What kind of effort is meant in sammā-vāyāma (right effort) and what kind of energy is meant in viriya?

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

13th May, 2022

Question:  What kind of effort is meant in sammā-vāyāma (right effort) and what kind of energy is meant in viriya?

Than Ajahn:  It’s the same thing, effort or viriya or energy. It’s to exert in your practice. The Buddha said that you should exert in 4 directions: 

1) the first direction is to develop the Dhamma that you haven’t had yet, such as sīla, samādhi, and paññā; 

2) once you have developed the Dhamma, the second direction is to protect the Dhamma that you have developed, to not let it disappear; 

3) the third direction is to get rid of your defilements that you still have in your mind, such as greed, hatred, and delusion; 

4) the fourth one is to prevent the defilements that you have already eliminated from returning to your mind. 

So, these are what it means by right effort: to build the Dhamma that you haven’t had; to protect the Dhamma that you have developed; to get rid of your defilements; and to prevent the defilements that you have got rid of from returning to your mind.

“Dhamma in English, Mar 15, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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