,.

- , ,
F R 0 M : R W a l s h 6 DH S h a p i ~ o( e d s ) BEYOND
HEALTH AND NORMALITY: EXPLORATIONS THE TEN PERFECTIONS 210
OF EXCEPTIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEINC.
N e w Y o r k : Van N o s t r a n d ~ e i n h o l d1 9 8 3 .
Buddhist psychology. certain o f these have been labeled a s the ten "param-
ilas or perfections."'
While an individual may cultivate any o n e o r m o r c o f thcse qualities. it is
held that the simultaneous perfection o f all ten was first attained by the Bud-
dha, whose self-imposed training and discipline were extraordinarily a r -
duous and broad ranging. H e began his formal practice with concentrative
medilation, and over a period o f i w o years mastered all the higher levels o f
ccjncentraiion, known as the jhanas, a n extraordinarily rare achievement
8 (lor a discus.sion o f thcse states, see Chapter 9). Not satislied with t h e tem-
The Ten Perfections: Qualities porary nature of the relief o f suffering which thcse states permitted, he next
turned to the path o f asceticism with a severity which almost killed him.
of the Fully Enlightened Individual Recognizing that extreme starvation and deprivation only impeded his men-
tal faculties, h e then relinquished asceticism a n d mastered the path o f insight
as Described in Buddhist Psychology meditation among others, thus supposedly bringing t o complete fruition all
ten perfections.
The ten paramitas might b e thought o f a s involving five overlapping cate- -.
gorics: effort (determination a n d energy). ethics (ethicality and truthful-
, ..- . .. Roger Walsh ness), nonattachment (renunciation. patience, a n d equanimity), service t o
others (generosity a n d loving kindness), and wisdom. Although the refine-
ment o f t h e e qualities t o the degree described in Buddhist psychology may
Such was the Buddha's impact that people sometimes felt h e must be be exceedingly rare, all of us are said to possess them to varying extents a n d
something more than human. to be capable of cultivating them if we so choose.
. -- -
"Arc you a God?" they wondered.
"No," replied the Buddha.
1. Determination. Buddhist psychology is very explicit a n d repetitive
"Are you a n angel?"
about the need for intense determination and e f f o n in attaining exceptional
"No."
levels o f well-being. "Oh Monks. rouse u p yet morc effort" is a familiar ex-
"Then what are you?" they asked.
hortation in the teachings o i the Buddha, who was vcry explicit that
"I a m awake."
Huston Smith',
It is you who must make the e f f o n .
T h e masters only point the way.
T h e Buddha4

Buddhismmakes n o claims that the path toexceptional well-being is a n easy

Likeall branchesof the percnnialpsychology. Buddhism is vcry much a n a p one and regards the cultivation o f unyielding determination as essential for
plied psychology. aimed at training the mind and bringing it to optimal levels overcoming the many difficulties that a r e encountered along the way.
o f functioning. T h e means for this are laid o u t in the eightfold path, a
prescription for ethical living and meditation training, the meditative c o w 2. Energy. One o f ihe "five hindrances" which the practitioner must face
ponent o f which will be described in Chapter 9 by Goleman and Epstcin. The and overcome is what the Buddhists have s o picturesquely labeled "sloth and
aim is the cultivation o f certain mental qualities and attributes said to c h z - torpor".* Early in meditative practice there may be frequent experiences o f
acterize the highest levels o f enlightenment, qualitics which can be recog low arousal, apathy, and sleepiness a s the mind is deprived o f its customary
nized a s the goals of all the great religious a n d consciousness disciplines.' In high levels of interaction, conversation, a n d stimulation. This claim has
received recent s u p p o n from empirical studies which show that beginning
218
. . . . -: --
1 . ..
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220 NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVES : THE TEN PERFECTIONS 221

