The Third Factor Of Awakening - Energy

The root meaning of the Pali word viriya, or energy, is “hero” and in the Buddhist tradition, when we start walking on the path of meditation, we are considered warriors. This is because what we’re doing as we practice is acting as ‘warriors’ against the great forces of greed, hatred, and fear in ourselves. In this talk, Shell explores this Third Factor of Awakening - viriya - and how it can inspire us to become more bravely dedicated to our path towards freedom.

Transcript

I hope you enjoy this talk.

These talks are always offered freely so that no one has ever denied access to these teachings and Your support really makes a big difference Donna is the ancient Pali word for spontaneous generosity of heart If you feel inspired to support these talks by offering Donna you can do so by visiting my website at www.

Mindfulvalley.

Com Thank you so much Before I begin I do want to just say hello to everyone out there who's listening on the podcast I've been really grateful this year to have met so many of you Who have come out to attend a retreat with me?

And I know there are many of you out there who I haven't yet met and I just wanted to say hello and welcome And I hope that you feel like you are a part of the Sangha here and know that we're all holding you in our heart And our thoughts as part of the Sangha So to all of you,

I have a question Which was do any of you recall the very first time ever that you tried to meditate?

You remember first time you tried it?

Yeah who tried it in here with me?

I'm just curious first time Great,

Great So I very vividly remember my first time that I ever tried to do it it was about three decades ago now and I was in my early 20s and I was living in a house in Newport,

Rhode Island With a bunch of old high school buddies all of whom were men By the way,

They were all sailors and the reason we were living in Newport,

Of course is because it's a big sailing town and As a confession,

It's also those of you who may have been there It's also very big drinking town,

Which is one of the other reasons I was there with these guys We used to drink quite a bit as a confession And I could keep up with the sailors pretty well,

I thought This is just a few years before I started to attend Naropa University in Colorado for my graduate degree in writing and Before I started being taught about meditation more properly From the monks and the nuns and the teachers who taught there in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition.

I was also at the time a newspaper reporter and A budding fiction writer and I was really into the beat writers Many of whom helped found Naropa University actually people like Allen Ginsberg and Ann Waldman and many others and so I had a little writing desk in the corner of our dining room and It wasn't very private and I was actually at that time I can't believe it,

But I was still using one of those old manual typewriters to write my stories and I had also just at that time just recently read Jack Kerouac's On the Road Anybody read that?

Jack Kerouac?

Yeah,

And so I was really intrigued by it Not only by the sort of youthful idea of freedom But also by the great expansion of consciousness that the beat writers were pointing to The beat writer John Clennan Holmes once wrote about the beat state of mind as quote the state of mind from which all Unessentials have been stripped leaving it receptive to everything around it but impatient with trivial obstructions To be beat is to be at the bottom of your personality looking up So what I later discovered of course is that this is also really Part of what the Buddha was talking about right when he was teaching about the concept of anata no self The bottom of your personality looking up,

You know So I was really into the beat writers and because so many of them were also into meditation I thought you know what?

I gotta give this a try.

I'm just gonna give it a try.

So I remember sitting in my room Very late at night,

Which I was usually up late at night and it was you know on a mattress on the floor Of course,

It was in my 20s.

That was my bed And I was sitting cross-legged and there were flickering candles and some kind of hypnotic music I think I remember and I I remember very vividly just sitting there staring at the wall and the shadows the candles were making and just waiting For something to kind of happen Right.

I Really thought if I just sat there long enough in the dark with the candles going something really mystical was gonna happen Or maybe you know,

Maybe I would even start floating.

Yeah,

I don't know I Thought that something Extra ordinary extraordinary was supposed to happen something out of this world out of my body something that would take me to a place of complete bliss away from my pain and my struggles and Kind of keep me that way permanently hopefully,

Right?

You know spiritual bliss without the spirituals without the booze,

Right And of course this didn't work But thankfully I felt I still found myself really drawn to the teachings as well as to the teachers and I Wanted what they seem to have and I wanted to know how do they how did they get that?

How do they get it?

Which besides,

You know,

The writers the beat writers is one of the things that led me to Naropa University How do you do it?

