer — the hottest. The dark part of the flame, closest to the wick, is a convenient symbol for a correctly focused thought which does not get distracted from the emptiness which engenders it. The light part of the flame is a convenient symbol for the Immeasurable Feelings, which illuminate the path of seekers. The invisible part of the flame is a symbol for volition, which, remaining unmanifested, sets everything in motion.
Coping with the excitement of the heart through correct effort
Since the excitement of the heart is a result of incorrectly applied effort, the principal skill in developing diligence is mastering correct effort. How to learn that?
The method of applying the five kinds of correct effort.
The five kinds of wholesome effort which do not cause strain and suffering and lead to peace and fulfillment are:
1. Conception of wholesome aspiration in the heart.
2. Eradication of existing vicious qualities
3. Growth of existing wholesome qualities.
4. Prevention of the rise and development of new vicious qualities
5. Abiding in equilibrium of peace without effort to add anything to the pure mind.
1. Conception of wholesome aspiration in the heart.
Practitioners think: “Wisdom, concentration, diligence, patience, self-restraint, giving — those are qualities good in all respects, leading to inner peace. Why don't I acquire these virtues? They have no flaw. I'm confident in those qualities. I wish to possess them. May they manifest in my thoughts, speech and behaviour. I wish to remember the grace of those qualities.”
2. Eradication of existing vicious qualities
Practitioners examine their mental state by observing: “Currently, I feel excitement or covetousness, or doubt about the absolute value of virtue, or wickedness or stagnancy and dumbness”. Wishing to eradicate one vicious quality or another, practitioners say: “I'll reduce and bring about the disappearance of this bad, mind-tormenting quality, ill deprive this quality of support, will see its unprofitability, will realize that the desires and thoughts arising from it are negligible and also bring stress and a state of misery. I'll become completely disillusioned with my habit for this vicious quality. I'll throw it away like throwing away a rotten piece of food.”
3. Growth of existing wholesome qualities
Practitioners note: there are virtuous, wonderful qualities my mind is familiar with — those are peace, goodwill, compassion, detachment, contentment. I know them as good, as bringing pleasure both now and then. Therefore I'll grow those qualities, increase them immeasurably, will merge entirely with those qualities. I'll recognize and welcome them, allow them to fully embrace my mind. Doing anything, I'll check myself — have I made sure that this action of mine is endowed with a virtuous quality? I'll fill my thoughts, speech and actions with virtuous qualities.
4. Prevention of the rise of new vicious qualities
Practitioners must be vigilant about received perceptions. Perceiving external phenomena, living and nonliving, beautiful and ugly, pleasant and unpleasant, practitioners must not allow for the rise of new vicious qualities: we must avoid comparing ourselves to others, thinking “I'm better”; we must also not envy others, thinking “why do they have that and I don't?”.
Diligent practitioners reflect on what is pleasant and unpleasant as follows: when what is pleasant contributes to the purity of my mind and peace, it is good… when what is unpleasant contributes to the purity of my mind and peace, it is good… when what is pleasant pollutes and confuses my mind, it is bad… when what is unpleasant pollutes and confuses my mind, it is bad… what is good, i'll accept, pleasant it is or not, what is bad, ill reject, be it pleasant or unpleasant.
5. Abiding in peace.
Making an effort to abide in peace is the subtlest of all the efforts. To master it, we must hold three abilities:
1. The ability not to let the mind wander in the three times. When there is a memory, desire or vision of the future, we must weigh them like croup on the scales. We must weigh their usefulness, novelty, the reason why they arose and also the reason why they will disappear.
2. The ability not to contain stress by stress but by relaxation. This means that the calming of the mind must happen thanks to ending the mind-stressing ternary thirst (thirst of the senses, thirst for existence and thirst for decay)
3. Practitioners are content with peace and see it as their inalienable nature, they do not try to improve peace or add some additional sensual happiness to it.
Such is the application of the five wholesome efforts. Once practitioners begin to seriously form wholesome effort, it is important for them to clarify for themselves what is the correct way of dealing with the notion of “I”. This notion plays a leading role in the formation of an effort, therefore we must understand how and when using this “I” would be useful and when — it would be useless. The following passage is about this.
The Three Ways to Use Cow Urine
In the healing arts, cow urine is used in three ways — internally, externally and also as material for the preparation of remedies.
In urine, there are traces of bodily fluids which participate in food digestion and blood production, therefore with skillful internal application, it can have a healing effect on the internal organs of the body.
Due to the presence of primordial vitality which forms in the kidneys in the urine, it, applied externally, can have a healing effect in treating the sinuses, joints, skin and tendons.
Cow urine is also used to purify medicinal metals and stones from the poisons contained in them. Thanks to the ability of the urine to absorb and retain what is harmful for the body, it purifies materials soaked in it from substances which are harmful for health.
Correct use of the notion of “I” is like correct use of cow urine in treating the body.
Skillful mediators show wholesome differentiation and volition by making the decision: ”I'll develop the existing wholesome qualities of the mind, I'll give rise to those wholesome qualities which have not yet arisen; I'll eradicate the existing unwholesome qualities of the mind, I'll prevent the rise of new unwholesome qualities of the mind”. Such use of the notion of “I” is like the use of cow urine in treating the tissues of the body. It empowers differentiation and volition with the energy needed for their correct functioning.
Skillful meditators identify with limitless space, with light, with emptiness, with the unborn mind by thinking: “I — am limitless space, I — am infinite light, I — am conscious emptiness, I — am the unborn mind. Such use of the notion of “I” is like the external use of urine in treating the sinuses, tendons, joints and skin. It helps acquire a steady view, peace of the senses and vitality.
Skilfull meditators cut off attachment to form and name with the thought: “I'm — not a body, not a feeling, not a view, not volition, not consciousness fettered by vices. They are impermanent, and the “I” I endow them with suffers from impermanence. Therefore such an “I” is unsatisfactory. Such use of the notion of “I” is like the purification of medicinal metals and stones with the help of cow urine. After all, the body, feeling, view, volition and consciousness fettered by vices, all of them, being impermanent, subject to deterioration and contamination, must be purified from the sense “this — is I, that — is mine, I'm such”, by the sense of “I” itself.