meditators may sometimes display electrical brain wave activity consistent other unskillful behaviors which motivate us and result in further disrupting
. ~ student must learn how to cultivate and con.
with early stages o f ~ l e e p The
trol arousal and energy so as to reduce dependence on outside stimuli and
bring the mind to an optimal level of activation freed from the extremes of
i emotions such as guilt, agitation, and fear. Further lying and unethicality to
protect the original lie frequently follow..
The impeccable practice of truthfulness, on the other hand, appears to
both. lehargy and agitation. serve many functions for the practitioner. It encourages ethicality, requires
precise awareness of speech and motivation, enhances clear perception and
3. Ethicality. memory of events which might otherwise be distorted by lying, frees the
mind of guilt and fear of discovery, and consequently reduces agitation and
See yourself in others worry.
Then whom can you hurt? The fully enlightened individual, freed from greed, attachment, anger,
What harm can you d o and other unskillful mind states, has neither desire nor need to distort the
The Buddha1 truth or act unethically. Those who are fully ethical have nothing to hide.
and truthfulness, like all the other perfections, ultimately becomes a spon-
Ethicalitv as it is imolied in Buddhism and other consciousness disci~lincr taneous and continuous expression of the arahat's essential nature.
has been much misunderstood in popular thinking and institutionalized
religion. In the consciousness disciplines, ethicality is recognized a s a func- Like a lovely flower.
tional and skillful device which is essential for mental training. not be con- Bright and fragrant
fused with externally imposed moralism o r sanctions. No one deeply in- Are the fin? and truthful words
volved in an intensive mental training program can long remain ignorant of Of the man who says what he means.
the deleterious effects of unethical behavior on mental activity and control. The Buddha4
The practitioner soon comes to recognize that unethical behavior is
motivated by powerful emotions and states, such as greed, anger. or dislikeL.- 5. Renunciation. Renunciation is an attribute somewhat foreign t o our
which grip the mind and render it hard to ~ontrol.~.'Unethical behavior Western thinking and calls up images of asceticism, sacrifice, and the relin-
stems from such motives and at the same time conditions and reinforces quishment of pleasure. However, a deeper understanding of the term as it is
them, thus leaving the mind more deeply entrapped in counterproductive used in Buddhist psychology suggeas that it implies the voluntary relinquish-
conditioning, which in turn produces still more disruptive states such as ment of one source ofpleasure in order togain access to pleasures o f a deeper
agitation and guilt. and more permanent nature.
The practice of ethicality, on the other hand, is designed to reverse this Contrary to our traditional Western models, Buddhist psychology
process and to extinguish those attachments a n d emotions which produce it. recognizes four types of pleasure: sensory pleasures, pleasures arising from
The final result is the mind of the arahat (the fully enlightened individual). states of extreme concentration such as the jhanas, the pleasures of insight
which is said to be totally freed of such states and hence to be quite incapable (i.e.. the pleasure which arises as a result of training in insight meditation),
of unethical and the pleasure of nirvana.l0J1 These pleasures are supposedly of increasing
Ethicality is a particularly clear example of the synergistic natureof the refinement, sensitivity, and degree.' The pleasures recognized by our
paramitas. That is, they necessarily serve both the practitioner and others SO Western models are confined t o the first type, the sensory realm, which in
that selfish or sacrificial, you or me. zero sum, win-lose dichotomies become Buddhist psychology includes mental pleasures such as memory and fantasy
meaningless. since in Buddhist psychology these are regarded as sensory inputs.
Renunciation can be viewed as a relinquishment of attachments to sense
4. Truthfulness. The Buddha admonished his son to "never lie. even in pleasures in order to cultivate the remaining three. This choice can also be
jest." This stringent advice seems to reflect the Buddha's deep insight into seen in terms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Lower-order needs are
the powerful influence of speech on our mental functioning and behavior. primarily concerned with material objects and sensory stimulation, whereas
F ~ Wof us are unawareof the effects of lying on ourwell-being, Like higherarder needs are more concerned with internal self-produced stimula-
unethicality ofwhichit isa part, lying reinforces theattachments,~reed,and tion and are held to be inherently more satisfying to the individual who has
