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Talk Notes
A talk on the 4rd Paramita—Virya—"Joyful Effort”
Dear friends,
Today I would like to explore the 4rd Paramita—Virya. We typically refer to this term as “Joyful Effort” or “Energetic Joy.” The google definition states that “Virya” is a fundamental concept in Buddhism and Indian philosophy meaning “energy,” “effort,” “diligence,” “heroism.” It represents the sustained inner power, mental resilience, and enthusiasm required to overcome obstacles, cultivate virtuous actions, and pursue spiritual growth, often described as vital energy.
I’ve spoken before of my many well-known “heros” that have this quality of diligence—so many courageous beings--Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, Martin Luther King who are so well-known—but today I want to acknowledge the countless beings who are not so well know—and still changing the world.
Here is a quote, introduced to me by Br. Phap Linh of Plum Village.
This famous quote from George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch (1871-1872) highlights that the world's improvement relies on small, quiet acts of kindness and virtue by ordinary people, rather than just famous, heroic actions. These "hidden lives" make the world a better place.
The full quote as written by George Elliot goes like this: "...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
I just wanted to spend a minute acknowledging the quiet courageous actions of so many.
In Japan it is very popular to have “Daruma” dolls, and, we have a couple of replicas of these here. The original dolls are weighted heavily on the bottom and no matter how hard you push them down, they just bop up again. Kind of like a sailboat with a keel—it may heel way over, but it (usually!) rights itself in the waves!
I want to explore this quality a bit more; where does it come from? How is it sustained? However, first, I’d like to explore a bit about what hinders this energy.
For this, I will turn to a talk I found by Ringu Tulka Rinpoche titled, “Wisdom in Action—Diligence” and he talked about how diligence is the opposite of laziness or sloth. Laziness is an important obstacle to Diligence, or Joyful Effort, he says; one that should be noticed and acknowledged. Ringu Tulka Rinpoche says it is taught that there are 3 kinds of laziness. These next few paragraphs are paraphrasing his words then, on the 3 hindrances/lazinesses.
“The first type of laziness is procrastination or delay. Sloppiness…sleeping…avoidance…this is about not wanting to make the effort to do things…not wanting to do “what I should do.” Rinpoche says that we should understand that this type of laziness brings unhappiness. We often think that if we can avoid the work, I’ll be happy; “I will be happy not having to do it.” But actually, I’m unhappy. When I’m not doing it, it grows more and more and I keep thinking that I should be doing it. The more the time passes, the more unhappy I am because I wasn’t truly able to enjoy “the time off.” I’m not free. I’m not happy when I’m thinking about not wanting to do it…I’m not happy when I’m not doing it, and I’m not happy after when I finally get around to doing it! It is bringing more suffering to myself. By understanding this, we inspire ourselves to be motivated to do things at the time we need to do them.
The second laziness is not understanding (or intentionally arranging) our priorities and our time in the wrong order. This can be reflected in someone who is always busy. We say we have no time to do those things that need to be done; we’re too busy. Actually, if we really see clearly, we see that many of these things that occupy our time can be reduced—they are not really useful, they are not really beneficial; really, we put them into our lives just to use up space, as fillers-- to avoid what is more meaningful but often requiring true acceptance and effort and perhaps courage. Acts with perhaps more true benefit to ourselves and other beings.
The 3rd kind of laziness, Rinpoche calls “insulting ourselves.” “I’m too small…I’m too ignorant…I’m not efficient enough…” You decide that it cannot be done by you—even before trying. This is another kind of laziness because we don’t even try; we look down on our own capacity. We don’t accept how much capacity we truly have, how much possibility there is. We just stop all those possibilities to improve, or to develop, or to understand, or achieve. Therefore, Rinpoche says that this is said to be the worst kind of laziness because we shut down the possibility even from the beginning. To give ourselves the courage, to give ourselves the incentive, to understand that perhaps I’m not the most efficient, or the most strong, or the most powerful but I can develop skills; I can develop and train with these qualities. Being willing and happy to do this is to transform this hindrance. It is said that if we work on these three hindrances then that brings the capacity to achieve anything, there is nothing that one who has this diligence cannot achieve.
It is good to be aware of these hindrances that we all have at one time or another. We can often bring up a fairly mundane transformation in “habit energies” for these hindrances—especially the first two, but, what do we need for to sustain this deeper, more intimate work of our lives? I would like to explore this a bit. Where does this energy come from not only to work with these frequent hindrances but to work with the multitude of manifestions causing so much suffering in the world right now? Where do I find this sustained energy? How do I search for it? If I find it, how do I hold on to it?
Bodhichitta is what I would consider a necessary ingredient in sustaining energy in this life. In my life. Our “mind of love,” or, Bodhichitta, is the deep wish to cultivate understanding in ourselves in order to bring happiness to the many beings. It is the motivating force for the practice of mindful living. With Bodhichitta as the foundation, everything we do or say will help us and others be liberated.
So much of the content of the immense Avatamsaka (which many of you know is a fave) is demonstrating Bodhichitta—the ever sustaining, never giving up work of Bodhisattvas—“the enlightening beings.”
