大乘入道次第 1.31

1.31

Second, as for explaining the names: first general, and then specific.

Regarding the general name, the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra and the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra state: For what reasons are these called pāramitās? Due to five reasons: 1. Non-attachment, because there is no attachment to matters contrary to the pāramitās. 2. Non-longing, meaning that regarding all the karmic fruits, retributions, and repaying of kindness of the pāramitās, the mind is unbound. 3. Faultlessness, meaning that regarding these pāramitās there are no uninterrupted defiled dharmas, and they are free from non-skillful practice. 4. Non-conceptualization, meaning that regarding these pāramitās, one does not cling to their self-characteristics according to verbal expressions. 5. Correct dedication of merit, meaning that regarding the pāramitās performed and accumulated in this way, one dedicates them toward seeking the fruit of unsurpassed great bodhi.

Furthermore, the Abhidharmasamuccaya states: "Reaching the other shore of the knowable is called pāramitā." Moreover, pāra means "the other shore of the knowable," and mita means "reached."

Explaining the specific names: The Mahāyānasaṃgraha states: "Being able to tear away stinginess and poverty, and being able to attract vast wealth, status, and merit, it is called giving. Being able to extinguish bad precepts and bad destinies, and being able to attract good destinies and samādhi, it is called precepts. Being able to eradicate anger and enmity, and being able to abide well in one's own peace, it is called patience. Being wonderfully able to leave behind all laxity and unwholesome dharmas, and being able to give rise to immeasurable wholesome dharmas, it is called vigor. Being able to dispel all distractions and agitations, and being able to attract the inner mind's peaceful abiding, it is called meditation. Being able to eliminate all views and tendencies of wrong and evil wisdom, and being able to know dharmas truly and category by category, it is called wisdom."