Ordinarily when something exactly matches what we’ve wished for, we might say “Perfect!”, invoking the ordinary sense of “perfect.” And as such, when it’s perfect, it’s perfect, “yes, thank you, that’s just what I wanted!” But when it’s not, it’s imperfect, “I’m so disappointed,” or angry, frustrated, etc. But the meaning of paramita, the Sanskrit word for perfection, isn’t ordinary in that way. The Paramitas do not belong to a set of opposites. They stand alone. They refer to ways that we enact freedom from suffering, through the exercise of patience, energy, mindfulness, generosity, diligence and understanding. Without these qualities being expressed in our behaviors and actively practiced with, they remain nice concepts, but are certainly not yet perfect. We know them as perfections only as we live them, realize them and manifest them in action.
