Paramartha was born in the Ujayana kingdom of India in 499. His father was a general who helped the king fight invaders. When Paramartha was 18 years old, Prince Upasunya of Ujayana came to bless Paramartha for his adult initiation ceremony.

Paramartha had been studying the Brahman scriptures and was famous in the kingdom for being well-versed in all of them. However, as he told the prince quietly after the ceremony, he was very puzzled by all the Brahman theories. He wasn't sure which one was the best and most suitable for mankind. Also, many of the theories seemed unreasonable. For instance, Mahabrahmadeva was seen as the creator of the universe in Brahmanism, but why did he allow so much chaos on earth? Why wasn't there any explanation for this in the scriptures? Why...? Such questions had bothered Paramartha for a long time, ever since he had finished all the Brahman scriptures. The young Prince Upasunya was equally dissatisfied with Brahmanism. Thus, a few weeks later, the prince decided to leave home to seek the best religion. The news rocked the whole kingdom, and Paramartha also decided to leave home to seek out a religion as well. Unexpectedly, these two young men would meet again in China many years later.

Paramartha went to many places and studied under many religious masters. Still, he was not happy with any of them. He finally went to try out Buddhism in 526.

The Buddhist sect he first entered was the Sarvastivada school (薩婆多部), a Hinayana sect. Paramartha was not a Buddhist yet, but he was well treated by all the monks there. He studied their philosophy and regulations and followed their daily routines, and he earned love and respect from all the monks there.

Three months later, he was summoned by the abbot for a talk. Paramartha felt this rather strange because ever since he had come, he had never seen the abbot. Bewildered, he went to see the abbot.

The abbot said to Paramartha, "I've noticed that you've been here for three months. As a non-Buddhist who has studied other religious doctrines, you've studied our religion quite hard. What do you plan to do next?"

Paramartha was surprised because the abbot seemed to know his background very well. He replied, "Actually, Master, I don't know what to do next. May I ask you to show me a path?"

The abbot then said to him, "I, Vasuvarman (婆藪跋摩), have been studying the Buddha's doctrines for over 40 years, and I have traveled to many places to learn from many great masters, but I still haven't mastered all the Buddha's teachings!"

Paramartha was delighted to learn that the abbot was the famous Buddhist master Vasuvarman. He immediately knelt down before the abbot and begged him to accept him as his disciple. The abbot nodded and agreed because he felt that even though Paramartha was a non-Buddhist, he had a strong desire to learn Buddhism. He might even become a great monk someday. The abbot brought Paramartha to a small room nearby filled with Buddhist sutras and books on rules and precepts. Upon seeing them, Paramartha's desire to learn them flared up.

The abbot said to him, "Here are just a few collections of the Buddhist canons. Buddhism has many sects, but the truth in Buddhism is the same. One should study all the sutras to truly comprehend the Buddha's teachings. One should not stubbornly cling to just one sutra or those of his own school."

After that, Paramartha spent every day in the room studying the collections there. When he finished, the abbot told him to go study with Master Buddhapalita (佛護) in Dantapuri Temple (檀多弗利寺) in southern India. Vasuvarman, a member of a Hinayana sect, wanted to know why Mahayana, another Buddhist sect, was so popular.

About 300 years after the Buddha passed away, the Buddhist congregation split into two groups. The older, more conservative monks were referred to as the Theravada, which later became Hinayana, and the younger monks were called Mahasanghika, which later became Mahayana. One reason for this division stemmed from divided explanations of the monastic rules. The Theravada monks felt that the rules were set down by the Buddha and should not be changed at all, but the Mahasanghika monks felt that the rules should be altered according to circumstances of time and place. Later, the Hinayana Buddhists attacked the Mahayana Buddhists as evil and non-Buddhist, while the Mahayana Buddhists criticized the Hinayana Buddhists as narrow-minded.

The abbot felt that one had to be open-minded to learn from each other and truly understand the truth of Buddhism. Thus, the abbot said to Paramartha, "I hope you will go to southern India where Mahayana Buddhism is flourishing and learn their sutras. If their sutras are indeed the Buddha's lectures, then you should devote yourself to them. If not, you'll have to debate with them and make them realize their mistakes."

