śramaṇa. Traditional practice Bhikkhu Bodhi maintains that, in the earliest Buddhist texts (which he identifies as the first four nikāyas), those seeking the extinction of suffering (nibbana) pursued the noble eightfold path. As time went on, a backstory was provided for the multi-life development of the Buddha; as a result, the ten perfections were identified as part of the path for the bodhisattva (Pāli: bodhisatta). Over subsequent centuries, the pāramīs were seen as being significant for aspirants to both Buddhahood and arahantship. Bhikkhu Bodhi summarizes: Sarvāstivāda The Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣika school's main commentary, the Mahāvibhāṣā, teaches the bodhisattva path based on a system of four pāramitās: generosity (dāna), discipline (śīla), energy (vīrya), wisdom (prajñā), The Mahāvibhāṣā also mentions the system of six pāramitās, arguing that patience () is classified as a kind of discipline and that meditation (Dhyāna) is to be seen as a mode of wisdom (prajñā). Mahāyāna Buddhism Religious studies scholar Dale S. Wright states that Mahāyāna texts refer to the pāramitās as "bases of training" for those looking to achieve enlightenment. Wright describes the Buddhist pāramitās as a set of character ideals that guide self-cultivation and provide a concrete image of the Buddhist ideal. The Prajñapāramitā sūtras (प्रज्ञापारमिता सूत्र), and a large number of other Mahāyāna texts list six perfections: Dāna pāramitā (दान पारमिता): generosity, giving of oneself (in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, 布施波羅蜜; in Tibetan, སྦྱིན་པ sbyin-pa) Śīla pāramitā (शील पारमिता): virtue, morality, discipline, proper conduct (持戒波羅蜜; ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས tshul-khrims) pāramitā (क्षान्ति पारमिता): patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance (忍辱波羅蜜; བཟོད་པ bzod-pa) Vīrya pāramitā (वीर्य पारमिता): energy, diligence, vigour, effort (精進波羅蜜; བརྩོན་འགྲུས brtson-’grus) Dhyāna pāramitā (ध्यान पारमिता): one-pointed concentration, contemplation (禪定波羅蜜, བསམ་གཏན bsam-gtan) Prajñā pāramitā (प्रज्ञा पारमिता): wisdom, insight (般若波羅蜜; ཤེས་རབ shes-rab) This list is also mentioned by the Theravāda commentator Dhammapala, who describes it as a categorization of the same ten perfections of Theravada Buddhism. According to Dhammapala, Sacca is classified as both Śīla and Prajñā, Mettā and Upekkhā are classified as Dhyāna, and Adhiṭṭhāna falls under all six. Bhikkhu Bodhi states that the correlations between the two sets shows there was a shared core before the Theravada and Mahayana schools split. In the Ten Stages Sutra, four more pāramitās are listed: 7. Upāya pāramitā (उपाय पारमिता): skillful means (方便波羅蜜） 8. Praṇidhāna pāramitā (प्राणिधान पारमिता): vow, resolution, aspiration, determination (願波羅蜜） 9. Bala pāramitā (बल पारमिता): spiritual power (力波羅蜜） 10. Jñāna pāramitā (ज्ञान पारमिता): knowledge (智波羅蜜） The Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra