Of the Six Paramitas – Giving – Dana; Discipline – Five Precepts; Patience; Effort; Meditation; and Wisdom – Meditation is a loose translation of Dhyana. It could also be considered single-minded concentration. Our usual state of mind is fleeting. First we have one thought and the next moment we are thinking yet something else, and all of this while supposedly we are engaged in some activity. This is perhaps one reason why people think they enjoy or function better if they are multitasking. What multitasking has done however is make it easier to live distracted lives and avoid concentration.

When we lead distracted lives we miss out on things and we tend to make more mistakes either in performance or judgment. Buddhism teaches us to push against the easy things in our lives. Focusing the mind, concentrating on a single task or thought is hard and takes practice; perhaps this is why some people prefer not doing it. The mind when it is focused and concentrated is capable of accomplishing many great things.

Speaking of the Paramita of Effort, whatever our faults may be, we did not acquire those faults overnight. We must expect to need to exert as much effort to change as we actually exerted to create those faults. In my case it has taken over 60 years to create the kind of person I am, good points and bad points. If I want to change something bad about myself, then I will need to strive equally as hard to create new good to replace it. Perhaps it will take less time, but only if I exert concentrated effort. An overgrown garden where weeds have taken over didn’t become that way overnight, and will not suddenly and magically revert back to a weed free and orderly state merely because we wish it to be so, but only by continued attention to its defects and nurturing of its perfections.

By some accounts the Six Paramitas came about as a Mahayana response to an overemphasis on development of self by only adhering to the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path, which are primarily focused on self.

Of the Six Paramitas – Giving – Dana; Discipline – Five Precepts; Patience; Effort; Meditation; and Wisdom – effort is viewed slightly different than Effort as one of the Eight-Fold Path. Here, Effort is our effort on behalf of others and our effort in our practice. Effort is also sometimes translated as Striving.

What kind of effort should we make is of course a legitimate question, and the answer can simply be stated as effort to bring good and prevent harm. Effort is also the activity of doing the entire Six Paramitas, as it takes both physical and mental effort to live up to and follow these six guidelines.

Of the Six Paramitas – Giving – Dana; Discipline – Five Precepts; Patience; Effort; Meditation; and Wisdom – the third paramita or perfection is patience, that elusive trait, which I have difficulty in giving to others and in giving to myself. As I was thinking about this it occurred to me that it is different than being tolerant, at least as I see it. Let me give an example to see if you can follow my thinking. If I tolerate something that someone is doing then I am ‘granting’ them or ‘giving’ them my permission to not do it correct. However, if I am patient with what they are doing I accept whatever they are doing as a gift from them. Does that make sense? In a way, one is something that I am giving and the other is accepting from them. I may be muddying the waters even more here, so let me try again. If, for example someone is moving slowly, I may tolerate it and in so doing I might say nothing externally but internally I am judging his or her actions as being slow. If I am patient with what they are doing, I accept it from them with no judgment, no thoughts of just getting through the ordeal, no condescending attitude, no ifs ands or buts.

With patience I am better able to see the value of what the other person is doing. I am better able to value the other person. And I am less likely to make judgments of superiority or inferiority.

In discussing the Six Paramitas and five precepts, I think the important thing is what kind of commitment you make to yourself and to the Dharma. Are you true to your commitment and can you be honest about your failings. This isn’t a game to impress others by putting on false appearances; it is about our own path to enlightenment and our ability to lead others to the Dharma. If we say we are going to do something then we should strive really hard to do just that, admit our failure and strive harder the next time to succeed. The better able we are to follow the precepts the better able we will to model the life of the Buddha and attain enlightenment and enable other to do so too.

The Six Paramitas are 1. Giving – Dana; 2. Discipline – Five Precepts; 3. Patience; 4. Effort; 5. Meditation; and 6. Wisdom. … There are many precepts given in Buddhism depending upon whether you are a lay practitioner or a priest and whether you are a female or male. However, what we will focus on are the first five, which apply to all.

The Five Precepts are, not to take life, not to take what is not yours, not to engage in sexual misconduct, not to tell an untruth, and not to use intoxicants. …

I like to point out that whenever we equivocate or try to make excuses or bend the rules, then we are ignoring an inability to be honest with ourselves. I personally don’t care one way or another how strictly a person adheres to these rules; after all it is not up to me to judge. But what does concern me is whenever someone tries to dance around the point, rather than being honest with oneself and others.

The word paramita was originally translated into Chinese from two words param and ita. Param translated as “to the other shore” and ita as “reached.” It is believed that by observing the Paramitas one is able to cross the shore of birth and death and reach the shore of nirvana.

The Six Paramitas are 1. Giving – Dana; 2. Discipline – Five Precepts; 3. Patience; 4. Effort; 5. Meditation; and 6. Wisdom. … Dana is the act of giving without ANY expectation of reward or benefit. Think about that for a moment. No reward, no thanks, no benefit, no tax deduction, no write off, no name recognition, perhaps no appreciation, no self congratulations, no quiet satisfaction of performance, perhaps even no warm fuzzy feeling. How hard is that? Just giving because you want to and in appreciation, giving as an expression of your gratitude.

One of the benefits of practicing with a Sangha is to have support in times of crisis. Regardless of the crisis, having the support of community is invaluable. Practicing alone by choice may be convenient in times of ease and comfort, but invariably problems will arise and it is times such as those when having friends in faith can be invaluable. The Sangha, the third of the Three Jewels of Buddhism is so critical to a healthy faith.

I hope no one faces the kind of persecution Nichiren or others since him have faced. But I do wonder how many would be standing after facing such hardships. There are all sorts of ways our faith may be challenged that might be more common. Persecution or persuasion or pressure from family or loved ones frequently happens. Interference caused by work or other obligations often causes people to give up their faith and practice, thinking they will pick it back up when things get easy. But a practice of convenience hardly qualifies as faith with no fear or upholding at the cost of one’s life.