Paramartha accordingly traveled to Dantapuri Temple. Master Buddhapalita was a follower of the Middle Observation sect (中觀), a Mahayana sect that talks about the idea of "the interdependent arising of conditions and the void of fixed nature." When he saw Paramartha, he asked him why he had come. Paramartha replied that he was there to learn more about the Mahayana sect and see if it was in accord with the Buddha's doctrines.

Buddhapalita sighed. "The dissension between Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhists has been going on for centuries! Hinayana Buddhists accuse us of being evil and not in accordance with the Buddha's lectures. However, they don't realize that Manjusri and Maitreya Bodhisattvas took the venerable Ananda (阿難) to a place to compile the sutras, which were later discovered by Nagarjuna (龍樹), who spent his life promoting the sutras and doctrines that we are able to read today." In other words, Mahayana sutras were in accordance with the Buddha's lectures because they were compiled by Manjusri Bodhisattva (文殊菩薩), Maitreya Bodhisattva (彌勒菩薩), and Ananda, one of the Buddha's top disciples who recited the Buddha's lectures from memory. The old monk continued by saying that the Buddha had described in the sutras how he had attained enlightenment and how he had carried out the Path of the Bodhisattvas by taking action to help the needy. In a word, he used prajna (ultimate wisdom 般若) to guide himself through all difficulties to attain buddhahood. Therefore, anyone who vows to seek prajna and who follows the Buddha's path will one day attain buddhahood as well.

Buddhapalita concluded that using prajna in spiritual cultivation was the right path. He also stressed the importance of walking on the Path of the Bodhisattvas--spiritual cultivators should act like the bodhisattvas and help redeem all people from their misery and suffering. This was the essence of Mahayana Buddhism. "Those who are only concerned about their own spiritual cultivation and mental emancipation are seen as following Hinayana Buddhism," explained Buddhapalita.

Everyone who follows the same path could also become buddhas! Paramartha suddenly became interested in Mahayana Buddhism and asked Buddhapalita, "Am I allowed to read any of these Mahayana sutras?"

Buddhapalita replied kindly, "The Mahayana always tries to help all living beings, so we are certainly more than happy to help a Hinayana follower like you." Buddhapalita took out the Lotus Sutra and said to him, "You can start with this one to understand Mahayana better."

Paramartha spent several days studying the fascinating sutra, which encouraged all Buddhists to abide by the Mahayana thought of wisely helping the poor and needy by taking timely action. Mahayana was thus in accordance with the Buddha's doctrines.

After studying there for a few months, Paramartha went to study under Athivamati (安慧) in Nalanda Temple (那爛陀寺). Athivamati was a follower of another Mahayana sect called Consciousness-Only (or Vijnapti-matrata 唯識). Nalanda Temple had lectures every day that helped Paramartha become knowledgeable in the doctrines of this school. According to the Consciousness-Only sect, the consciousness in our minds changes in accordance with thoughts of purity and defilement. When our consciousness corresponds to ignorance (the inability to perceive the meaning of void--impermanence, no fixed nature), it causes the defiled cycle of life and death; when our consciousness corresponds to prajna (ultimate wisdom), it then leads to the pure emancipation of nirvana. Scholars of the Consciousness-Only sect believe that the causes of purity and defilement in the mind are all based on consciousness. This is quite different from the common Buddhist thought that defilement arises in the mind because of consciousness while purity arises from the profound realization of the meaning of void.

Scholars of this school of thought believe that there are eight different kinds of consciousness in the mind and that the eighth one--alaya consciousness--is the most important since it contains all the seeds of kindness and unkindness in the mind. They point out that the seeds of defiled unkindness are created by the bad habits that keep germinating and being produced in our alaya consciousness from eons ago. These defiled seeds lead to wrongful behavior that also increases the number of "bad seeds" in the mind. Consequently, they trap a person in the cycle of reincarnation through life after life.

On the other hand, the good seeds of kindness existing in the alaya consciousness spark a person's practice of the precepts, meditation, and wisdom that may eventually lead to a person's enlightenment and the attainment of buddhahood. However, some people would argue over the possibility of the existence of perfect seeds that lead to buddhahood in the imperfect alaya consciousness. In other words, how could something as pure as the idea of attaining buddhahood originate from a person's deluded or changeable consciousness?