You know When I got there though What I very quickly discovered when I started practicing with the monks and the nuns was that in order to get To that place of bliss.

I needed to be super willing to go through a lot of what was not bliss And before I continue I do want to confess that I did actually go through what is often called the bliss state Very intense and I remember it was felt a little Otherworldly as I remember it,

You know,

Everything did feel extraordinarily different vibrant colors smells tastes You know all of it anybody else have that when you first started meditating So sadly this past as all things do but the practice then got Much richer and even more intense and even more alive and real Not really extra ordinary at all or otherworldly but just completely alive It made me feel intensely human very much here very much embodied Instead of wanting out of my body out of my mind.

I was right in it.

I loved it It's I think what ultimately helped me to quit drinking That first year because I started to notice how much I loved not being away from my body in my mind in my heart and How good it felt to simply be Even even when it was extremely painful it was real it was real and I was touching it Over the years what I've seen is that well people tend to be attracted to the practice for a variety of reasons Very often many of us are drawn to it because we have visions of attaining some kind of complete and total bliss and Very often having visions of attaining this instantly Maybe even a bit like,

You know having a glass of wine only better.

Let me have that Or we think that the meditation practice is going to help us to transcend into something otherworldly Maybe like taking some magic mushrooms.

It's going to be that Or maybe we think it will make us instantly wise or instantly happy and When this doesn't happen many people tend to get discouraged and give up on the practice altogether People often tell me actually,

You know,

I tried it this one time and it just didn't work All the time As most of you know this practice is not at all about going away but learning how to be here now As the late Ram Dass used to tell us Fully present with the full catastrophe of our normal lives our hearts and our minds completely exposed and as We all know this isn't at all easy It actually involves a lot of courage and a lot of energy a lot of energy is needed for this practice and This energy virya and Pali is what I want to explore tonight.

Okay?

Virya is a third of what are called the seven factors of awakening Those qualities of mind and heart that when we cultivate them are said to lead us to awakening or enlightenment these qualities they're actually often called the seven treasures or the seven friends and As a reminder since we've been away for about a month They include mindfulness is the first one Sati can have a mindfulness practice without mindfulness Investigation vakaya energy virya joy or rapture pithi Tranquility pasa dithi Concentration samadhi and finally upaka Which is equanimity?

Equanimity is in all these lists right so it's the last one too.

It's the fruit of our practice Last month during one of our Q&A sessions Lisa Actually asked about the importance of knowing the Pali or the Sanskrit words when we're trying to understand the practice and I do think actually this is quite important because our English version of the words never really quite capture What it means in Pali right so energy doesn't quite capture virya With this factor energy what always helps me with my understanding is to remember that the Sanskrit root for virya is hero and The Mahayana traditions when we start walking on the path were considered warriors this is because what we're doing is acting as warriors against the great forces of greed and hatred and Delusion and fear in ourselves it takes a lot of energy We're very courageously Facing and confronting our natural tendencies Which are to run away from ourselves and our problems very natural or maybe to fight them Or to completely ignore them drown them out pretend they aren't there And as many of you have already experienced all of this takes a lot of time and effort and patience and strength and courage Which all kind of encapsulates that word virya?

The teacher Gil Fronsdal one of my favorite teachers often says that the practice is not for nightstand Buddhists Right what this means is that we can read a lot of books on the subject and listen to the practice means is that we can read a lot of books on the subject and listen to a lot of lectures a lot of talks But if we're not willing to actually sit our butts down on the cushion and do the practice It's not gonna bring us a whole lot of transformation or even a deeper understanding We're not gonna really achieve that It might also be helpful to know that the Latin root of courage is core Bless you.

See.

Oh you are means heart So one of the ways that said that we apply energy to the practice is with the strength of heart And the good news is we don't have to wait until we're not afraid Don't have to wait until we're not afraid we can cultivate and strengthen our hearts our kindness and compassion muscles If you will so that we can learn more and more to face ourselves and our lives with courage Whenever I think of courage,

I love to think about my favorite character from the Wizard of Oz if you'll stay with me Which is the cowardly lion?

