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cattasallaBuddhism is chock full of lists, as even the casual observer knows. One of the oldest lists is the 37 wings of awakening, which is a sort of meta-list comprising seven other lists (the four establishings of mindfulness, the four bases of power, the four right strivings, the five spiritual faculties, the five spiritual powers, the seven factors of awakening, the noble eightfold path). Of course, these lists overlap a whole lot, and some of them contain the others. So I decided to pick one of the lists, the five spiritual faculties (which happens to be identitical to the five spiritual powers, and it's even possible the two are only treated separately due to a clerical error at the earliest stage of the composition of the canon!), and start a series of posts on it, here.
The five spiritual faculties, or indriya, are, in Pāli: saddhā, viriya, sati, samādhi, and paññā. These are can be translated as faith or conviction or confidence, energy or persistence or vigor, mindfulness, concentration or attentive stillness or meditative composure, and wisdom or discernment. The second post in the series was about faith, and the previous post started the topic of vigor.
My vehicle for this exploration is a sutta from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, in particular, SN 48.10. I like this one because it fleshes out the five spiritual faculties with the other lists implicitly referred to by it. This post will be about the four right strivings, which fall under the general topic of vigor.
So, the full passage on vigor in the sutta, translated by my meager but gradually improving Pāli skills, is:
There's two things going on here, that I'll look at in this post and the next. First, we have a description of what exactly we should be doing so vigorously. To what should our effort be applied? To the cultivation of the skillful, and the abandonment of the unskillful and evil. (Fun fact: The word translated as "evil" is also used to refer to a barren field...so clearly its connotations don't quite line up with the English word typically chosen to render it.)
What is meant here by skillful and unskillful?
Buddhist practice, including the ethical practices, should not be understood as some sort of divine code or set of commandments. Buddhism has a goal: Total liberation of the heart and mind from all stress and suffering. Literally everything in Buddhism is meant to support this goal, and advance a practitioner towards it. Buddhist practice is a set of trainings meant to bring a person to this goal. It can be viewed as the development of a skill set. Which means that certain qualities are skillful for bringing a person to that goal, and certain qualities are not. Indeed, they actively impede progress. These take on an ethical tone because the goal is to cease suffering, so any unskillful action is also one that creates suffering; these match up with the traditional sense of right and wrong.
While there are definitely individual variations in how, exactly, this goal is to be reached, certain broad contours are universal. Some of the skillful qualities could apply to the development of any skill: One should be confident that one can actually develop the skill and that the method chosen will do so; one must be persistent about applying effort; one must want to develop the skill; one must hold in mind the lessons that one is given as part of the training; one must focus on what is being done; one must develop an understanding of what contributes to the development of the skill, and what impedes its development. These general qualities come into play whether learning to play the piano, or a new language, or differential equations, or liberation of the heart and mind.
This, of course, implies that there are certain unskillful qualities which are equally universal to blocking the development of any skill. A lack of confidence in one's ability, laziness, neglect, careless, inattention, lack of focus, forgetfulness, confusion as to what works and what doesn't. Successfully training oneself in any skill requires abandoning these qualities.
For the development of any skill, particular things come into play, as well, and liberation is no different. For liberation, the skill of letting go is obviously important. Much of the ways in which we are trapped are our own doing. They are the result of our chasing after desireable, pleasing things, and clinging to those things. So letting go is fundamental, which can manifest as renunciation and generosity. Supporting letting go is finding joy elsewhere. Instead of finding joy and pleasure in sensual delights, cultivating a joy and wonder independent of external circumstances, and built on a sense of well-being.
Besides our desires for pretty or enjoyable things, we also can be trapped by our aversion to uncomfortable or unpleasant situations. This can manifest as hatred, or ill-will, or cruelty. To counter these unskillful qualities, we can cultivate goodwill, kindness, compassion, patience, peace, calm, and acceptance.
Underlying these tendencies of clinging and aversion is a simple confusion or ignorance about what reality is, and how our minds work. We counter this by cultivating qualities of clarity, awareness, understanding, and wisdom.
So the four right strivings are for the Preventing of unarisen, unskillful qualities, the Abandonment of arisen, unskillful qualities, the Cultivation of unarisen, skillful qualities, and Keeping arisen, skillful qualities. It can be summarized with the nice mnemonic PACK -- prevent, abandon, cultivate, keep.
This post has gotten a bit long, so we'll break right striving into two posts, and next time talk about concrete strategies for making these efforts.
