The Six Pāramitās Are Also the Mark of Emptiness

Original text of the Diamond Sutra:如来说第一波罗蜜。即非第一波罗蜜。是名第一波罗蜜。须菩提。忍辱波罗蜜。如来说非忍辱波罗蜜。是名忍辱波罗蜜。

Explanation: When the Tathāgata speaks of the foremost pāramitā, there is not truly a foremost pāramitā; the foremost pāramitā is not a real mark—it is merely called the foremost pāramitā in name. Subhūti, the pāramitā of forbearance: the Tathāgata says there is not truly a pāramitā of forbearance; the pāramitā of forbearance is also an illusory false mark, merely called the pāramitā of forbearance in name.

The six pāramitās of bodhisattvas are: generosity (dāna), precept-keeping (śīla), forbearance (kṣānti), diligence (vīrya), meditative concentration (dhyāna), and wisdom (prajñā). If one can bring forth the great bodhi mind and practice the six pāramitās in order to accomplish the Buddha Way, then one can reach the other shore of nirvāṇa, and the six practices thus performed are called the six pāramitās. "Pāramitā" means reaching the other shore of nirvāṇa. If one practices the six pāramitās without the bodhi mind, the six practices are merely wholesome dharmas without the pāramitā, and one cannot reach the other shore of nirvāṇa.

The first of the six pāramitās is the pāramitā of generosity (dāna-pāramitā). All the giving practices of a bodhisattva are accomplished by the vajra mind (vajra-citta); they are conjured up and sustained by the vajra mind, subject to arising and ceasing, change, and impermanence. Therefore the pāramitā of generosity is an empty, false mark, not a real mark—this is "not the foremost pāramitā," provisionally named the foremost pāramitā. The pāramitā of forbearance is conjured up and accomplished by the vajra mind; it has no substantial attributes, no real mark of forbearance, and no real mark of pāramitā. Therefore it is also an empty, false mark, not a mark that truly exists; hence it is also "not the pāramitā of forbearance," provisionally named the pāramitā of forbearance. The pāramitā of precept-keeping, the pāramitā of diligence, the pāramitā of meditative concentration, and the pāramitā of wisdom are all likewise so: all are "not pāramitās," without real marks; all are illusory empty false marks, provisionally named pāramitās.