Paramita
It means to cross over from this shore of births and deaths to the other shore which is the Nirvana.

The Six Paramita or means of so doings are
(1) dana - charity/giving
(2) sila - moral/conduct/taking precepts
(3) ksanti - patience
(4) virya - vigor/devotion/energy
(5) dhyana - contemplation/meditation
(6) prajna - wisdom.

The Ten Paramita are the above plus
(7) upaya - use of expedient or proper means
(8) pranidhana - vow of bodhi and helpfulness
(9) bala - strength
(10) intelligence

Childers gives the list of ten as the perfect exercise of
charity/almsgiving,
morality,
renunciation,
wisdom,
energy/effort,
patience,
truth,
resolution/determination,
kindness/universal love and
resignation/equanimity.
Each of the ten is divided into ordinary, superior and unlimited perfection, making up to thirty in total.

Parinirvana
Not death, but perfect rest, i.e. the perfection of all virtues and the elimination of all evils.. Also a release from the suffering of transmigration and an entry to a state of fullest joy.

Patience
Endurance, the third Paramita. There are groups of two, three, four, five, six, ten and fourteen, indicating various forms of patience, equanimity, repression, forbearance, both in mundane and spiritual things. Patience refers to bearing insult and distress without resentment.

Pratyeka-Buddha
The second stage in Hinayana, the first or initial being that of Sravaka. He is enlightened to the conditions, i.e. the Law of Dependent Origination. He seeks enlightenment for himself and understands deeply Nidanas. He attains his enlightenment alone, independently, or a teacher, and with the object of attaining Nirvana and his own salvation rather than that of others.

Prajna
There are three kinds of Prajna:
(1) Prajna of languages
(2) Prajna of contemplative illumination
(3) prajna of the characteristics of actuality

The last one is the ultimate wisdom, which is the wisdom of Buddha. Also see wisdom.

Prajnativadinah
One of the Hinayana School, a branch of the Mahasanghikah, which held the view that there was a distinction between mere concepts and real entities (referred to in Buddha's teaching) i.e. phenomenality and reality, based on Prajatisastra.

Pure Land
Generally refers to the Paradise of the West, presided over by Amitabha. Also known as the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Other Buddhas have their own Pure Lands, all of which are the adornment of merits and virtues in moral or spiritual cultivation. The Pure-Land Sect whose chief tenet is salvation by faith in Amitabha; it is the popular cult in China and Japan.

Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss
This is the Buddha Land of Amitabha Buddha. In Amitabha Sutra, there is full description about this Pure Land. This is the world of utmost joy without suffering. With the spiritual power of Amitabha Buddha, all beings in this world willnderstand Buddhism easily and practise diligently, and attain enlightenment eventually. Therefore by reciting Amitabha Buddha's name, Buddhist followers hope that they will be born in this Pure Land after their lives on earth. See also Nine Stages of Lotus Flowers.

Pure Land of Vairocana
The Lotus world, also the Pure Land of all Buddhas in their Sambhogakaya or Reward Body/Enjoyment Body. Above the wind or air circle is a sea of fragrant water, in which is the thousand-pedal lotus with its infinite variety of worlds. Hence, the meaning is the Lotus which contains a store of myriads of worlds.

paramitas

Six stages of study and practice followed by the Bodhisattvas in their progress to Buddhahood. They are (1) charity, or alms-giving; (2) discipline, or observance of precepts; (3) forbearance, or patient resignation; (4) energy; (5) concentration; and (6) wisdom. Although, there are usually said to be six paramitas, sometimes their number is expanded to ten (with the addition of expedients, vows, power, and knowledge).

Parinirvana

The great Nirvana (enlightenment) of the Buddha.See also "nirvana ." peeled off his skin for paper, split his bones to fashion brushes, [and] drew blood for ink (Said of Shakyamuni Buddha in Chapter 40 of the Flower Adornment Sutra.) In his most ancient lives, during prehistoric times, there were no such things as paper, brushes, or ink, so he wrote out countless Sutras on his own peeled-off skin using splinters of bone for brushes and blood for ink.

Perfect Penetration

Complete penetration of the knots of the senses, which frees one of attachments to sense-objects, resulting in release from the cycle of birth and death and the attainment of enlightenment.

pishachas

Ghosts that eat the vitality of things. They eat people's essential energies, as well as the essential energies of foods.

pi zhi fo ()

See Pratyka Buddhas.

Ping Nan Lee

See Li Ping-Nan.

Ping Nan Li

See Li Ping-Nan.

pishachas

Ghosts that eat the vitality of things. They eat people's essential energies, as well as the essential energies of foods.

Practices and Vows of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra

See "Universal Worthy's Conduct and Vows."

prajna

(Sanskrit) transcendental wisdom, divine intuition; one of the six paramitas.

Pratyeka-Buddha

pi zhi fo (), a Buddha who has attained Buddhahood using techniques taught in the Small Vehicle school of Buddhism. Pratyeka-Buddhas attain enlightenment through the intellect and self-discipline. They lack the loving compassion and self-sacrifice of the Bodhisattvas. Pratyeka-Buddhas can also be defined as Buddhas who are enlightened to "conditions ."

precepts

See "Five Precepts."

Pure Land

A Buddha-lland created by Amitabha Buddha for cultivators who chant his name with single-minded wish to be reborn in his land. The Pure Land is an ideal place for cultivation, abounding in adornments and spiritual delights, where inhabits can continue their progress toward enlightenment without ever again being subject to retrogression (rebirth on earth or other lower realms). For more details, see "The Pure Land" and "The Amitabha Sutra" pages on this Web site.

Pure Land School

A school of Buddhism that focuses on Buddha recitation and Pure Land study. The Pure Land School was founded in China by Master Hui Yuan (334-416), the first Pure Land Patriarch, who taught that faith in the Buddha Amitabha and recitation of his name will ensure rebirth in Amitabha's Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Shakyamuni Buddha put special stress upon the Pure Land method in many Sutras. See also "Pure Land."

Pure Land Study

The study of the Pure Land form of Buddhism.

Pure Mind

In Pure Land Study, the attainment of mental purity through Buddha recitation.

pusa

The Chinese word for Bodhisattva..