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Quotations on:
Perseverance, Joyous Effort
Milarepa turned his back to Gampopa and lifted his cotton
cloth, thus revealing his buttocks, which were completely covered
with hard calluses from all his extensive sitting on the stony
grounds of caves. He said, "There is nothing more profound
than meditating on this pith instruction. The qualities in my
mind stream have arisen through my having meditated so persistently
that my buttocks have become like this. You must also give rise
to such heartfelt perseverance and meditate!" This final
instruction remained in the depths of Gampopa's mind forever.
Karl Brunnhölzl fFrom: 'Straight
from the heart: Buddhist Pith Instructions'
The Buddha |
Those who really seek the path to enlightenment dictate terms to their mind.
They then proceed with strong determination.
Be urgent in good; hold your thoughts off evil. When one is slack in
doing good
the mind delights in evil. |
Proper effort is not the effort to make something particular happen.
It is the effort to be aware and awake each moment, the effort to overcome laziness
and merit, the effort to make each activity of our day meditation.
Ajahn Chah
His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
It is not good to begin many different works, saying 'This looks
good; that looks good', touching this, touching that, and not
succeeding in any of them. If you do not generate great desires
but aim at what is fitting, you can actualise the corresponding
potencies and become an expert in that. With success, the power
or imprint of that practice is generated.
from 'Tantra
in Tibet'
The Buddha's life exemplifies a very important principle--a certain amount of hardship is necessary in one's spiritual pursuit. We can also see this principle at work in the lives of other great religious teachers, such as Jesus Christ or the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Furthermore, I think that the followers of these teachers, if they wish to attain the highest spiritual realizations within their tradition, must themselves undergo a process of hardship, which they endure through dedicated perseverance. There is sometimes the tendency among the followers of the Buddha to imagine, perhaps only in the back of their minds, that "Although the Buddha went through all of those hardships to attain enlightenment they aren't really necessary for me. Surely, I can attain enlightenment without giving up life's comforts." Perhaps such people imagine that, because they are somehow more fortunate than the Buddha, they can attain the same spiritual state as he did without any particular hardships or renunciation. This is, I think, mistaken.
...While Buddhism has adapted to the culture of each new civilization it has encountered, it nonetheless retains its emphasis on morality and discipline as essential for spiritual maturation. If we ourselves want the attainments described by the Buddha--the deep concentration and the penetrating insights--then we too must endure some amount of hardship and observe ethical behavior. Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom Teachings
Shakyamuni Buddha, even when he was a trainee on the path, was solely concerned
in both thought and action with others' welfare. Whenever he found an opportunity
to work for others, no matter what difficulties he faced, he was never discouraged.
He never hated obstacles and hardships encountered on the way. Instead, the
difficult situations facilitated his being more courageous and determined to
accomplish others' welfare. Just because he was so determined to work for others
in the past, even as a trainee on the path, it is needless to say how much more
it is so with him now as a completely enlightened person. Generous Wisdom: Commentaries of His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV on
the Jatakamala Garland of Birth Stories
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Another necessary quality is determination. It's easy to gear oneself up for
counting mantras or prostrations. For some, physical discipline is also easy.
But the determination of the meditator is different. We must be determined to
strive to purify our obscurations until they're completely gone--in other words,
until our buddha-nature unobstructedly shines through. When we sit, we decide
to do our best not to be swayed by our negativity. We should cultivate this
attitude at the beginning of our session. Otherwise, no matter how much we practice,
we will daydream a lot and our meditation will always be wishy-washy. I know
this from experience--I may do my session of meditation, but it is tepid. Why?
I don't have that inner strength to remain unmoved by the arising of the various
mental contents.
Bruce Newman, A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism
Self-discipline brings us into relationship with one of the six perfections
of the bodhisattva, that of enthusiastic perseverance, which implies the willingness
to engage in a process with effort and enthusiasm over a prolonged period. No
material or spiritual qualities are gained without some degree of effort. Perseverance
enables the practitioner to carry on and trust in the process, even when it
feels hopeless. It makes it possible to face difficulties and obstacles in the
path with confidence and courage, rather than giving up because it feels too
hard. Self-discipline helps us remain in the vessel and not run away.