The five spiritual faculties, or indriya, are, in Pāli: saddhā, viriya, sati, samādhi, and paññā. These are can be translated as faith or conviction or confidence, energy or persistence or vigor, mindfulness, concentration or attentive stillness or meditative composure, and wisdom or discernment. The second post in the series was about faith, and the previous post started the topic of vigor.
My vehicle for this exploration is a sutta from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, in particular, SN 48.10. I like this one because it fleshes out the five spiritual faculties with the other lists implicitly referred to by it. This post will be about the four right strivings, which fall under the general topic of vigor.
So, the full passage on vigor in the sutta, translated by my meager but gradually improving Pāli skills, is:
And what, O monks, is the spiritual faculty of vigor?
Here, O monks, a noble disciple dwells with vigor aroused for the abandonment of unskillful qualities, for the attainment of skillful qualities, strong, fortified, not casting off the yoke in good qualities.
For the non-arising of unarisen evil, unskillful qualities, they generate desire, try, arouse vigor, apply the mind and heart, and strive.
For the abandoning of already arisen evil, unskillful qualities, they generate desire, try, arouse vigor, apply the mind and heart, and strive.
For the arising of unarisen skillful qualities, they generate desire, try, arouse vigor, apply the mind and heart, and strive.
For the persistence, certitude, increase, abundance, development, and completion of already arisen skillful qualities, they generate desire, try, arouse vigor, apply the mind and heart, and strive.
This is called, O monks, the spiritual faculty of vigor.
There's two things going on here, that I'll look at in this post and the next. First, we have a description of what exactly we should be doing so vigorously. To what should our effort be applied? To the cultivation of the skillful, and the abandonment of the unskillful and evil. (Fun fact: The word translated as "evil" is also used to refer to a barren field...so clearly its connotations don't quite line up with the English word typically chosen to render it.)
What is meant here by skillful and unskillful?
Buddhist practice, including the ethical practices, should not be understood as some sort of divine code or set of commandments. Buddhism has a goal: Total liberation of the heart and mind from all stress and suffering. Literally everything in Buddhism is meant to support this goal, and advance a practitioner towards it. Buddhist practice is a set of trainings meant to bring a person to this goal. It can be viewed as the development of a skill set. Which means that certain qualities are skillful for bringing a person to that goal, and certain qualities are not. Indeed, they actively impede progress. These take on an ethical tone because the goal is to cease suffering, so any unskillful action is also one that creates suffering; these match up with the traditional sense of right and wrong.
While there are definitely individual variations in how, exactly, this goal is to be reached, certain broad contours are universal. Some of the skillful qualities could apply to the development of any skill: One should be confident that one can actually develop the skill and that the method chosen will do so; one must be persistent about applying effort; one must want to develop the skill; one must hold in mind the lessons that one is given as part of the training; one must focus on what is being done; one must develop an understanding of what contributes to the development of the skill, and what impedes its development. These general qualities come into play whether learning to play the piano, or a new language, or differential equations, or liberation of the heart and mind.
This, of course, implies that there are certain unskillful qualities which are equally universal to blocking the development of any skill. A lack of confidence in one's ability, laziness, neglect, careless, inattention, lack of focus, forgetfulness, confusion as to what works and what doesn't. Successfully training oneself in any skill requires abandoning these qualities.
For the development of any skill, particular things come into play, as well, and liberation is no different. For liberation, the skill of letting go is obviously important. Much of the ways in which we are trapped are our own doing. They are the result of our chasing after desireable, pleasing things, and clinging to those things. So letting go is fundamental, which can manifest as renunciation and generosity. Supporting letting go is finding joy elsewhere. Instead of finding joy and pleasure in sensual delights, cultivating a joy and wonder independent of external circumstances, and built on a sense of well-being.
Besides our desires for pretty or enjoyable things, we also can be trapped by our aversion to uncomfortable or unpleasant situations. This can manifest as hatred, or ill-will, or cruelty. To counter these unskillful qualities, we can cultivate goodwill, kindness, compassion, patience, peace, calm, and acceptance.
Underlying these tendencies of clinging and aversion is a simple confusion or ignorance about what reality is, and how our minds work. We counter this by cultivating qualities of clarity, awareness, understanding, and wisdom.
So the four right strivings are for the Preventing of unarisen, unskillful qualities, the Abandonment of arisen, unskillful qualities, the Cultivation of unarisen, skillful qualities, and Keeping arisen, skillful qualities. It can be summarized with the nice mnemonic PACK -- prevent, abandon, cultivate, keep.
This post has gotten a bit long, so we'll break right striving into two posts, and next time talk about concrete strategies for making these efforts.