Funan (modern Cambodia), where there was active
support for Buddhism. He was brought to Nanhai
(modern Canton) in 546. From there he was sum-
moned to the Liang capital at Jiankang (modern Nan-
jing) by Emperor Wu, a great patron of Buddhism.
Shortly after his arrival, the capital was sacked and Em-
peror Wu was overthrown. Paramartha fled the chaos,
traveling southeast to Fuchun in modern Zhejiang
province, where his translation career appears to have
begun in earnest. He translated the Shiqi di lun(Trea-
tise on the Seventeen Stages [of the Bodhisattva Career])
in 550 with the assistance of over twenty monks. Two
years later he returned to Jiankang, now under the
newly inaugurated reign of Emperor Yuan, and trans-
lated the SUVARNAPRABHASOTTAMA-SUTRA (Golden
Light Sutra), again with the help of over twenty
monastic assistants. A number of additional sutras
and treatises are attributed to Paramartha and his as-
sociates, including the Mile xia sheng jing(Sutra on
Maitreya’s Descent [from Heaven]), the RENWANG JING
(HUMANE KINGS SUTRA), and the AWAKENING OF
FAITH(DASHENG QIXIN LUN). The latter two texts are
widely believed by modern scholars to be APOCRYPHA,
that is, texts produced in China but claiming legiti-
macy as authentic discourses of the Buddha.
Paramartha’s most notable contribution is in being
the first person to widely disseminate YOGACARA
SCHOOLthought in China. To this end he translated
several important treatises by the Indian founders of
this school, ASAN ̇GA(ca. 320–390) and VASUBANDHU
(fourth century C.E.). These include Vims ́atika(Twenty
Verses), Trims ́ika(Thirty Verses), Madhyantavibhaga
(On Distinguishing the Extremes from the Middle), and
Mahayanasamgraha (Compendium of Mahayana).
Scholars have long noted, however, that Paramartha
was no mere translator; by all appearances he added
much of his own commentarial exegesis. In particular,
Paramartha attempted to synthesize Yogacara and
TATHAGATAGARBHAthought into a single philosophi-
cal system. One of Paramartha’s most notable contri-
butions in this regard is the positing of a ninth level of
consciousness (the amalavijñana, immaculate con-
sciousness), which transcends the evolutionary con-
sciousness and storehouse consciousness posited by
the Yogacara school. For Paramartha, this immaculate
consciousness is the true source of all reality, the means
to overcome the defilements that afflict the lower lev-
els of consciousness, and thus it is identified with the
tathagatagarbha, the sine qua non for enlightenment.
Despite a prodigious teaching and translation ca-
reer, Paramartha deeply lamented the chaotic condi-
tions of sixth-century China, culminating in a
thwarted suicide attempt in 568. The death of his clos-
est disciple later that same year further debilitated
Paramartha; he died in February 569. Nonetheless,
Paramartha’s work laid the philosophical foundation
not only for the Faxiang (Yogacara) school in China,
but for the intellectual developments of the Huayan,
Tiantai, and Chan traditions of the Sui and Tang dy-
nasties as well.See also:Chan School; Consciousness, Theories of;
Faxiang School; Huayan School; Tiantai SchoolBibliography
Demiéville, Paul. “Sur l’authenticité du Ta Tch’eng K’i Sin
Louen.” Bulletin de la Maison Franco-Japonaise2, no. 2
(1929): 1–78. Reprinted in Choix d’études bouddhiques,
1929–1970.Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1973.
Paul, Diana Y. Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Para-
martha’s “Evolution of Consciousness.”Stanford, CA: Stan-
ford University Press, 1984.DANIELBOUCHERPARAMITA (PERFECTION)Paramita(Pali, paraml; Tibetan, pha rol tu phyin pa;
Chinese, boluomi) refers to the spiritual practice ac-
complished by a BODHISATTVA. The term has been in-
terpreted variously as meaning, for example,
“perfection,” “to reach the other shore,” or “to cross
over.” In Japanese Buddhism the term has been used
to indicate the spring and autumn equinox. The lit-
eral meaning of the Tibetan pha rol tu phyin pais “to
reach the other shore,” a meaning with which the Chi-
nese translation dao bian agrees. Traditionally, the
term paramitacomprises four groups: the group of six
paramitas; the group of ten paramitas; the group of
four paramitas; and the perfections of esoteric Bud-
dhism. However, the constituents of each grouping
differ according to the sutra or s ́astra in which they
are discussed.
The understanding of paramitain the sense of “to
reach the other shore” suggests that one goes from the
ordinary world of SAMSARA(this shore) to the realm of
NIRVANA(the other shore). Depending on the text, this
formula may mean, for example, that a buddha is one
who has reached the other shore already, while an or-
dinary being is one who has not yet reached the other
shore (Maitreyapariprccha-sutra). “Reaching the otherPARAMITA(PERFECTION)