SIX PARAMITAS.
In order to receive the teachings, first
you should cultivate the right motivation that you would like to listen to these
teachings in order to liberate all sentient beings. This motivation is bodhicitta.
With regards to Bodhicitta, there are Six
Paramitas, which are the precepts or the practices of bodhisattvas.
These Six Paramitas is the path of the bodhisattvas. But we do not leave the Six
Paramitas to do sometime in the future.
We can start to practice the Six Paramitas
now during this teaching, even if it is through more general or easier methods.
For instance, while receiving teachings, we can try to practice the paramita
of generosity. This can be done by making offerings of flowers, incense
sticks, and by making contributions.
The second paramita, which is morality,
can be practiced while we are listening to the dharma, by abstaining from all
rude behaviors, and by maintaining very polite gestures and behaviors. Even
keeping the shrine room and kitchen area clean can also be a type of moral
practice.
While we are sitting listening to the
dharma, you might feel some inconveniences or physical discomforts, such as
getting tired, having back pain or feeling hungry or thirsty. Enduring or
tolerating these discomforts can be considered a practice of the third paramita,
which is patience.
When you listen to the dharma, one comes
here because you take delight in the dharma. You like to listen to the dharma,
so you make an effort to come to this place to listen to the dharma. One feels
it is an important thing to do, and this sense of delight in listening to the
dharma can be a practice of the fourth paramita of enthusiastic effort.
While listening to the teachings, you gaze
at the face of the teacher and then you listen to the words with full attention
and without wondering. This undistracted listening to the dharma is a practice
of the fifth paramita, which is meditation (contemplative stability).
When we listen to the teachings, certain
doubts and confusions in your mind get dispelled. When you gain that kind
knowledge and gain confidence in the teachings, it is a practice of the last
paramita, wisdom.
Therefore, we do not have to think that the Six Paramitas are some practice to be done in the future; both the student and the teacher can practice them right now!
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