My Tibetan retreat guide described the maintenance of self-discipline over
time like keeping a pot heating on a stove. If we continually remove it from
the heat the pot never boils. Similarly he felt that when someone enters into
the discipline of retreat, it should be maintained as rigorously as possible.
In doing so the alchemical vessel will be maintained, and the "cooking"
can take place. Transformation only occurs when the vessel is maintained in
this way.
Rob Preece, The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra
The Buddhist notion of diligence is to
delight in positive deeds. Its opposite, called le lo in Tibetan, has three aspects. Le lo is usually translated as
"laziness," though only its first aspect refers to laziness
as we usually understand it.
The first aspect is not doing something because of indolence,
even though we know that it is good and ought to be done.
The second aspect is faintheartedness. This comes about when we
underestimate our qualities and abilities, thinking, "I'm
so incompetent and weak. It would be good to do that, but I could
never accomplish it." Not having the confidence of thinking,
"I can do it," we end up doing nothing.
The third aspect refers to being very busy and seeming diligent,
but wasting time and energy on meaningless activities that will
not accomplish anything in the long run. When we do many things
for no real purpose, we fail to focus on what is truly worthwhile
and our path has no clear direction.
When we refrain from these three aspects of laziness, we are diligent.
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche from 'Daring
Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three Vehicles of Buddhism'
Having committed yourself to certain practices, be steadfast and never transgress
the promises you have made. Let go of everything that could tempt you to do
so and devote yourself entirely and single-mindedly to the accomplishment of
your aims. For six years the Buddha did not waver from his practice of the meditative
stabilization known as "Pervading Space." This meditation focuses
on the fundamental nature of phenomena, which is present wherever there is space.
Everywhere throughout space there are suffering living beings on whom this meditation
also focuses with the compassionate wish to relieve their suffering and the
loving wish to give them happiness. Thus it combines essential wisdom and skillful
means.
Geshe Sonam
Rinchen The Three Principal Aspects of the Path: An Oral Teaching
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Imagine that you had gone all your life without ever washing, and then one day you decide to take a shower. You start scrubbing away, but then watch in horror as the dirt begins to ooze out of the pores of your skin and stream down your body. Something must be wrong: You were supposed to be getting cleaner and all you can see is grime. You panic and fling yourself out of the shower, convinced that you should never have begun. But you only end up even more dirty than before. You have no way of knowing that the wisest thing to do is to be patient and to finish the shower. It may look for a while as if you are getting even dirtier, but if you keep on washing, you will emerge fresh and clean. It’s all a process, the process of purification.
Whenever doubt arises, see it simply as an obstacle, recognize it as an understanding that is calling out to be clarified or unblocked, and know that it is not a fundamental problem but simply a stage in the process of purification and learning. Allow the process to continue and complete itself, and never lose your trust or resolve. This is the way followed by all the great practitioners of the past, who used to say: “There is no armor like perseverance.”
Again and again we need to appreciate the subtle workings of the teachings and the practice, and even when there is no extraordinary, dramatic change, to persevere with calm and patience. How important it is to be skillful and gentle with ourselves, without becoming disheartened or giving up, but trusting the spiritual path and knowing that it has its own laws and its own dynamics.
Difficulties and obstacles, if properly understood and used, can turn out to be an unexpected source of strength. Gesar was the great warrior king of Tibet, whose escapades form the greatest epic of Tibetan literature. Gesar means “indomitable,” someone who can never be put down. From the moment Gesar was born, his evil uncle Trotung tried all kinds of means to kill him. But with each attempt Gesar only grew stronger and stronger.
For the Tibetans, Gesar is not only a martial warrior but also a spiritual one. To be a spiritual warrior means to develop a special kind of courage, one that is innately intelligent, gentle, and fearless. Spiritual warriors can still be frightened, but even so they are courageous enough to taste suffering, to relate clearly to their fundamental fear, and to draw out without evasion the lessons from difficulties. |
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