Eventually, Paramartha became Athivamati's top disciple. In 541, Paramartha was asked by King Kumaragupta (鳩摩羅笈多) of the Magadha (摩揭陀) kingdom to go to Funan in southern Thailand. The Funan king sent an emissary to Magadha and asked King Kumaragupta to grant him Buddhist sutras and a venerable monk to help promote Buddhism in his kingdom. The Funan king was a devoted Buddhist and desired to form a friendly relationship with Magadha so that he could collect Buddhist sutras and learn more about Buddhism. Kumaragupta also desired to form alliances with other countries, so he saw this as a great opportunity to extend his hand to others. Thus, he kindly agreed to the request. Paramartha also agreed to go because he saw it as a good chance to promote Buddhism in another country.

About ten months later, in 541, Paramartha arrived in Funan with the Funan emissary and was treated like a national treasure by the king. Paramartha was able to translate Buddhist sutras into the local language with help from local monks.

In 546, Paramartha was on the move again, but this time he was invited to go to China. In 543, a Chinese official, Chang Su (張泗), and a Chinese monk, Yun Pao (雲寶), accompanied a group of Funan emissaries returning to Funan. Chang Su reported to the Funan king that his emperor, the famous Emperor Wu of the Liang kingdom (梁武帝), requested three things from Funan: a lock of the Buddha's hair, a party of respectable Buddhist monks, and copies of the Buddhist sutras. The king felt that this was a simple request, and he asked Paramartha to tell Chang Su and Yun Pao about the sutras available in his country so they could decide which ones they wanted to take home. Paramartha gave them a detailed description of the sutras and their divisions. Yun Pao was amazed at the number of sutras available, and Chang Su was so deeply impressed with Paramartha's good temperament and erudition that he felt he had found the monk his emperor had been looking for. But would the Funan king be willing to let Paramartha go to China?

The king was hesitant at first because Paramartha had only been there for three years, yet due to his knowledge of Buddhism, the religion was beginning to flourish in Funan. Letting Paramartha go would be a great loss to him and the whole kingdom. However, the powerful Liang kingdom was not an ordinary state that the Funan king could afford to offend. Eventually, the king reluctantly agreed to the Chinese emperor's request. When Paramartha heard that he had been chosen to go to China, he was at first stunned since he had never thought that he would be the chosen one. However, he agreed to go because he felt that as a Buddhist monk, his responsibility entailed carrying out his own spiritual cultivation and promoting the Buddha's teachings whenever and wherever necessary.

A tough mission in China

Paramartha, Yun Pao and Chang Su took a boat and arrived in Guangzhou (廣州), China, in 546 with a load of sutras that were not yet available in China. They finally arrived in the Liang capital of Nanjing in 548. At that time, a rebel force led by a nephew of Emperor Wu was approaching the capital. Despite the crisis, Emperor Wu still dispatched Upasunya, the prince from Paramartha's fatherland who had become a government official in the Liang kingdom three years before, to welcome Paramartha.

Paramartha and Upasunya were both extremely excited to meet on foreign soil because they hadn't seen each other in such a long time. They happily chatted while rushing back to meet the emperor.

Although Emperor Wu was over 85 years old, he prostrated himself before Paramartha when the monk stepped into the main hall of the palace. The emperor ordered that the main hall be converted into Paramartha's private chamber and that all the servants remain to serve the monk. A few days later, the emperor ordered Upasunya to help Paramartha set up a translation committee to translate the sutras.

Unfortunately, the peace in the capital didn't last long--a few months later the rebel forces arrived and started plundering the city. Upasunya fled from the palace, and a servant in the palace helped Paramartha escape from the capital. Paramartha fled to a small village in nearby Zhejiang Province. In early 550, the Liang kingdom came to an end.

In the spring of that year, Fuchun County (富春縣) magistrate Lu Yuan-che (陸元哲) heard that a venerable Indian monk had fled from the capital, and he went to visit him. When Lu learned that Paramartha had carried quite a few Sanskrit sutras with him from the palace, he invited the monk to his home. Lu wanted to help Paramartha translate the sutras into Chinese so that more local people could read them. Furthermore, if they were translated into Chinese, Paramartha wouldn't have to worry about loss or damage to the original sutras. Lu organized a team of 20 monks and scholars to help Paramartha translate these sutras.

