Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Ramalli and welcome to today's RE lesson on Mahayana: the Six Perfections.

And this lesson forms part of our unit on Buddhism beliefs and teachings.

Okay, let's begin.

Today's lesson outcome is, I can explain the Mahayana beliefs about the Six Perfections, why they are important, and how they influence Buddhists.

To help guide us through today's lesson, there are four key words, Mahayana, the Six Perfections, also known as the paramitas, Buddha-nature and Bodhisattva.

Mahayana is the School of Buddhism that focuses on achieving enlightenment for the sake of all beings.

The Six Perfections are the ethical principles to lead a being to enlightenment.

Buddha-nature, this refers to the fundamental nature of all beings, which means that all beings can become enlightened.

And Bodhisattva, that is an enlightened being who postpones their final escape from samsara in order to help living beings.

So today's lesson on Mahayana: the Six Perfections takes two parts.

So first of all, we're going to learn about the Six Perfections, then moving on to consider the importance and influence of these beliefs.

Okay, let's begin today's lesson.

Mahayana means, greater vehicle.

This school of Buddhism focuses on achieving enlightenment for the sake of all beings by becoming a Bodhisattva.

One way this can be achieved is by developing the Six Perfections or paramitas.

The Six Perfections are ethical principles that lead a being to enlightenment.

They are qualities that demonstrate how a Bodhisattva should live.

The Six Perfections support Buddhists to realise the Buddha-nature and attain enlightenment.

Okay, let's pause and complete a check for understanding, what do Buddhists mean by the Six Perfections? A, ethical principles in Mahayana Buddhism to lead a being to enlightenment.

B, the fundamental nature of all beings.

Or C, achieving enlightenment for the sake of all beings.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, fantastic, welcome back, and well done if you said that A is the correct answer.

The Six Perfections are the ethical principles in Mahayana Buddhism to lead a being to enlightenment.

So here we have Tashi and Tashi is a Mahayana Buddhist.

She introduces the Six Perfections.

Tashi says, "As a Mahayana Buddhist, I believe I must follow the example of the Buddha and develop the virtues of the Six Perfections.

I believe that cultivating these virtues will help me realise the Buddha-nature within me.

The Buddha-nature refers to the fundamental nature of all beings, which means that all beings can become enlightened." The Six Perfections are, generosity or dana.

Morality, sila.

Patience, ksanti.

Energy, virya.

And meditation, dhyana.

Wisdom, prajna.

Buddhists might look to a source of authority to find out more about important teachings like the Six Perfections.

In many Mahayana texts, it is taught that the Bodhisattva should practise the Six Perfections.

Generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom.

Through these perfections, the Bodhisattva achieves liberation and leads others to the path of enlightenment.

So what does this teaching highlight about the Six Perfections? Pause the video here and with your partner, I would like you to discuss that question.

When you're ready to reflect on your answers, press play.

Okay, welcome back everyone.

Fantastic discussions.

So what does this teaching highlight about the Six Perfections? Well, through developing the Six Perfections, a Bodhisattva can essentially lead others towards enlightenment.

So through developing generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom, they are helping on their path towards becoming a Bodhisattva.

Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

I would like you to fill in the missing word.

In many Mahayana texts, the should practise the Six Perfections.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you said the missing word is Bodhisattva.

Each perfection is believed to develop a particular feature of a Buddhist character or understanding.

So developing generosity, this can include giving material goods, helping someone, and sharing wisdom of the Buddhist Dhamma.

Developing morality, this includes following the five moral precepts, and the aim is to live morally and show compassion in daily life.

Developing patience is being tolerant of others and showing endurance and accepting the truth about dukkha, that all life involves suffering and unsatisfactoriness.

And energy, so to develop energy, this means showing dedication to reaching enlightenment and attaining Buddhahood.

Meditation, this means, developing inner calm and focus to develop wisdom of the Buddhas Dhamma.

And finally, wisdom.

So this includes developing understanding of the nature of sunyata, or essentially, the emptiness of all things.

Let's pause and complete a check for understanding, which of the following is not one of the Six Perfections? A, patience.

B, generosity.

C, energy.

Or D, chanting.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you selected D, chanting is not one of the Six Perfections.

Okay, we're going to pause here and complete our first practise task.

So Jacob has written part of a response to the following task.

Describe Buddhist beliefs about the Six Perfections.

Jacob says, "One Buddhist belief about the Six Perfections is that they are ethical principles that lead a person to enlightenment.

The Six Perfections are generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom." So I would like you to complete the next part of the response with another belief about the Six Perfections, include a source of wisdom and authority and accurately apply this to your point about the Six Perfections.

Okay, good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, welcome back everybody.

So Jacob had written a part of a response to the following task, describe Buddhist beliefs about the Six Perfections.

You were asked to complete the next part of the response and include the source of wisdom and authority, and accurately apply this to your point about the Six Perfections.

Your response might be similar to this.

Another Buddhist belief about the Six Perfections is that many Mahayana Buddhists believe that they are qualities that demonstrate how a Bodhisattva should live.

