The Prajn͂āpāramitā Sutra describes the perfection of wisdom, prajn͂ā paramita, as “the wings of a bird that can carry you very far.” It is the foundation and the key to the realization of all the paramitas. With this kind of understanding we can practice giving, mindfulness, inclusiveness, diligence, and meditation perfectly. Without prajn͂ā paramita the perfection of the other paramitas is impossible – without wings you cannot go far.

Dhyana, meditation, is the practice of calming, concentrating, and looking deeply. Meditation should be understood first of all as the cultivation of samadhi, meditative awareness. Then when we take teachings such as the Three Dharma Seals – impermanence, non-self, and nirvana – as the object of our concentration, they become real insights into our lived experience, not just ideas or concepts.

The core Buddhist teaching of impermanence tells us that all things arise and pass away according to their causes and conditions. Nothing lasts forever; nothing is a permanent, unchanging thing unto itself. Many practitioners think that they understand the teaching of impermanence perfectly, but they do not really believe in it. We have a strong tendency to believe that we will remain the same person forever and that our loved ones will also remain the same forever, but this is a kind of delusion that prevents us from living in a more mindful and compassionate way. If we believe that everyone and everything we love will always be there, we have little concern to take care of them, to treasure them deeply right here and now. When we lose something or someone we love, we suffer. Yet when that thing or person was still present in our lives we may not have treasured it, we didn’t fully appreciate him or her, because we lacked the insight of impermanence. It’s very important to make the insight of impermanence the object of our meditative awareness, because this insight is an essential element of love and compassion.

The next paramita, vīrya, is very often misinterpreted. Bringing the quality of diligence to our practice does not mean that we have to drive ourselves very hard and suffer a lot. Many people think that to be a diligent practitioner you have to practice sitting meditation for one or two hours, or you have to sit all day until you feel pain all through your body, and you think that this is good. You are able to push yourself hard, and so you feel like a hero. You can bear the pain in your mind and body. You have made it. You have survived a retreat.

This is not the practice of vīrya. You don’t have to suffer in order to progress in the practice. True diligence, wholesome energy, and effort in our practice, is born from joy. The point of the practice is not to create more suffering, but to bring well-being, transformation, and healing. We are not practicing only to achieve some better state in the future, but in order to get in touch with the joy and peace that are available right now, in every moment. If you practice with the correct attitude, you will feel relief from suffering right away.

The Sanskrit word “kṣānti” is often translated as “forbearance,” or “endurance,” but this does not really convey the true meaning of this paramita. Forbearance implies that you have to suffer a little bit in order to be able to accept something. If we look at the Chinese character for “kṣānti,” in the lower part is the character for “heart,” and in the upper part there is a stroke that looks like a knife, something sharp that is a little bit difficult to handle. This is a graphic expression of its true root meaning, “all-embracing inclusiveness.” If our heart is large and open enough, we can accept the sharp thing and it will not bother us. Something that seems unpleasant or disturbing only feels that way when our heart is too small. When our heart is large enough, we can be very comfortable, we can embrace the sharp, difficult thing without injury. So kṣānti is a quality of being that does not bring suffering; in fact, it allows us to escape the kind of suffering we experience when our heart is too small. When our heart is big enough, we won’t suffer.

Shila, the second paramita, is the clear and simple guidelines for ethical behavior in our everyday life. “I vow to listen deeply, with compassion to your suffering.” That is shila. “I vow to speak to you with the language of loving kindness.” That is shila. “I vow to protect and preserve life.” That is shila. The Five Mindfulness Trainings, the basic precepts of Buddhism, are an essential foundation for the practice of the other paramitas. When you practice shila, when you display self-discipline and mindfulness in word and deed, you have a lot of credibility. Because there is harmony between your words and actions, people have trust and confidence in you, and with the support of that trust, you are able to bring about much good. In Plum Village, we present these trainings in a nonsectarian form, with no specifically Buddhist terminology, because we know that they have universal value. Elements of these ethical guidelines for living exist in every tradition. The wording may be different, but the essence is very much the same.

If we know how to apply the Five Mindfulness Trainings, individually, collectively, and internationally, then peace on Earth will become a reality. The trainings remind us to consume mindfully and refrain from doing things that can harm our body and mind. They help us refrain from harming others and from using the kind of language that causes disharmony and division and brings about suffering. The practice of shila helps secure the safety and wellbeing of ourselves and others, and it is a path to greater understanding and compassion.

The Sanskrit term “paramita” is usually translated in English as “perfection,” but in Chinese Buddhist literature it is always rendered in a character that translates literally as “crossing to the other shore.” The Six Paramitas are very concrete means for us to cross over the sea of suffering to the shore of freedom from craving, anger, envy, despair, and delusion. Through cultivating and perfecting these six ways of being, we can reach the other shore very quickly – it may take only a few seconds for us to cross over the river of suffering and arrive on the shore of well-being. We may have thought that it would take many years of practice in order to get free of the afflictions, but if we know how to cultivate and manifest these six qualities we can cross over right here and now.

The first paramita, the first door of action, is dana, giving and generosity. The second door of action is shila, the precepts, mindfulness trainings, and guidelines for ethical behavior. The third door is kṣānti, all-embracing inclusiveness. The fourth door of action is vīrya, diligence, energy, effort, and steadfastness in the practice. The fifth is dhyana, meditation, the practice of stopping and calming and looking deeply. And the sixth is prajn͂ā, wisdom and understanding.

We have already seen these qualities manifested in the bodhisattvas of the Lotus Sutra. Never Despising Bodhisattva and Pūrṇa exemplify the perfection of inclusiveness. Mañjuśrī is an example of complete realization of great wisdom. Earth Store Bodhisattva’s vow not to rest until all living beings are delivered from the hells of suffering is an example of the perfection of diligence.

All of the great bodhisattvas manifest the qualities of the Six Paramitas in various ways, and each of these six doors of action exists in interdependence with the others. In any one of these six qualities, you can see the other five. This is the approach that we should always take when we study and practice Buddhism, because the very foundation of Buddhist wisdom is interbeing – the one contains the all.

In one of the chants recited by monks and nuns during the morning service there is the expression, “opening the door of action.” This refers to entering the dimension of action through the practice of the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are called the doors of action because this practice is the basis of the bodhisattva path. Not only Sadaparibhuta, Avalokiteśvara, Samantabhadra, and the other great bodhisattvas we’ve met in the pages of the Lotus Sutra, but also you, I, and every one of us can be Buddha’s disciple and friend and serve as a bodhisattva to help bring peace, joy, and stability to the world.