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February 24, 2020 - September 28, 2022
The four practices usually associated with Right Diligence are: (1) preventing unwholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen from arising, (2) helping the unwholesome seeds that have already arisen to return to our store consciousness, (3) finding ways to water the wholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen and asking our friends to do the same, and (4) nourishing the wholesome seeds that have already arisen so that they will stay present in our mind consciousness and grow stronger. This is called the Fourfold Right Diligence.
The Fourfold Right Diligence is nourished by joy and interest. If your practice does not bring you joy, you are not practicing correctly.
Right Diligence lies in the Middle Way, between the extremes of austerity and sensual indulgence.
The teachings of the Seven Factors of Awakening3 are also part of the practice of Right Diligence.
Joy is a factor of awakening, and it is at the heart o...
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Ease, another Factor of Awakening, is also essential fo...
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If we do not have the energy to practice sitting or walking meditation, it is because these practices do not bring us joy or transform us, or we do not yet see their benefit.
Sometimes it takes adults four or five years of practicing the outer form before they taste the true joy of practice.
If we lack Right Diligence, it is because we have not found a way to practice that is true for us, or have not felt deeply the need to practice. A mindful life can be wonderful.
This is a nearly overwhelming problem for me.
Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.5 Reciting this gatha can give us energy to live the day well.
The practice is to smile as soon as we wake up, recognizing this day as an opportunity for practicing. It is up to us not to waste it. When we look at all beings with eyes of love and compassion, we feel wonderful. With the energy of mindfulness, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, or practicing sitting or walking meditation are all the more precious.
This is very hard for me. I'm tired, and I'm afraid of how much resentment I feel, even as I am committed to my work and would not choose another path while my family's circumstances remain more or less the same. It's a hard place to live, and being happy for another 24 hours to practice is a great challenge. I guess that's kind of the point of practicing. I practice with a shortage of joy so that I can one day practice in joy.
Suffering can propel us to practice. When we are anxious or sad and see that these practices bring us relief, we will want to continue. It takes energy to look into suffering and to see what has brought about that suffering. But this insight will lead us to see how to end our suffering, and the path needed to do so. When we embrace our suffering, we see its origins, and we see that it can end because there is a path. Our suffering is at the center. When we look into the compost, we see the flowers. When we look into the sea of fire, we see a lotus. The path that does not run away from but
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It is not always necessary for us to deal directly with our suffering. Sometimes we can just allow it to lie dormant in our store consciousness, and we use the opportunity to touch the refreshing and healing elements within us and around us with our mindfulness. They will take care of our pain, like antibodies taking care of the foreign bodies that have entered our bloodstream. When unwholesome seeds have arisen, we have to take care of ...
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The practice of mindful living should be joyful and pleasant. If you breathe in and out and feel joy and peace, that is Right Diligence. If you suppress yourself, if you suffer during your practice, it probably is not Right Diligence. Examine your practice. See what brings you joy and happiness of a sustained kind.
Oh, but nothing gives me sustained joy and happiness. How can joy and happiness guide me when I don't experience them?!?
Try to spend time with a Sangha, brothers and sisters who are creating a field of mindful energy that can make your practice easy. Work together with a teacher and with a friend to transform your suffering into compassion, peace, and understanding, and do it with joy and ease. That is Right Diligence.
How? Where? Who?
Right Concentration
The practice of Right Concentration (samyak samadhi) is to cultivate a mind that is one-pointed.
There are two kinds of concentration, active and selective. In active concentration, the mind dwells on whatever is happening in the present moment, even as it changes.
This poem by a Buddhist monk1 describes active concentration: The wind whistles in the bamboo and the bamboo dances. When the wind stops, the bamboo grows still. The wind comes and the bamboo welcomes it. The wind goes, and the bamboo lets it go. The poem continues: A silver bird flies over the autumn lake. When it has passed, the lake’s surface does not try to hold on to the image of the bird. As the bird flies over the lake, its reflection is lucid. After it is gone, the lake reflects the clouds and the sky just as clearly.