What can support us in developing this Bodhichitta? The first thing that comes to mind as something essential to cultivate is Right View. What is Right View? This is the first practice of the Noble Eightfold Path. Shariputra described Right View as the way to distinguish wholesome actions from non-wholesome actions. In each of us, as
Thich Nhat Hanh points out, there are both wholesome and non-wholesome seeds. Our practice is to learn how to water those wholesome seeds. At the base of our views are our perceptions. The Buddha taught us not to be deceived by what we perceive and that most of our perceptions are wrong perceptions. Being aware of our perceptions can help us develop views that are clearer and in touch with the ultimate reality. In Buddhism, we speak of Two Truths; the relative, or worldly truth, the truth of the conditional world. Looking deeply into the relative truth, we also penetrate the absolute truth of what Thich Nhat Hanh refers to as “the ultimate dimension.” Relative and absolute truths “inter-are.” One is not better than the other…one cannot be without the other. We have a self, but when we look deeply into this self, we see that it is all made up of non-self elements. A very important teaching in the Diamond Sutra is the teaching around “life span.” We think that we exist only from a point in time and we suffer because of this notion. If we look deeply, touching the ultimate dimension we see that we have never been born and that we never die. Within us, we carry the world of no-birth and no-death also, but we often never touch this because we are so engrained in our notions.
Developing our ability to hold both the relative reality—the conditional reality that we tend to perceive ourselves in—and the “ultimate reality” of the unconditioned—at the same time is very helpful and freeing. It can begin with a recollection for instance; “I see the fresh flower on the table—and, at the same time, I see it’s impermanence and that it is on it’s way to becoming compost”—but I also see that the compost is on it’s way to becoming the flower—and I see that in this world of conditional things—everything is still here, just waiting for conditions to re-manifest once more…. Everything is still here, and in the ultimate reality, there is no separate self. In the Avatamsaka all is contained in the one, and the one is contained in the all.
So, why is this helpful? Why is this a tool for not giving up…for diligence? For me, it is because when I can touch the vastness of our world beyond separation at the same time as I am living in this world of form, as a separate identity, those two truths allow for me a much larger place to stand. There is a koan that says, “it is here—hidden within the mountain of form—the true jewel.” This vast place is broader than my notions. It is beyond my ideas…my small self. It is beyond my view of a separate self. I can begin touching the ultimate reality that reveals no separation. In this sense, there is no self and other. It is in this place that I am able to respond as my right arm would if my left arm was incapacitated. No hesitation, no question. It is beyond dichotomies and distinctions and signs. It is beyond my perception and notions and ideas. This is the place of freedom. And, this is the place of boundless energy. It is from this place where I am capable of so much more than what my small self likes to paint a picture of. I notice how my energy can vary tremendously depending on “where I’m at in that moment.” If/when I am in touch with the deeper reality amidst my conditioned world, I can have vast energy. If I am doing joyful work, with wholesome actions—I notice I have so much energy. This is something that I have been really paying attention to. What am I doing—and why? If hindrances are coming up—I have found that I really need to look at this as well—why? And, I am learning, things can shift in a moment. A moment is all that it takes to touch that boundless reality if it is something that I am doing with love. This is where my boundless love can be found—and I can touch in –whenever I want—the infinite capacity of this joyful energy. I don’t have to go looking for it. I only have to continue practicing to develop this understanding—not intellectually but in an awakened sense. This remembrance, this Right View, is available in the present moment along with my conditioned world. I only have to recollect that it is always here, even if at times I don’t recognize it. I think with practice, with mindfulness, little by little this heart of understanding grows.
Developing Right View, over time, develops Right Thinking, and Right Thinking develops the diligence of Bodhichitta—the mind of love.
It is always right here—and available right now. I only need to recollect that possibility that I can always touch it. I don’t need to travel anywhere to find it. I don’t need to go somewhere other than this world of “things as they are” in the present moment.
I think again of the countless Bodhisattva’s that are not only doing well-known work but doing continuous small acts of kindness in their daily lives. The unknown work of many is the work that goes unrecorded but not without deep merit. I think that for those many courageous beings who don’t give up over their lifetimes, whether they are “Buddhist” or not—they are touching this deeper realm beyond a separate self, beyond just their small-self “identity”—a place where the desire to act for the benefit of all beings is alive—here—and now.
And, with thoughts of these acts of kindness—big or small—I want to end in “Kanho Chris” style—with a poem! It’s called, “Ordinary Things.”
Ordinary Things
I am in love with the ordinary things of life.
Fresh air.
Acts of kindness.
Deep soul conversations.
Watching things grow.
Listening to the rain as it
empties its heart towards earth.
Remembering the time I ran through it
unafraid, spontaneous, freedom-filled.
I find pure joy in the joy of others.
I am drunk on simplicity and nostalgia
and old, thrift shops run by volunteers
who just want to change the world one
human being at a time.
I greet the morning with the eyes that still
have remnants of pain but will see their
way through it.
I am determined to create something
beautiful every day—whether art or peace
or a path for those who are lacking in light.
I wish for nothing more than
soft hands filled with giving.
This is where I find my rest.
~ullie-kaye