222 NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVES
THE TEN PERFECTIONS 223
experienced them.11-14Thus renunciation can be viewed as a voluntary relin-
quishment of lower-order needs in order to cultivate the higher ones.
Renunciation also facilitates a life-style of voluntary simplicity." With
deepening perceptual sensitivity, practitioners of the consciousness disci-
I shonest road to freedom is the path of patience." In Buddhism patience al?
applies particularly to patience with others, a kind of nonjudgemenlal accep-
tance and forebearance. The person who can accept the present moment as it
plines are said to recognize more clearly the disrupting effects o f greed and iscan also accept others as they are.
attachment.' At thesame time, they find themselves better able to generate a
sense of well-being and positive emotions which formerly depended upon ex- 7. Equanimity. The mind which responds with conditioned, automatic
ternal possessions and stimuli. Greater pleasure is now found in a deepening likes and dislikes is dominated by reactive pleasure and pain. Such a mind is
sensitivity to the moment-to-moment flow of experience, and each moment. at the mercy of its environment and is said to be turbulent, hard to control
n o matter what one is doing, becomes a source of rich and.multifaceted and concentrate, inconstant in purpose and direction, and insensistive in
stimulation. Thus from this perspective, renunciation is seen not as an perception and insight.' With training, this conditioned reactivity and
ascetic practice demanding sacrifice and suffering. but rather a s a skillful elaboration of strong affective responses is reduced, and the mind gradually
means for removing distractions to the attainment of higher pleasure. becomes less reactive and more calm. As such, i t becomes more easy to con-
In the individual who has perfected this quality the mind is said to be free trol and remains unperturbed in the face of an increasingly broad range of
of attachment and aversion, and therefore to no longer covet, grasp after, or experience. Finally, it is said to be able to encompass all experiences and to
avoid any experience. Rather, all situations and stimuli are viewed with allow "the one thousand beatific and one thousand horrible visions" to pass
equanimity, itself also one of the perfections, and the individual's sense of before it without disturbance. Of such a mind it is said,
well-being is no longer s o dependent o n the environment.
Pleasure-pain
If you are filled with desire praise and blame
Your sorrows swell fame and shame
Like the grass after the rain. loss and gain
But if you subdue desires are all the same.
Your sorrows fall from you
Like drops of water from a lotus flower.
The Buddha' 8. Generosity. The Buddha said that if we understood the power of
generosity as deeply as he did, we would never sit down to a meal without
6. Patience. sharing it.'Gcnerosity has long been recognized as both means and end in all
the major consciousness disciplines and great religions. It appears to be a
At the end of the way is freedom. powerful inhibitor of such unskillful mental habits as greed, attachment,
Till then, patience and hatred. Buddhism describes three levels of generosity: beggarly,
The Buddha4 brotherly,and kingly. In beggarly giving, wegive-with great hesitation and
consideration-the worst and least valued of what we have. In brotherly giv-
Impatience reflects dissatisfaction with present experience and attachment to ing, weshare equally. In kingly giving, we unhesitatingly offer that which we
anticipated experience. The result is, as almost all of us are aware, an most value for the pleasure and enjoyrneniof others.'
agitated mental statecharacterized by discomfort and fantasy. Yet the work The fully enlightened individual, it is said, is no longer driven by egocen-
of mental training is to open to, accept, and be fully aware of all experience. tric motives of any kind. Rather, behavior is said to emerge spontaneously
moment by moment, neither resisting what is present, fantasizing about and appropriately, in any situation in such a way as to most effectively serve
what could be, nor comparing the two.' Brought to fruition, patience re- and contribute to others. For such an individual, freed of unhealthy mental
moved preoccupation with anticipated experience, thus allowing the mind to factor^.^' generosity is now the only possible response. As such, giving is n o
fully experience the present moment while remaining calm, full of equanim- longer experienced as a sacrifice of any kind but rather as a natural and
ity, and fantasy free. In the words of the Tibetan yogi Milarepa." "The joyful expression of the perfections of loving kindness, renunciation, and
ethicality which usually accompany it.
:1
 124 NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVES
THE TEN PERFECTIONS 215