In many Mahayana texts, it is taught that the Bodhisattva should practise the Six Perfections.

Through these perfections, the Bodhisattva achieves liberation and leads others to the path of enlightenment.

This is why the Six Perfections are essential to many Buddhists.

Fantastic, well done completing the first practise task.

So now, we're gonna move on to the second part of our lesson where we are going to consider the importance and influence of Buddhist beliefs on the Six Perfections.

Lucas says, "As Mahayana monk, Ting, why are your beliefs in the Six Perfections important to you?" Ting says, "The Six Perfections are important to me because I aim to be a Bodhisattva.

I want to remain in samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth to help others achieve enlightenment.

It is important to practise the Six Perfections because they guide me in realising the Buddha-nature in all and help me on my Bodhisattva path towards achieving enlightenment." Ting further explains how his beliefs about the Six Perfections influence him.

Ting says, "I'm influenced to practise meditation daily, including vipassana meditation.

This method of meditation helps me to develop insight and wisdom of the Buddhist Dhamma.

This influences me to approach life with greater clarity, making decisions based on insight rather than attachment or ignorance." True or false.

The Six Perfections guide many Mahayana Buddhists on how to behave.

Pause the video and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that statement is true, the Six Perfections are qualities that demonstrate how a Bodhisattva should live and this is the goal for many Mahayana Buddhists.

Lucas asks, "As a Mahayana Buddhist, Tashi, why are the Six Imperfections important to you?" Tashi says, "The Six Perfections are important because I believe the Buddha taught these as the way to develop important virtues.

The Six Perfections are important to me because they encourage me to cultivate a mindset of selflessness and compassion, and this helps reduce suffering or dukkha for myself and others." Tashi further explains how her beliefs about the Six Perfections influence her.

Tashi tells us, "I'm influenced to practise the Six Perfections by developing generosity and being charitable with my time and actions.

At school, I'm part of the fundraising team and spend time organising events that raise money for local and national charities.

Next week, I'm helping to raise money through a school cake sale." Lucas says, "What about you, Mike? As a Buddhist, why are the Six Perfections important to you?" Mike says, "The Six Perfections are important to me because they give me guidance on how I should behave.

Patience teaches me how to cultivate equanimity in the face of adversity or challenges, by developing patience, I am influenced to avoid reacting with anger or frustration, and instead respond with calm and understanding." Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

Select three ways that Buddhists are influenced by the Six Perfections.

A, they are charitable with their time and actions.

B, they practise meditation daily.

C, they develop selfishness and compassion.

And D, they avoid reacting with anger or frustration.

Remember, you are looking to select three answers for this question.

Okay, good luck.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answers.

Okay, well done, if you selected A, B, and D as the correct answers.

Buddhists are influenced by the Six Perfections by being charitable with their time and actions, by practising meditation daily and avoiding reacting with anger or frustration.

Okay, so now we are onto our second and final practise task for today's lesson.

So the table below contains points about the importance of the Six Perfections for Buddhists.

So here we have three points of importance.

The Six Perfections give guidance on how to live as a Bodhisattva.

The Six Perfections teach Buddhists how they can reduce suffering or dukkha.

And the Six Perfections provide principles on how many Buddhists should behave.

So what you need to do is to complete the table by explaining how these beliefs about the importance of the Six Perfections can influence Buddhists today.

So for each of the points, you want to say how that belief and why it's important can influence a Buddhist.

So that might be an influence on their beliefs, an influence on their thoughts, or an influence on their actions.

Good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video and then press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, fantastic, welcome back everybody.

Let's check your answers for the practise task.

So you were asked to complete the table by explaining how the beliefs about the importance of the Six Perfections can influence Buddhists today.

So you could have included the following points.

So the Six Perfections, they're important because they give guidance on how to live as a Bodhisattva.

So an influence of that belief might be that most Buddhists will meditate daily.

Some Buddhists may practise vipassana meditation to help them develop insight and wisdom into the Buddhist Dhamma.

A second reason the Six Perfections are important is because they teach Buddhists how they can reduce suffering.

And an influence of that belief might be most Buddhists will aim to develop generosity and be charitable with their time and actions.

And thirdly, the Six Perfections are important because they provide principles on how Buddhists should behave and this belief might influence Buddhists because most Buddhists will aim to avoid reacting with anger or frustration, and instead respond with patience, calmness, and understanding when faced with adversity.

So that brings us to the end of our lesson today on Mahayana: the Six Perfections.

So here is a summary of today's learning.

The Mahayana school of Buddhism focuses on achieving enlightenment for the sake of all beings by becoming a Bodhisattva.

Developing the Six Perfections can help a Buddhist live as a Bodhisattva.

Realise the Buddha-nature and attain enlightenment.

The Six Perfections are generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom.

The Six Perfections influence many Buddhists to lead a good ethical life where they meditate daily, develop generosity, and aim to show patience when faced with adversity.

Brilliant, fantastic.

Well done on all of your hard work in today's RE lesson.

And thank you for joining me, goodbye.