A year later, the team had produced several sutras and commentaries, but the translation work stopped when rebel forces killed Lu for his support of their enemies. When the rebels discovered that Paramartha had worked under the previous Emperor Wu, they immediately sent him back to the capital.

The poor monk was back in the same palace, but this time, he was treated like a prisoner of the ruthless new emperor, Hou Ching (侯景), who had no respect for Buddhism. In 552, two of Emperor Wu's generals led a rebellion and started their assault against the rebels. Eight months later, they took back the capital of Nanjing and a new Liang emperor ascended the throne. The Liang kingdom was then restored.

Paramartha was able to organize a team of monks and lay scholars at Chen Kuan Temple in the capital to continue the translation work. After the war, all the sutras and commentaries he had brought from Funan were stored at the temple and Paramartha was satisfied that they had remained largely intact. Peacetime brought many locals to pray in the temple and many monks to help translate the sutras and commentaries. However, it also brought so many unnecessary duties to Paramartha that in 553 he and several monks had to move to an empty old house so that he could concentrate on translation. A month later, the team produced the Golden Light Sutra, and Paramartha spent several months lecturing on it. He was not happy with this because his main purpose was to promote the doctrines of the Consciousness-Only sect. However, that school had never been heard of before in China, and even the monks he came in contact with were not interested. Paramartha was depressed and didn't know what to do. At this moment, a monk named Ching Chao (警韶) invited Paramartha to go to Nanchang (南昌市), Jiangxi Province (江西). The monk hoped that it would be a good place to continue his dream of translating more sutras.

When Paramartha arrived there, he was disappointed again. Ching Chao was uninterested in the Consciousness-Only doctrine. But still, Paramartha lectured on the sutras he had translated because he felt that as a Buddhist monk, he had a responsibility to present the Buddha's thoughts wherever requested.

A few months later, the Liang kingdom was again in chaos. Paramartha and his disciples moved to Qujiang (曲江), Guangdong Province (廣東), in southern China, at the invitation of his friend Upasunya, who had fled Nanjing when the rebel forces attacked the capital and settled down in Guangdong.

While there, Paramartha was finally able to translate one of the most important commentaries, Mahayana-sraddhotpada-sastra (大乘起信論). This commentary, written by Asvaghosa, mainly discusses how the mind alone creates everything and how everything seen is just a reflection of the mind. It is one of the most important introductions to the Mind-Only school of thought.

Peace in the kingdom was disrupted again when Chen Pa-hsien (陳霸先), a general who had fought against the rebels earlier on, decided to usurp the throne and become the new emperor himself. He changed the name of the kingdom from Liang to Chen. China was in chaos again.

Chen's soldiers swept across the kingdom to root out all opposition. Harrassed by these troops, Paramartha decided to move to Fuzhou (福州), Fujian Province, in southeastern China, where it was more peaceful. However, Upasunya wanted to go to a different place because of a previous engagement there. Thus, the two good friends bade farewell to each other with tears in their eyes. It would be their last meeting.

In 559, Paramartha and his disciples finally arrived in Fuzhou and translated more precepts and commentaries until 560. Paramartha also took time to give lectures to monks and ordinary people in the city, but he wasn't happy because he wasn't lecturing on his favorite Consciousness-Only doctrines. The monks and the general public weren't interested in this school of thought. Recalling his rough travels inside China and remembering the unfavorable attitude of the general public, and even his own disciples, towards the Consciousness-Only school and ideology, Paramartha felt that China might not be a good place to start promoting its teachings. He decided to leave China.

A miraculous return

In 562, Paramartha took a boat bound for Funan by way of Vietnam. Before his departure, all his disciples knelt down before him on the riverbank and wept. One asked, "Master, what are we going to do after you leave?"

Paramartha replied calmly, "All Buddhist sects are basically the same. If you study the Consciousness-Only commentaries I have translated, you will be able to learn something and may even become enlightened. If not, then what will be, will be."

