Eightfold Path and You (Part 6 of 8 - Right Effort)
6. Right Effort
"Here, monks, a monk engenders wishes, makes effort, arouses energy, exerts the mind and strives for the non-arising of evil, unwholesome states that have not arisen - strives for the abandoning of evil, unwholesome states that have arisen - strives for the arising of wholesome states that have not arisen - strives for the stabilizing, for the collation, for the increase, for the maturity, for the development, for the perfection through cultivation of wholesome states that have arisen. This, monks, is called Right Effort."
Without right effort, we cannot traverse the rest of the Eightfold Path. Everything involves effort; even the effort to be effortless involves effort if our ego is behind it. The mind always directs the effort, receiving its signals from our underlying karma. When we begin training, and before shifts in our consciousness occur to alter our karma, our mind may use effort in the wrong way. It might promote violence or hatred. After we train for awhile, however, the mind will change its effort and involve itself with compassion and kindness.
Spiritual training is right effort. Spiritual training permeates every aspect of life and eventually involves a total change of being. Spiritual training consists of meditation and morality. Right effort is working through the Five Hindrances (sensual desire, anger, sloth, restlessness, and doubt). Spiritual training also involves battling the defilements of greed (lust and passion). Hatred (anger and ill will. And delusion (infatuation, ignorance, and ego). Right effort means conviction, faith, diligence, mindfulness, tranquility, patience, and discernment.
Right effort always involves balance - not too strong, not too weak; just right. If we try to storm heaven, we will find some kind of heaven all right - but not the real one - we will overshoot the real one. If we lie back, on the other hand, and wait for heaven to come to us, we will be waiting a very long time. So it must be a relaxed effort - persistent, but not straining - that's the best way to put it.
Without effort, nothing can be accomplished, and although it may be true that there is truly nothing to accomplish, in order to understand this in one's heart requires effort! To pretend to understand this and stop all effort prematurely will prove disastrous. We could end up with one foot in heaven, and the other in hell!
E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com
John Quincy Adams