Excerpted from The Bodhicaryāvatāra (The Way of the Bodhisattva), Chapter on Wisdom
All these subsidiary factors were taught by the Buddha for the sake of wisdom; therefore, whoever wishes to end suffering should arouse the wisdom of emptiness.
This verse is frequently quoted in Mahāyāna treatises, so seasoned practitioners may already be familiar with it. It means that the first five perfections —generosity (dāna), ethical discipline (śīla), patience (kṣānti), diligence (vīrya), and meditative concentration (dhyāna)—were taught by the Buddha in order to give rise to wisdom (prajñā). They serve as supportive conditions for the arising of wisdom; without these causes and conditions, wisdom is difficult to develop. In other words, the perfection of wisdom is fundamental, and the first five perfections are its subsidiary parts. Thus, the “all these subsidiary factors” mentioned above ultimately serve to arouse the wisdom that realizes the emptiness of all phenomena. Of course, there are other interpretations, but we will not discuss them here.
Here, it speaks of the bodhisattva’s “six perfections” (ṣaṭpāramitā): generosity (dāna), ethical discipline (śīla), patience (kṣānti), diligence (vīrya), meditative concentration (dhyāna), and the perfection of wisdom (prajñā). If we seek liberation and aspire to become a true bodhisattva—or ultimately a Buddha—we must cultivate these six practices. By training in the first five, we lay the conditions for the arising of prajñā.
The Role of the First Five Pāramitās in Giving Rise to Prajñā
Prajñā—wisdom—is fundamental to liberation and lies at the heart of the Buddha dharma. Other subsidiary practices such as generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, and meditative concentration can also be found outside Buddhism; what those traditions lack is prajñā. In the Chinese Buddhist tradition, there is a saying: if one upholds non-Buddhist practices with prajñā, they can accord with the Buddha dharma; but without prajñā, even practices associated with Buddhism—such as circumambulating a stūpa, making prostrations, lighting incense, or offering lamps—degenerate into non-Buddhist practices. Therefore, prajñā-wisdom is the central value of Buddhism.
Thus, how do the other five pāramitās relate to prajñā-wisdom, the central value of the Buddha-dharma? Let us now analyze their interrelationship in as much detail as possible.
1. Generosity (dāna) and Wisdom (prajñā)
First, what is the relationship between generosity and prajñā?
What is true prajñā? When embodied in a practitioner, it means not clinging to anything and not being bound by anything—“not abiding anywhere. If one still cannot let go of anything, there is simply no way to enter prajñā-wisdom. Therefore, one must train in generosity: give everything away. In particular, one should give away what one loves and what one is attached to—offer it all, and in this way uphold the perfection of generosity. Why? Because only when we can truly give everything away can the mind genuinely learn “not to abide anywhere.”
There are three kinds of generosity: giving material goods (amisa-dāna), giving protection or fearlessness (abhaya-dāna), and giving the Dharma (dharma-dāna). Among them, giving the Dharma is considered the highest. But we should remember that generosity is ultimately meant to support the perfection of wisdom (prajñā). If giving is not guided by prajñā—if one gives merely for the sake of giving—then it becomes mundane generosity. The more mundane giving one accumulates, the more worldly rewards one may receive in a future life, such as wealth,status, or even kingship; but this by itself does not bring liberation.
2. Ethical Discipline (Śīla) and Wisdom (prajñā)
The second pāramitā is ethical discipline. How does it relate to prajñā?
So-called “discipline” consists of many “don’ts”—do not do this, do not do that. Why are such rules established? Because our minds contain a great deal of ignorance and many confused, chaotic tendencies. The mind is unable to refrain from grasping; it continually clings and gives rise to all kinds of discriminations. Once grasping arises, it will inevitably lead to suffering.
For example, some of our fellow practitioners at the meditation center may not yet have a stable mind and tend to engaging in grasping. They might get caught up in romantic relationships, or fall into confused behaviors such as stealing or sexual misconduct. Such actions inevitably lead to suffering, making it difficult to practice wholeheartedly and sincerely and impossible to enter genuine prajñā. This is precisely why ethical discipline is required. When one keeps the precepts, the mind gradually becomes clearer and more purified, and one begins to step out of the confusion and afflictions driven by past habitual tendencies. Therefore, if one wishes to cultivate prajñā, one must uphold ethical discipline.