About two months later, the boat seemed to stop moving on the sea because there was no wind. During the lull, Paramartha reminisced on his travels in China and regretted leaving it all. His disciples were brilliant, but they were too deeply affected by outside influences to understand the Consciousness-Only thoughts. Still, he should have translated more sutras or commentaries to help them understand better. Suddenly, a strong southerly wind came in gusts. All the boatmen shouted in awe as the boat turned northward. The boat sailed on like a dart the whole night. The following morning, the passengers on the boat were surprised to find their boat approaching a bustling harbor. Upon taking a closer look, Paramartha realized that the familiar-looking harbor was Guangzhou. He murmured to himself, "Buddha, does this mean that my destiny in China is not over yet? This is where I should be, so you sent me back to China!"

Excitedly, Paramartha brought everything off the boat and decided to continue fulfilling his unfinished duties.

Fame in southern China

The news of Paramartha's return inspired his disciples and several other monks to join him in Guangzhou. The disciples were especially thrilled about their master's return. They all felt the Buddha had sent Paramartha back to China because he was destined to be there and that they should help him promote the Consciousness-Only doctrine.

Over time, more and more books by masters of this school were translated. The most important commentary was Mahayana-samparigraha-sastra (攝大乘論), which explained the doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism and especially emphasized the viewpoints of the Consciousness-Only sect.

More and more monks joined them to help with the translations. Many monks and ordinary people were amazed by the contents of the sutras and commentaries. Eventually, studying the Consciousness-Only thoughts became quite popular throughout southern China.

The oath and the end

With so many people studying the commentaries and sutras in Guangdong Province and nearby cities, Paramartha's disciples felt that they should help their master promote the sect in the capital. Thus, two disciples went to the capital and introduced the Consciousness-Only commentaries to the abbots of the major temples. However, these abbots were not interested. They were studying such books as Nirvana Sutra (涅槃經), Satyasiddhi-sastra (成實論), or Maha-prajna-paramita-sutra (大般若經), which all explained Buddhism in different ways. The two monks then went to see Emperor Po Tsung (保宗皇帝). When the emperor heard that the famed Paramartha was in southern China, he ordered Pao Chiung (寶瓊), the head of all the monks in the kingdom, to invite Paramartha for a visit.

Pao Chiung had been Paramartha's assistant when Paramartha was in Fuchun, and he missed the old monk very much. However, Pao Chiung was a follower of the Middle Observation school, which concentrates on the ideology of void and is quite different from the Consciousness-Only school. So Pao Chiung was caught in a dilemma.

The abbots of the major temples in the capital also made a petition to the emperor, stating that Paramartha's school didn't adhere to the Buddha's teachings and that it should not be promoted in the capital. The emperor accepted their petition.

Paramartha had predicted that would happen, but he was saddened by the fact that the monks in the capital would insult his school as not being true to the Buddha's teachings. He felt he should do something to help promote his own school. One evening, he gathered 12 disciples in his room and said to them, "I am very old and I may leave this world at any minute. You have studied with me for a long time, but do you have the heart to promote the doctrines?"

They all replied, "Yes, we have, Master!" One disciple said further, "Master, we have studied with you for a long time, and we believe we are able to transmit your thoughts beyond southern China." They knelt before the Buddha's statue and made an oath to promote the Consciousness-Only school.

A few days later, Paramartha started a lecture that drew a huge audience. However, a few hours later, Paramartha found his book blurring before his eyes. Before he knew what was happening, he fainted and rolled down from the podium.

The audience was shocked. Two disciples immediately rushed to Paramartha's side and carried him to his bed. All the other disciples went in tears to his room. Slowly Paramartha came to consciousness, and he ordered them to place all the books he had brought from India on a desk. He looked at the books and said to them feebly, "There are still plenty of books that need to be translated. All of you have to work hard to make them available to the citizens of the kingdom so that they may also benefit from them." He stopped to catch his breath and then continued: "I'll be gone soon, so it is your duty to bring..."

Paramartha suddenly stopped breathing. All his disciples sobbed with great grief. The following day, all the monks in Guangzhou held a cremation ceremony for Paramartha, who passed away in 569 at the age of 71.