The Six Paramitas: Wisdom

Audio-only version is here.
Meditation practice begins at 22:53.

Dear Open Heart Project,

Happy new year! It is a delight to send you this sixth video in our series on the six paramitas or transcendent actions. Don’t worry if  you missed previous videos, you do not have to go back and start at the beginning. However, if you’d like to, they are listed below.

Today’s topic is prajna or wisdom. Remember, the paramitas are not about ordinary qualities but about transcendent ones–transcendent generosity, transcendent discipline, and so on. Now we arrive at transcendent wisdom which is tricky to talk about because it exists beyond concept, beyond words, beyond even thought. But we will do our best!

The first thing to note is that all the paramitas are about living with an awakened heart and being of benefit to this world. In Buddhism, this is called being a bodhisattva or an awakened being. The paramitas comprise the activities of a bodhisattva–and at the same time they are, in some sense, quite ordinary. Please have a listen to this talk to learn more.

Towards the end of the talk, I mention a seminal text within Mahayana Buddhism that points to the essence of prajna/transcendent wisdom. It is called the Heart Sutra. I wanted to link to it here in case you are interested in reading it.

Are you a member of the Open Heart Project sangha? It is a membership group within the OHP that gives us a chance to practice together more closely through online classes, retreats, weekly gatherings, and more. You can check it out here. It would be great to see you there!

In all cases, stay tuned for the next video series which will begin in two weeks with the first of the “Four Factors of the Bodhisattva Mentality”.

So glad our paths have crossed.

With love, Susan

Paramita #1: Generosity

Paramita #2: Discipline

Paramita #3: Patience

Paramita #4: Exertion

Paramita #5: Meditative Absorption

Love, Susan

categorized in: meditation, open heart project