Right you have to love him and he because he's obviously terrified But he goes ahead and he does things anyway mainly from his great big heart,

Right and In the end all those act of courage result in him really embracing his own courage And I think we love him for one main reason is because we can see ourselves in him can we You know it's like we can forgive him when he's afraid and cheer him on when he's courageous So when we're practicing we're also very consciously putting energy into Cultivating what are considered the wholesome qualities?

Which I think the cowardly lion also exemplifies Which is things like kindness and compassion and generosity and empathy?

And as we're nurturing our hearts We're also using our mindfulness practice to counter the strong pull of very strong pull of greed and anger and hatred in ourselves We can often know see that in other people so easily but our practice is actually Looking at that in ourselves Conquering that in ourselves So we're really focusing on the And we're really focusing on the very strong pull of Very strong pull of greed and anger and hatred in ourselves We can often know see that in other people so easily but our practice is actually Looking at that in ourselves Conquering that in ourselves We're talking about both strength of heart and strength of mind and When you're contemplating strength being strong It might be helpful to remember that in the teachings our mindfulness practice is described as Something that holds up or supports like a beam Like like a beam would support a building falling down The Buddha tells us this the characteristic of energy is strengthening and support as An old house stands when strengthened by new pillars so when strengthened by energy Wholesome states do not fall away or deteriorate Wholesome states do not fall away or deteriorate So as we continue to deepen our practice and strengthen our mindfulness We are doing this so that we don't let those beautiful qualities of mind and heart that we've built up Start to fall down Right we can't allow ourselves to become lazy about this Right how many of you maybe became lazy about this during the holidays anybody?

I see some hands raised right all right good,

So this will be encouragement To paraphrase the Buddha Paraphrase the Buddha wisdom builds when we practice wisdom weakens when we don't practice Wisdom weakens when we don't practice So it's this kind of dedication to the practice that's emphasized when we talk about energy as We start to see the changes in ourselves maybe and even the possibilities Maybe even if that's reflecting on our teachers We are re-energized by the practice and motivated to continue along the path Even when we are maybe attacked by angry flying monkeys who steal our dog Even then So when the going gets rough We don't give up and stop walking or throw our shiny red shoes back into the forest don't give up We stand firm in our red shoes if you'll Stay with me with this and we keep going with the full support of our mindfulness practice knowing that we are accompanied by Our mind and our heart and our courage our own personal tin man or woman our scarecrow and lion and I would add a deep commitment Also to love and kindness And I think you know the embodiment of this might be if you're were staying with the Wizard of Oz theme is maybe Toto,

Right?

Unconditional friendliness Animals aren't they they're unconditionally friendly You might also consider what happened to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz Right.

She thought she was going to this beautiful place called Oz this magical place But along the way she was attacked by flying monkeys and a wicked witch,

Right?

And when she finally did arrive she realized that the magic was actually being produced not by a wizard But by a very real operator behind the curtain and my friends we are that operator we are creating the show and Happily,

There's still some magic in it,

Right?

But if you'll recall in the end Dorothy recalled it.

This was just her normal life was what she really cherished and She always had a way home And I know that's really corny,

But I hope you know you get the point of that We're always we're always home.

She was actually dreaming We're always dreaming right,

But home awake aliveness is right here always here and We still have to go on that journey So it's really the same way with our practice We need energy courage and motivation to continue walking along the path towards home With loving kindness is our dear companion Not having any idea of what we're going to discover along the way to be open to that And eventually we'll start to see that it isn't some magical otherworldly place that we cherish But again our own home our own mind and body and heart And again it really comes to what the teachings all lead to which is our home our true Buddha nature Often called in different traditions,

Which is always here with us I Also like to remember that Dorothy didn't return home the same person did she?

You have to take that journey,

And you know you come we come back transformed Dorothy conquered the wicked witch and her fear with a new understanding about love and herself Two other aspects of energy are perceived as The two aspects of energy are persistence and patience so you can think of the peas persistence and patience So a very common way that we think of energy in English is with a sense of efforting right There's a strong sense of should is there an energy Right or an in order to mentality when we think of energy a should or in order to But with virya we are also applying patience Which means we don't run or sprint down the path right if we do we're less likely to see anything at all along the way If we're really striving and trying to get there right it's actually antithetical our Transformation is really not going to be very deep if we want to get it right now There's a very classic story about a student who went to his teacher and asked him very earnestly I am devoted to studying and practicing sir How long will it take me to become a master at meditation?