3. Patience (kṣānti) and Wisdom (prajñā)
Next is patience, which can be understood on different levels. For instance, when others offend you or encroach upon you, you restrain yourself and endure—this is patience in relation to external circumstances. And when various thoughts arise in the mind, you patiently bear the negative emotions and unwholesome thoughts within, and transform them into the path of practice —this is patience in relation to the inner mind.
So how is patience related to prajñā? Prajñā is utterly pure and free from afflictions: a kind of wisdom that is not pulled around by shifting moods or by external circumstances. Without patience, the moment an external situation arises or a thought appears, one is immediately swept away by it. Then you cannot genuinely abide in the Dharma-nature (prajñā). Imagine someone who claims to be “realized,” abiding in the Dharma-nature, yet the instant they are insulted by even a few harsh words, they explode in anger—such kind of realization clearly does not qualify. For in the very moment of rage, the mind has already left prajñā and departed from non-clinging. Therefore, we must cultivate patience.
4. Diligence (vīrya) and Wisdom (prajñā)
After generosity, ethical discipline, and patience, what sustains the practice is diligence. How does diligence relate to prajñā?
There is so much confusion within our mental continuum. From beginningless kalpas we have accumulated many karmic obscurations, along with countless discriminating and discursive thoughts. Clearing them away is a long-term process—there is no way to accomplish it all at once. Some of our fellow practitioners may think like these, “I don’t really practice in daily life. I don’t cultivate renunciation or bodhicitta. Can I just ‘bribe’ the guru, get a pith instruction that takes three minutes to explain, and then immediately realize prajñā?” Many people have this kind of shortcut mentality,hoping to gain realization without exerting any effort—but in reality this is simply impossible. You must practice generosity, ethical discipline, and patience, and keep doing so persistently—until the various forms of clinging, impulsiveness, and negativity in the mental continuum are completely removed. This is why diligence is indispensable. That is the relationship between diligence and prajñā.
5. Meditative Concentration (dhyāna) and Wisdom (prajñā)
Next comes meditative concentration (dhyāna). What is dhyāna? The kind of concentration shared by Buddhists and non-Buddhist traditions refers to a state of mental calm and tranquility. Yet the concentration unique to Buddhism is when the mind abides in the Dharma-nature—abiding in genuine prajñā.
Speaking of the meditative concentration shared by Buddhists and non-Buddhist paths, how does it relate to prajñā? For most practitioners, it is only when the mind becomes very quiet and settled that one can begin to recognize the mind’s nature and gain an understanding of prajñā-wisdom. This is the first level of the relationship between meditative concentration and prajñā: we rely on such calm stability as a basis for coming to appreahend prajñā.
Why is this so? Because when the mind is calm, it becomes easier to discern its nature; when the mind is not calm, the mind’s function is entirely manifested in the play of dualistic phenomena. What, then, are the plays of such phenomena? Some manifest as greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt. These are not the play of dharma nature, but the play of dualistic phenomena: the polluted play of the discriminating, conceptual mind. Under such conditions, it is impossible for us to recognize the nature of mind. Therefore, the mind must first be brought to calmed. This is the first way in which dhyāna influences the recognition of prajñā.
Secondly, once we have genuinely recognized the nature of mind and understood what prajñā is, we must rely on dhyāna to sustain and stabilize this recognition.
At the initial stage of realization, one’s degree of realization is, of course, far from comparable to that of the Buddha, and may not even reach the level of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva. In order to sustain and stabilize this realization, dhyāna is required—calmly and continuously abiding in dharmatā, and repeatedly familiarizing oneself with it through ongoing practice. Only in this way can the mind, amid all its play of phenomena—including the thoughts of the sixth consciousness and the perceptual appearances of the first five sense faculties—naturally abide in dharmatā as they arise. Only then do phenomena truly manifest as dharmatā itself, leading to the realization that “the lush yellow flowers are prajñā, and the verdant bamboo is dharma nature.” Therefore, the cultivation of dhyāna is indispensable, for dhyāna and prajñā are profoundly interconnected.
