Giving Is the Root of All Good Deeds, Placed First Among the Six Paramitas

Practice the Six Paramitas oneself, and encourage others to do the same.

This summarizes the Bodhisattva practice of Dharmakara, which benefits both self and others. The great practices of a Bodhisattva are the Paramitas. There are six kinds, known as the Six Paramitas. These are the causes—or one could say, the provisions—for a Bodhisattva to attain Buddhahood.

Namely: giving, observing the precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. By cultivating these six methods, a Bodhisattva can bring the great practice of benefiting both self and others to perfect fulfillment, successfully reaching the other shore of Nirvana. Hence, they are called the Six Paramitas; "Paramita" means "reaching the other shore."

We are still on this shore of birth and death. Between here and the other shore of Nirvana lies a vast, turbulent river of samsara. How do we cross it? Through the Six Paramitas.

The Six Paramitas also serve as six prescriptions to cure our six heaviest afflictions.

Take giving, for example. As sentient beings, we are generally prone to stinginess and greed. We are miserly toward what we already possess, and we covet what we do not.

To counteract this, one must understand that stinginess is also a manifestation of attachment to the self. When one grasps at a self and holds a view of the body, one inevitably clings fiercely to wealth and sensual desires. Therefore, to truly perfect the practice of the Six Paramitas, it must be grounded in the Prajna wisdom of emptiness. Without some degree of wisdom that realizes emptiness, one simply cannot give.

Ask a very wealthy but deeply attached person to donate a mere hundred or a thousand dollars, and it feels to them as agonizing as cutting off their own flesh.

Giving is the very source of all virtuous deeds, which is why it is placed first among the Six Paramitas. Its placement at the forefront is not arbitrary—it shows that our affliction of stinginess and greed is the most severe, and we must address it first.

Confucius also noted that even if a person possesses many virtues, if they are miserly, none of their other qualities are worth mentioning.