The teacher thought about this and replied casually but maybe about 10 years What?

The student said But I want to master it faster than that I will work very hard and will practice every day 10 or more hours a day if I have to How long will it take me then?

And the teacher said if you do that way 20 years I'm often inspired also by a story I heard about the great cellist Pablo Casals Who was an asked in the interview as an accomplished maestro of his instrument?

Why he was still practicing?

Well into his 90s He said I think I'm seeing some improvement Just so inspiring I love that So it's common knowledge that this practice can only be used for a few minutes But it's also common knowledge that this practice can often be super frustrating You know For newcomers to the practice as well as those of us who have practiced,

You know for years Friends of mine actually who are teachers Say they feel this especially as I as I do sometimes it's like okay I've literally been doing this half of my life now or more more than half my life I'm more enlightened than I already am right by now It's really frustrating And At those times of doubt which is considered if you'll recall one of the main hindrances to our practice doubt I spend some time remembering how far I've come How much I really do love this practice and how it has really Truly completely changed me.

I have to reflect and remember that again,

Gil fronsdale offers such a simple and yet profound Analogy of what happens when we remember patience and perseverance patience and perseverance He asked us to imagine two parallel lines each going in the same direction And then just tilting one of those lines just a tiny tiny fraction away from the other line It hardly seems hardly hardly seems like anything at all You might not notice the difference but after a while over time increment by increment the separation between those lines Can be quite vast And I think of this sometimes in terms of some of the close relationships I've had in the past family members friends Old friends have taken another path You know And over time the separation has gotten so vast That we really just sadly can't we just can't connect anymore that the lines are not connecting in any way So with practice it's this idea that if we just make a start in a new direction Tilt our line just a little bit And then commit ourselves to staying on that path Right walking in that direction Over time it can make huge differences But Of course in order for this to happen we have to trust and apply energy to it So we can't just abandon the path especially when it gets really rough When we're terrified of the lions and tigers and bears,

Okay?

Of the lions and tigers and bears,

Okay,

We need to keep walking in the direction of our hearts And you might think of this in terms of how committing yourself to opening your heart can affect not only yourself But everyone around you right and we can do that So to go back to dorothy again,

I'm gonna point out that her journey to find a true home Not only affected all her companions,

But all of us,

Right?

She she defeated the wicked witch she changed us So like dorothy if we can make the choice and start dedicating ourselves to the heart to the wholesome qualities Of kindness and compassion joy equanimity empathy etc Over time We will be walking on that path That's what we'll be walking on and the path of hatred and greed and delusion Is just going to become further and further away just like those two lines Right,

We want to tilt those lines The Dalai Lama tells us this In my experience what we need is a calm mind and warm heartedness provides a basis for that Basis for that that is how we make ourselves happy as individuals in families communities and nations I believe that if we can train those who are young today in these qualities the world will be a more peaceful place later in this century Might not surprise you to learn that the enemy of virya is laziness Yes And actually the sanskrit word that's translated as lazy laziness means quote not to make use of Isn't that great not to make use of So instead of saying don't be lazy,

It would be more accurate to say don't waste time And this is the title if anybody's curious pema shodron's one of pema shodron's book don't waste time,

Which I highly recommend Actually,

I think it's no time to lose.

That's the title no time to lose And to be clear again,

This does not mean keeping busy In the ways that we usually keep busy which is to avoid the practice avoid being with ourselves by constantly entertaining or distracting the mind That is not at all what this is talking about Instead the teachings point to three ways Three ways that we tend to waste time.

Okay?

So the first is by holding back from doing what we know Is good for ourselves or others Right.

So for instance,

We might Not be motivated to do something good for ourselves or community others because of the energy or the effort that it takes Think about whatever that is in your life can be a good contemplation this week So just as a quick example,

We might watch too much tv or distract ourselves online instead of reading or exercising or practicing or sitting right Or we might not reach out to help a neighbor a friend or community because we just believe it requires too much of our time And our energy And I say this to a group that I know is full of tons of activists.

