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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Religions & Faiths > Buddhism

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  #1  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:06 AM
janielee
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Effort in Buddhist practice

Right Effort is one of the 8 paths of the Eightfold Path Gautama Buddha taught.

All Buddhist traditions without fail encourage effort and practice. To reach the destination one walks. One who does not do the work and imagines they are there, sits only in a mirage, a mirage which breaks as easily as one has created it.

Peace,

JL
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  #2  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:06 AM
janielee
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Theravada:

"Energy (viriya), the mental factor behind right effort, can appear in either wholesome or unwholesome forms. The same factor fuels desire, aggression, violence, and ambition on the one hand, and generosity, self-discipline, kindness, concentration, and understanding on the other. The exertion involved in right effort is a wholesome form of energy, but it is something more specific, namely, the energy in wholesome states of consciousness directed to liberation from suffering. This last qualifying phrase is especially important. For wholesome energy to become a contributor to the path it has to be guided by right view and right intention, and to work in association with the other path factors. Otherwise, as the energy in ordinary wholesome states of mind, it merely engenders an accumulation of merit that ripens within the round of birth and death; it does not issue in liberation from the round.

Time and again the Buddha has stressed the need for effort, for diligence, exertion, and unflagging perseverance. The reason why effort is so crucial is that each person has to work out his or her own deliverance. The Buddha does what he can by pointing out the path to liberation; the rest involves putting the path into practice, a task that demands energy."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/...amo/index.html
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  #3  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:09 AM
janielee
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Tibetan:

“The sudden flash is a key to all Buddhist meditation, from the level of basic mindfulness to the highest levels of tantra. But it is not enough just to hope that a flash will come to us; there must be a background of discipline.”

"The next foundation of mindfulness is mindfulness of effort. The idea of effort is apparently problematical. Effort would seem to be at odds with the sense of being that arises from mindfulness of body. Also, pushing of any kind does not have an obvious place in the touch-and-go technique of the mindfulness of life.

In either case, deliberate, heavy-handed effort would seem to endanger the open precision of the process of mindfulness. Still we cannot expect proper mindfulness to develop without some kind of exertion on our part. Effort is necessary. But the Buddhist notion of right effort is quite different from conventional definitions of effort.

The traditional Buddhist analogy for right effort is the walk of an elephant or tortoise. The elephant moves along surely, unstoppably, with great dignity. Like the worm, it is not excitable, but unlike the worm, it has a panoramic view of the ground it is treading on. Though it is serious and slow, because of the elephant’s ability to survey the ground there is a sense of playfulness and intelligence in its movement.

In the case of meditation, trying to develop an inspiration that is based on wanting to forget one’s pain and on trying to make one’s practice thrive on a sense of continual accomplishment is quite immature. On the other hand, too much solemnity and dutifulness creates a lifeless and narrow outlook and a stale psychological environment. The style of right effort, as taught by the Buddha, is serious but not too serious. It takes advantage of the natural flow of instinct to bring the wandering mind constantly back to the mindfulness of breathing."

https://www.lionsroar.com/the-four-f...f-mindfulness/
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  #4  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:09 AM
JustBe JustBe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by janielee
Theravada:

"Energy (viriya), the mental factor behind right effort, can appear in either wholesome or unwholesome forms. The same factor fuels desire, aggression, violence, and ambition on the one hand, and generosity, self-discipline, kindness, concentration, and understanding on the other. The exertion involved in right effort is a wholesome form of energy, but it is something more specific, namely, the energy in wholesome states of consciousness directed to liberation from suffering. This last qualifying phrase is especially important. For wholesome energy to become a contributor to the path it has to be guided by right view and right intention, and to work in association with the other path factors. Otherwise, as the energy in ordinary wholesome states of mind, it merely engenders an accumulation of merit that ripens within the round of birth and death; it does not issue in liberation from the round.

Time and again the Buddha has stressed the need for effort, for diligence, exertion, and unflagging perseverance. The reason why effort is so crucial is that each person has to work out his or her own deliverance. The Buddha does what he can by pointing out the path to liberation; the rest involves putting the path into practice, a task that demands energy."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/...amo/index.html

It’s just all so effortless imo..

Such demands, such deliverance..

