The state of concentrated meditation of the threefold learning and of right meditation in the Eightfold Path is customarily explained in terms of the four stages of dhyana. Descriptions of these four stages are largely the same in all extant primitive Buddhist scriptures, whether in Pali, Sanskrit, or Chinese. The Delectable Discourse (Pasadikasutta) of the Pali canon defines the stages as follows: In the first stage of dhyana, the meditator is free of all desire and all evil but continues to investigate and reflect while experiencing the joy (an emotional sensation) and bliss (a physical sensation) that come of being free of the five obstacles (greed, anger, sleepiness, discontent and regret, and doubt). In the second stage of dhyana, the meditator no longer investigates or reflects but enjoys concentration and experiences the joy and bliss of the previous stage of dhyana. In the third stage of dhyana, the meditator abandons both joy and sorrow but retains remembrance, wisdom, and bliss. In the fourth stage of dhyana, the meditator transcends bliss and suffering, just as joy and sorrow were abandoned, and experiences pure recollection.Basic Buddhist Concepts

The law of causation tells us that every phenomenon in the universe is intimately related to all others. It is scarcely surprising that in the threefold learning, the Six Perfections, and the Eightfold Path each element includes all others and is included in all others.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

Put to use in everyday life, the Eightfold Path can enhance health, keep people on the proper moral and ethical road, increase efficiency at work, establish a correct view of the world and humankind, and cultivate wisdom. But Mahayana Buddhism rejected sole reliance on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as insufficient for its goal, which is to work diligently not only for personal enlightenment but also for the improvement of one’s fellow human beings and all society. Though Mahayana followers recognized the value of the Hinayana truths and principles of action for self-improvement, they decried the absence of altruistic ideals. In the stead of the solitary arhat, they adopted the ideal of the bodhisattva, whose first consideration is the benefit and happiness of other beings. The Eightfold Path, which cannot serve as a complete teaching for bodhisattvas, was replaced with the Six Perfections as the model for religious action.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

In teaching the five ascetics immediately after his own enlightenment, Shakyamuni adopted a gradual approach. First he exhorted them to follow the Middle Way between the extremes of asceticism and hedonism and taught that training must be based on a rational understanding of cause and effect. Next he led them to a logical understanding of the correct Buddhist interpretation of the world by explaining the Four Noble Truths. At this stage, his listeners attained the Eye of the Law, enabling them to see all things in their true form. Next the Buddha taught that the five aggregates are impermanent, suffering, and without an abiding self. Directing the ascetics to meditate on the nature of the five aggregates, he made their earlier intellectual understanding an experiential one; with this melding of idea and action their practice was complete, and they all became arhats. Similar examples of gradual teachings are not unusual in the texts of primitive Buddhism.Basic Buddhist Concepts

Buddhism teaches that we must begin by properly understanding the way things are; from this, we know the way things should be; and then we throw ourselves into the practice to make things thus.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

Giving is the most fundamental of the bodhisattva practices, for bodhisattvas give themselves to save others. It is giving that makes a bodhisattva. While the Eightfold Path is prescribed for self-cultivation, the Six Perfections (especially giving and patience) are directed to others, clearly indicating the shift toward an altruistic, social focus in Mahayana Buddhism that set it apart from the Hinayana tradition.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

The Six Perfections are giving, observing the precepts, patience, striving, meditation, and wisdom. Their purpose is to help all living beings reach the “other shore” of enlightenment, and this is what the Sanskrit term paramita, or perfection, means. Four of the Six Perfections correspond to steps in the Eightfold Path. Observing the precepts corresponds to right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Striving is the same as right effort. Meditation corresponds to right mindfulness and right meditation, and wisdom includes right views and right thought. Giving and patience, though important items in the Six Perfections, are not mentioned explicitly in the Eightfold Path. The position of giving at the head of the list indicates the altruistic emphasis of the Six Perfections.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

Shakyamuni also taught the four means: giving, kind words, benefiting others, and compassion. As in the Six Perfections, giving includes using all the resources of body and mind to save others and freely bestowing both the teachings and material goods on those in need. Kind words means speaking for the benefit of others. The words may be of encouragement and praise or criticism and censure, depending on the situation. At times, silence may be the kindest and most beneficial speech. Benefiting others includes all other sorts of actions for the good of living beings. Compassion means abandoning attachment to the self and its own interests, identifying with the needs and feelings of others, and acting in others’ interest. Giving is the basic impulse behind each of the four means: in the perfection of the practice of giving is found the perfection of each of the four means.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

In addition to the four sufferings and the eight sufferings, which describe types of suffering, Buddhism analyzes suffering according to its cause in three ways (the three sufferings): suffering caused directly, the physical pain experienced by all living creatures with sensory systems; suffering caused by loss or destruction of things to which human beings have attachments or of which they entertain expectations; and suffering caused by the impermanence of all things. The first kind of suffering is objective. The second is subjective and can be relieved by altering one’s mental attitude. Much of the suffering that human beings experience is of this kind, as is most of the suffering that religions are called upon to succor. The last of the three sufferings, caused by the impermanence of all things, is an idea that permeates Buddhism and Indian philosophy in general.Basic Buddhist Concepts

When the three … obstructions of pride, doubt, and false views are added to the three poisons, we have what are known as the six fundamental obstructions. Pride and self-centeredness prevent human beings from evaluating others correctly and lead to incorrect understanding and actions. Doubt is failure to believe in the existence of truth, the reality of good and evil, and the efficacy of karma. From such doubts are born false views that in turn obstruct faith in the Three Treasures. Of course, earnest, constructive doubt can lend strength to the pursuit of the ideal, but destructive skepticism serves no purpose at all. Such futile doubt is criticized in the six fundamental obstructions.Basic Buddhist Concepts