

The Ten Paramitas
Parol-tu Chinpa Çu – pha rol tu phyin pa drug phar bCu
The Paramitas—ultimately—are actions which are free from the crimp of duality – actions which arise spontaneously from the non-dual state. They are the actions of the bodhisattva—the awakened-mind warrior—who has gone beyond the confines of referentiality, and who dwells within the meaning of ocean and its ornamental waves. In Tibetan the word which equates to ‘bodhisattva’ is ‘changchub sempa’ (byang chub sems dPa). Changchub sempa has a specific meaning which differs from the Sanskrit word, which means ‘one who has Bodhi’ or ‘one who has awakened-mind’ or ‘one who has the compassionate Mind of enlightenment’. The Tibetan spelling should be ‘byang chub sems pa’ – but we find instead that it is ‘byang chub sems dPa’. ‘dPa’ is a contraction of the word ‘dPa bo’ which means ‘warrior’ rather than ‘pa’ which means ‘person’. Changchub sempa therefore means awakened-mind warrior.


Discipline
tsultrim – tshul khrims – shila paramita
Khandro Déchen Discipline (tshul khrims / shila paramita / ethics or morality), according to Dzogchen, can also be spoken of as energy …
Patience
zopa – bZod pa – kshanti paramita
Khandro Déchen Ngak’chang Rinpoche was once travelling by car to a retreat with our disciple Naljorma Jig’mèd. They became embroiled in a …
Diligence
tsöndrü – brTson ’grus – virya paramita
Khandro Déchen Diligence—tsöndrü (brTson ’grus – virya paramita) was described by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche as energy. It could also be described as …
Openness
bSam gTan – dhyana paramita – meditative stability
Khandro Déchen Samten (bSam gTan – dhyana – concentration) is defined as Tsé gÇig Nyon-mong ’méd (rTse gCig nyon mongs med) meditative …
Knowledge
shérab – shes rab – prajna paramita
Khandro Déchen Shérab (shes rab) means intelligence or insight. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche called it: ‘. . . the all – seeing eye, …
Method
Thab (thabs – skilful means, compassionate activity)
Khandro Déchen Thabs—method—is the way of unconditioned appropriate responsiveness to nowness. Method is the response to space. Because pure perception is not …
Aspiration power
thug-mön – thugs sMon pranidhana paramita – vectoral verve
Khandro Déchen Thugmön (thugs sMon) the mind of aspiration – more generally referred to as mönlam (sMon lam), the path of aspiration, …
Strength
tob – sTobs – power
Khandro Déchen This is how an apprentice described the nature of momentary feelings – and in so doing delightfully defined absence of …