And here you are delivering..
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  #5  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:16 AM
janielee
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Zen:

The most important point in our practice is to have right effort. The right effort which is directed to right direction is necessary. Usually our effort is making towards wrong direction. Especially, if your effort is making -- your effort is directed towards wrong direction without knowing it means so-called deluded effort. Our effort in our practice should be directed from being to non-being, from achievement to non-achievement. Usually when you do something you want to achieve something but in our practice from achievement to non-achievement means to get rid of some evil result of the effort. Whether or not whether you make your effort you have good quality. So if you do something that is enough but when you make some special effort to achieve something, some excessive quality or element is involved in it. So you should get rid of some excessive things. If you -- when your practice is good, without being aware of it you will become proud of it. That is something extra. Pride is extra. What you do is good but something more is added to it. So you should get rid of that something which is extra. This point is very, very important. But usually we are not subtle enough to realize that. And you are going to wrong direction. So this kind of effort to get rid of something extra is very important point and that is the effort we make.

http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/zenmind.pdf
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  #6  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:20 AM
Rain95 Rain95 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by janielee
Right Effort is one of the 8 paths of the Eightfold Path Gautama Buddha taught.

All Buddhist traditions without fail encourage effort and practice.

Right effort is effort that does not assert a person. Seeking a goal through a practice asserts a person and is therefore wrong effort. However, a practice that ends seeking and a seeker is right effort.
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  #7  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:20 AM
janielee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustBe
It’s just all so effortless imo..

It's subtle - it is effortless effort. And the one who doesn't put in the effort to know is drinking from the waterhole that is weak.

Your perception, I feel, is because all you do is feel and say that is all there is

JL
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  #8  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:22 AM
janielee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain95
Right effort is effort that does not assert a person. Seeking a goal through a practice asserts a person and is therefore wrong effort. However, a practice that ends seeking and a seeker is right effort.

Ahh the old nihilistic approach - how common and ordinary. The easy route but highly ineffective as well. Such people can start their own religion perhaps. Here, I am just quoting what the Buddhist teachers and Buddha said.



JL
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  #9  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:25 AM
janielee
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Tibetan:

Concentration is important in both Dharma practice and ordinary life. The Tibetan word for the practice of concentration is zhi-nay (zhi-gNas). Zhi means peace and nay means to dwell; zhi-nay, then, is dwelling in peace or being without busyness.

f we do not carefully watch the mind it may seem that it is peaceful. However, when we really look inside we see that this is not so. Mind does not rest on the same object for even a single second. It flutters around like a banner flapping in the wind. No sooner does mind settle on one object than it is carried away by another. Even if we live in a cave on a high mountain the mind moves incessantly. When we are on the top of a tall city building we can look down and see how busy the city is, but when we are walking on the streets we are aware of only a fraction of the busyness. Similarly, if we do not investigate correctly we will never be aware of how busy the mind really is.

Primary consciousness itself is pure and stainless, but gathered around it are fifty-one secondary mental elements, some of which are positive, some negative and some neutral. Of these secondary elements, in ordinary beings, the negative ones are stronger than the positive. Most people never attempt to gain control of these secondary mental elements; if they did they would be amazed at how difficult such a task is. Because the negative elements have dominated the mind for countless lifetimes, overcoming them will require tremendous effort. Yet zhi-nay cannot be experienced until they have been totally subdued.

http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Budd...20Rinpoche.htm
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  #10  
Old 14-04-2019, 05:27 AM
janielee
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Chinese Buddhism:

No matter what method you use in applying your effort at cultivating the Way -- whether it be reciting the Buddha's name, holding mantras, studying the teachings, holding precepts, meditating, cultivating the Pure Land School, the Teachings School, and so on -- you shouldn't be greedy for quick results. If you are greedy for a quick accomplishment you will make a mistake. Greed for speedy success still boils down to having a greed-mind, and that will obstruct your wisdom on the causal ground. It will also obstruct the light of your self-nature, because the light of your self-nature doesn't have any greed in it. Never has there been an efficacious response founded on greed. If you retain a greed mind while you cultivate the Way, it's like having a piece of gold and covering it up with dirt. So, don't be greedy for quantity or speed, don't try to get off easy without doing the requisite work. If you don't have a greedy mind, you can put things down. If you can put things down, you can obtain samadhi, and only after obtaining samadhi can you open great wisdom. All of you should very deeply understand this. Don't be greedy for speed. If you crazed over the idea of getting there quickly, you won't arrive at your destination. For instance, if you want to go to New York and wish to get there fast but don't do the necessary things to get there -- such as taking a plane, or a train, or a bus -- but just figure, "I'll get there on my own two legs, and I'll get there quickly!" then you'll rush on and die of fatigue and not get there at all. Cultivating the way is also like that. You do everything very naturally. You should apply your effort very naturally and you shouldn't think about whether or not it's being effective or whether you are obtaining any good results. Don't think about anything at all. Just go forward in applying your effort -- continue with your hard work.

http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Budd.../teach3-9.html
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