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Ten Paramitas

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The ten perfections cultivated by bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism: generosity, ethics, patience, effort, meditation, wisdom, skillful means, vow, power, and knowledge.

Detailed Definition
The Paramitas are the virtues that ripen into Buddhahood. In poetry, they shine like jewels on a crown—each reflecting the others. Poets use them to portray the bodhisattva’s vast heart, showing how compassion and wisdom mature through lifetimes of selfless action.
Example
Example in poetry:
A Mahāyāna poem: “The Ten Pāramitās are the bodhisattva’s oars: generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, wisdom, skillful means, vow, power, and knowledge”; In a modern verse, “My pāramitā today is patience in traffic”; A minimalist reflection: “Pāramitā: perfection through practice”; A student’s lyric: “I stumble on dāna (giving)—but each stumble teaches.”
Additional Notes
The Ten Paramitas (Perfections) are virtues cultivated to perfection by a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. They are: 1. Generosity (Dana), 2. Ethics (Sila), 3. Patience (Ksanti), 4. Effort (Virya), 5. Meditation (Dhyana), 6. Wisdom (Prajna), 7. Skillful Means (Upaya), 8. Vow (Pranidhana), 9. Power (Bala), 10. Knowledge (Jnana). For poets, these represent the idealized qualities of an enlightened being and provide a structured path of spiritual and moral development, rich with thematic potential.
Also Known As
Ten Perfections Dasaparamita
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