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8x Path - Effort

INTRODUCTION | VIEW + INTENTION | SPEECH + ACTION + LIVELIHOOD | EFFORT + MINDFULNESS + CONCENTRATION



it takes effort 		And so we begin the first of the meditation group - right effort (+ mindfulness, concentration). As right view led to right intention (which led to right 'morality' or action) so right effort is the springboard for the training and refinement of the mind.
The relationship between the three meditation factors can be seen in the following simile:
Three boys on the way to visit a temple spot a flowering tree and think it would be nice to offer some of the flowers on the shrine. The flowers are beyond the reach of even the tallest so one boy kneels down and offers his back. The tall boy climbs up but hesitates to reach for the flowers from fear of falling. The third boy then offers his shoulder for support.
Energy is the boy kneeling - the foundation. Concentration steadies mindfulness - which plucks the flowers of insight wisdom.

The Pali word for effort is viriya and it relates to the English 'virility' with its suggestion of potency, manliness, vigour and heroism. On its own it is morally neutral and can manifest as either a wholesome or an unwholesome quality; being the fuel of both kindness, generosity, altruism, etc. on the one hand and aggressive, violent, exploitive behaviour on the other. In relation to the path it is the wholesome aspect that primarily interests us - but more specifically the energy directed to liberation from suffering. Wholesome energy generates good kamma and wholesome mind states but only when it is guided and supported by right view and right intention, and works in association with the other path factors does it lead to liberation.

The logic of the Buddha's teaching, as outlined in the Four Noble Truths, is not that complex. What is difficult is the work of purifying the mind (to clear the way for insight) and the task of letting go (renunciation, non-becoming). The is truely heroic work. Time and again the Buddha encouraged the arousing of effort, diligence, exertion, and perseverance.

Viriya is:
• one of the 5 spiritual faculties and powers (bala)
• one of the 7 factors of enlightenment.


sustained effort 		The overall thrust of the Buddha's teaching is in relation to the mind so Right Effort is usually presented as the four great endeavours (padhana)
• to prevent the arising of unwholesome states not yet arisen;
• to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen;
• to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen;
• to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
        where 'states' refers specifically to 'mind states.' The pattern here is not uncommon with its emphasis on wholesome and unwholesome (kusala & akusala) in conjunction with latent [see: asava  §  & 5 hindrances  § ] and actual.

The standard reference for unwholesome mind states is the five hindrances (nivarana). As with any mind states the hindrances arise according to the particular situation or context. You have a smoking habit (hindrance, latent tendency) - you are trying to prevent this state from arising. Go to a place where people are smoking - it arises. This first effort is also known as the effort to restrain - particularly the sense faculties. It is not denial - more wise attention - which requires a degree of mindfulness/concentration.
So, despite our best efforts at sense restraint, the hindrances, the defilements may still enter the mind. Oh, lack a day! And once it gets a hold it is easy enough to talk of abandoning, of letting the hindrance go - just like that! - but actually doing that requires quite some effort. The first trick is to have enough mental clarity to see that the mind has been 'kidnapped' again. To see that an old habit has taken charge. And here we are back again suggesting that this requires a degree of mindfulness/concentration. It does. From the clarity of one's meditation practice there is perspective on that old habit. The more space in the mind the less likely it is to overwhelm and the more likely one is able to 'step aside,' to drop it.


on-going effort 		The first two efforts don't work in isolation, in fact they can be pre-empted by the third - arousing wholesome states that have not yet arisen. If the energy of the mind is actively focussed on the development of wholesomeness it is unlikely that unwholesome states will arise (more likely in a mind that is neutral, non-active or 'just cruising'). There are many threads of practice for developing wholesome states - joy, tranquillity, insight, etc. and one particular theme which received emphasis by the Buddha was the seven factors of enlightenment [see: bojjhanga  § ]. Energy being the third factor on this list. Getting started is the hardest part but once the initial energy gets rolling it generates an enthusiasm which gathers momentum. Our continuing energy often relies on results - we get the joy we continue - we get nothing - we stop - but hopefully there has been enough insight into the nature of our suffering that our understanding of the theory will bring us back - to "try, try and try again." Patience is a grand accompaniment with effort. Compassion with determination. Kindness with persistence.




renewed effort 		As our spiritual work evolves our minds become more clear. It is quite a common result of meditation practice that we naturally abandon the unwholesome and that our goodness, our wholesomeness takes precedence. There is another natural tendency... to 'rest on ones laurels.' After all that hard work I deserve a break - just relax and take it easy. Not a bad thought but mental fitness, like physical fitness requires regular exercise. Take it easy for too long and the flab (or the hindrances) find their way back. One image is that of gaurding a treasure - not anxiously but with care and due attention. We need to add to that treasure - extend it, perfect it. This effort lays the foundation for "plucking the flowers of insight wisdom."

These four efforts can be summarised as avoiding - overcoming - developing - maintaining.
• "What now, o monks, is the effort to avoid? Perceiving a form, or a sound, or an odour, or a taste, or a bodily or mental impression, the monk neither adheres to the whole nor to its parts. And he strives to ward off that through which evil and unwholesome things might arise, such as greed and sorrow, if he remained with unguarded senses; and he watches over his senses, restrains his senses. This is called the effort to avoid.
• "What now is the effort to overcome? The monk does not retain any thought of sensual lust, or any other evil, unwholesome states that may have arisen; he abandons them, dispels them, destroys them, causes them to disappear. This is called the effort to overcome.
• "What now is the effort to develop? The monk develops the factors of enlightenment, bent on solitude, on detachment, on extinction, and ending in deliverance, namely: mindfulness (sati), investigation of the law (dhamma-vicaya), energy (viriya), rapture (píti), tranquillity (passaddhi), concentraton (samádhi), equanimity (upekkhá). This is called the effort to develop.
• "What now is the effort to maintain? The monk keeps firmly in his mind a favourable object of concentration, such as the mental image of a skeleton, a corpse infested by worms, a corpse blueblack in colour, a festering corpse, a corpse riddled with holes, a corpse swollen up. This is called the effort to maintain."
         Anguttara IV,14

INTRODUCTION | VIEW + INTENTION | SPEECH + ACTION + LIVELIHOOD | EFFORT + MINDFULNESS + CONCENTRATION