9. Loving Kindness. Buddhist psychology describes several practices for which one can rely. Analla refers to an insight that there i s no permanent un-
the cultivation o f loving kindness. Some appear to be almost perfect changing self or ego. Rather, what the advanced practitioner is said to
I
analogues o f certain behavior modification techniques such as systematic
desensitization. However, instead o f replacing anxiety with calm as desen-
sitization usually does, the Buddhist practices o f loving kindness replace un-
.I
.
recognize is that i n the psyche there exists only an impersonal continuously
changing flux o f thoughts, emotions, and i m a g e ~ . ' ~The
J ~ untrained mind
identifies with these mental components and illusorily perceives them as
skillful states such as anger and hatred with loving kindness.'."This suggests evidence o f the existence o f a solid ego, much as a moviegoer perceives an il-
that some o f the principles o f behavior modification were identified 2500 lusory sense o f continuity and motion even though there actually existsonly
years earlier than has usually been recognizd.I9 a succession o f s t i l l frames.
One family o f practices for the cultivation o f this quality is described for .. The deeprecognition o f these three marks o f existence i s said to result i n a
use by advanced practitioners with extreme powers o f concentraljon. Such radical wrenching o f one's cognitive system. Seeing the transitory and
people are said to be able to completely fill all awareness with the experience ultimately less than fully satisfying nature ofsensory pleasures, as well as the
o f loving kindness or other desired qualities. Four such qualities are par- illusory nature o f our usual egoic identification, undermines egocentric
ticularly recommended, namely, universal loving kindness. universal com- motivation, thus enhancing renunciation and equanimity. Out o f this
passion. sympathetic joy (joy which derives from the well~beingo f others). wisdom springs a compassionate understanding o f the counterproductive
and another o f the ten perfections, equanimi~y.~.'When these qualities are nature o f the means by which people usually seek happiness but all too often
held alone and without fluctuation i n the fully concentrated mind, they are only sow the seeds o f further discontent. This in turn i s said to lead to the
said to result i n extremely positive and beneficial stales which are labeled the desire to serve others and alleviate suffering wherever possible and the
four "divine abodes." When the extreme concentration is released, the recognition that the perfection o f the paramitas may be a strategic way o f
qualities tend to dissipate in part though they do result i n certain trait best fitting oneself for the task. With this realization. the individual has
changes including readier access to them in the future and restraint of. in- become a bodhisattva, one committed to both full enlightenment and selfless
hibiting factors such as anger. When perfected, the quality o f loving kind- service to others.
ness i s no longer dependent on entering specific states o f consciousness. but
rather. arises spontaneously.
Discussion
10. Wisdom. Like the other perfections, wisdom has many levels. A cer-
For ease o f discussion the paramitas have been talked about as though they
tain amount o f it i s considered necessary even to begin some typeof mental were separate and independent. Yet each largely rests upon and facilitates
training. Through this training, the mind is gradually brought under greater the others. Not one can be practiced and cultivated without thereby enhanc-
control. and perceptual distortions, unskillful habits, disruptive affects, and ing the others. Taken together, theporamitas point to an individual o f pro-
unskillful behavior o f any type are gradually pared away. This leads to digious self-refinement and mastery. T o most o f us in the West, the perfec-
clearer perception and greater concentration. which in turn allow the [ion o f these qualities probably seems somewhat idealistic at best, if not
recognition o f still more subtle levels o f unskillful habits that are pared away lotally unrealistic. The lack o f any reference in our Western psychologies to
in their turn. The result is said to be a positive feedback cycle i n which
wisdom leads to the recognition o f the need for removing unskillful habits the possibility of such attainments. together with a certain degree o f cultural
cynicism about human nature, makes such descriptions seem suspect. O n the
and cultivating skillful ones. which i n turn leads to greater wisdom. other hand, the perennial psychology has claimed for millennia that through
One o f the results is a deep insight and understanding. born o f direct ex- mental training, such perfections not only.are possible but are the highest
perience o f what arecalled "the three marks of existence"-dukkha;anicca, goals to which any person can aspire and are also the most beneficial in terms
and anatta. Dukkho is the recognition o f the extent to which dissatisfaction o f contributing to others.
and suffering pervade the untrained mind and o f the fact that no possession
or stimulation can completely or permanently remove i t . a rec'ognition The ten perfections as described here are taken from Buddhist psychology.
analogous to the angst ofthe existentialists. Anicca i s the recognition o f im- Yet similar qualities could be found at the esoteric core o f most consciousness
permanence-that everything is in constant flux, that nothing remains the disciplines and great religions. As such they point to "the transcendent unity
same, and hence that there i s no ultimate source o f security i n the world on o f religions." the fact that the highest goals o f these traditions coverge on a
common range o f qualities and experiences, and a common picture o f the
. . . ,, - - .- -- .-.. .- -- -.

228 NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVES

THE TEN PERFECTIONS 227

fully actualized individual: the prototype saint of all traditions, the arahat of
Buddhism, thesage ofTaoism, the jivanmuktiof Hinduism, or themaster of
Zen.
j
.
'
18. Virnalo. B. Awakening to the truth. Viwka Pub: Annual Publicolion of Ihe ~ u d d h ' h l
Associalion, 1974. 53-79.
19. Shapiro. D. Prrris;on Nirwno: A n Omrr'l Afanua/for ihe Care and hfa;nirnance of the
In any case, whether or not we think such qualities are fully perfectable, Mind. New Jersey: Prcnticc Hall. 1978.
20. Scnguan. Vmcson iheFaiih Mind(R. 0. Clarke, translator.). Sharon Springs. N. Y.: f i n
they can act as signposts and guiding values for our o m lives. In addition, a :

Ccntcr. 1975.
certain inspiration, humility, and appreciationcome from knowing that over
thousands of years, up to and including the present time. there have been
literally millions of our fellow human beings who have chosen to commit
their lives at the deepest possible level to the cultivation and perfanion of
these qualities and who have done so as a means of contributing to us all.

For the unified mind in accord with the Way all self centered striving
ceases.
Scngtsanm

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