So you can you can disregard that You can you can disregard this Because you're doing it Another way that we waste time is by using our energy to do things that are trivial or even harmful You might just reflect on that.

What do you do in your life that's trivial or maybe harmful to yourself or others?

The third way that we waste time is interesting The third way we waste time is by becoming discouraged This is when we use our precious energy to punish ourselves Okay In the buddhist practice we learn to notice and become aware of when we're doing this And to not only work to question and abandon those negative thoughts and beliefs But to apply a massive amount of loving kindness and compassion As a way to deter this kind of energy drain It's an energy drain so catch yourself when you're doing and remember that This is draining my energy.

It's not useful How can I apply it?

Loving kindness and compassion and question and abandon these thoughts So one of the best ways we can apply viria to our practice is to constantly Really constantly look out for and guard against discouragement Which is a way of giving up on ourselves Another very traditional way to counteract our tendency to waste time Is to consider that we're going to die right we consider our mortality Really traditional way not in a morbid way just as encouragement The zen master dojin tells us you have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form Do not use your time in vain Form and substance are like dew on the grass Destiny like the dart of lightning emptied in an instant vanished in a flash Finally as words of encouragement And invite you to listen to these words from the dalai lama Who tells us never give up?

No matter what is going on never give up develop the heart Too much energy in your country is spent developing the mind instead of the heart be compassionate Not just to your friends,

But to everyone Be compassionate work for peace in your heart and in the world Work for peace And I say again never give up no matter what is going on around you never give up All right So i'm glad we have a little bit of time left because i'd like to offer you a Meditation,

But since we've been sitting why don't we just go ahead and stand a little bit first and stretch And so as always closing the eyes and just taking a nice deep breath in Slow breath out Dropping the shoulders A couple of rounds of these just to reconnect with the heart body mind And settling here again So I would like to invite you to reflect on the precious fleeting amount of time That you have to live on this earth And to really consider the three main ways that we tend to not fully utilize our time I'm going to invite you to consider three questions.

The first is What beliefs or behaviors might be holding you back from doing what you know to be good for yourself or for others?

For yourself or others?

Remembering you can always place your hands on the ground Remembering you can always place one hand or both on the heart or one hand on the belly one on the heart to get in touch Remembering to apply a great amount of kindness compassion as you consider these questions It's not a way of judging.

It's wise discernment and skillful means The question you might hold in the heart is what's holding me back from doing good?

What I know to be good?

Another question to consider.

What are some things you might be doing that maybe are really trivial or even harmful to yourself or others that you might be willing to let go of?

How are you wasting your time with something that is trivial or maybe even harmful?

What are some things you might be doing that maybe are really trivial or even harmful to yourself or others that you might be willing to let go of?

Finally I want to ask you to consider where in your life do you feel in some way discouraged or maybe where you might be using your precious energy to in some way punish yourself through your own behavior or belief Would it be possible to consider the possibility of offering yourself more of your own kindness and compassion and forgiveness?

Remembering that being unkind to yourself is an energy drain and serves no purpose What are some things you might be doing that might be dangerous?

And finally,

With the eyes closed,

Listening to these words from Mark Nepo.

He says,

Who's to say the effort to be real isn't the beginning of wings?

Who's to say that the budding of wings from the ribs of small birds doesn't begin with the impulse within them to live?

Who's to say that the butterfly breaking through its cocoon isn't the result of its being tired of living in a tight weave of its own making?

Who's to say that the migration of flamingos from South America to Africa doesn't begin with a yearning to eat the yellow ribbon that keeps lining the horizon?

And who's to say the color of passion doesn't line our faces the instant we grow tired of living in a tight cocoon of our own making?

Who's to say the journey to love doesn't begin the instant we give voice to that loneliness that no one wants to hear?

Who's to say the journey to peace doesn't sprout like a small wing the instant we let our feelings find their place in the world?

In truth,

Every effort that is allowed its full beat within will ripple as a birth of some kind in the world.

In truth,

Every effort that is allowed its full beat within the world.

Reviews

Sooo much in this message. Thank you.

Every one of this series is better than the last

Wonderful integration of examples, metaphors, doctrine and meditation. Thank you.