Lesson 3: Other Paramitas
In this lesson, we will explore the meaning of four other paramitas, Wisdom, Morality, Patience and Energy. We will discuss the effect of meditation practice on these paramitas, and ways to manifest these paramitas in our lives.
Optional Reading
For this, read Chapter Two and Chapters Four through Seven in Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake.
Practicing Wisdom
There are those who would argue that wisdom cannot be cultivated; people either are wise or they are not, and if someone tells you what wise people think, then you're not being wise, not thinking for yourself.
The Buddha taught that this isn't true. We can become wiser--and we can make a positive effort to be wiser.
It's sometimes hard to see what wisdom is. What sounds greatly wise and profound at one moment to one person can sound shallow and inane to another. When a young adult suddenly realizes that there's more to life than having fun, it strikes him or her as the deepest thought ever, but it strikes most others as a natural part of growing up.
So how do we cultivate and practice wisdom? Part of that is realizing that the practice of wisdom needs constant work. It's like brushing your teeth. You don't ever get to the point in your life where you've brushed your teeth enough and you don't have to anymore! Wise people are always coming back to the same lessons they have learned many times before. When we're unwise, we act as though wisdom is old news, shrug it off, and ignore it.
Boorstein gives the example of "No Complaints" (109). I think we can all recognize this--life becomes easier if we don't complain so much. When we read something like this, it's easy to say, "That sounds like a good idea! I'll try complaining less." We try it for a little while, and maybe it works. Then we get restless, and then we start complaining again, forgetting the wisdom. When we're wise, we keep coming back to it, and remember not to complain about our lives, inwardly or outwardly.
Wisdom and Meditation
When we practice meditation regularly, we learn more about our minds. When we know our minds, we know how to use them wisely.
The Dhammapada is a book that contains the primary teachings of the Buddha. It begins with the verse:
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world. (Byrom)
Boorstein gives an example of this that came from her experience on an airplane (129-131). She was looking at the ways other passengers were struggling to make the time pass, using too much energy or not enough energy, resisting the experience of "what is." Then she realized that she was being judgmental--both of others and of herself. She changed her mind to a traditional Buddhist meditation: "May you be happy. May you be peaceful" (131).
Many people don't meditate because they feel they have better things to do. I practice sitting meditation simply because I spend so much energy in the rest of my life trying to make better use of my time. I try so hard to be productive and efficient. Even when I'm relaxing, I'm trying hard to make better use of my time, flipping through as many channels as possible just in case there's something better on Channel 63, checking the refrigerator one more time to make sure there isn't something I'd rather be eating, making sure no second has any trace of boredom in it.
To me, the most wonderful gift I can give myself is half an hour a day in which I don't worry about making better use of my time.
Meditation can be boring. It's true. People in the twenty-first century cannot handle being bored. We struggle and fight with boredom. Many of the unwise things we do arise from this struggle; we can't handle being bored, so we go out looking for some way we can stir up trouble. When we meditate, we can stop fighting boredom. After a whole lot of meditation, we see that a little boredom doesn't hurt us. Then we have a little more wisdom, and a little more incentive to act wisely.
