Dear Friends, As we continue this exploration of energy and wise effort, here is an excerpt from Joseph Goldstein’s Mindfulness that speaks to the courageous energy needed to sustain our practice: Notice carefully the moments of coming out of long trains of thought. It’s like coming out of a movie theater. When we’re lost in the story, it… Read More »
Dear Friends, As we continue reflecting on the Four Wise Efforts, we arrive at the fourth: sustaining and strengthening wholesome states that have already arisen. Joseph Goldstein refers to this as nurturing the “beautiful mental factors” and reminds us how often we overlook these qualities, and end up focusing instead on our shortcomings. In the book Mindfulness, Joseph… Read More »
Dear Friends, Joseph Goldstein describes energy (viriya) as the power to act–it encompasses strength, perseverance, and the courage to meet challenges with determination and skillfulness. This courageous energy sustains our practice, helping us abandon the unwholesome and nurture the skillful, both within ourselves and in the world. Joseph highlights that viriya is not about avoiding difficulties but engaging… Read More »
Dear Friends, As we continue exploring the wise efforts, we now turn to the third: cultivating wholesome states. Joseph Goldstein describes this as “arousing wholesome states that have not yet arisen.” He points us toward the seven factors of awakening as key examples of these states. In his book Mindfulness, Joseph quotes Bhikkhu Bodhi, who writes: The seven… Read More »
Dear Friends, As we discussed earlier, Joseph Goldstein teaches that effort itself generates energy and that the key to skillful effort lies in balance, learning when to engage with curiosity and when to relax with spaciousness. This nuanced approach transforms our practice into an exploration of energy and ease, guiding us toward greater clarity and insight. Going through… Read More »
Dear Friends, Mary Oliver’s poem The Journey offers a reflection on the courage and persistence needed to step away from old habits and toward freedom. As we explore the cycle of effort and energy in our practice, her words complement Joseph Goldstein’s teachings that we contemplated yesterday. Joseph reminds us that effort itself generates energy. Even when we… Read More »
Dear Friends, In his talk on energy as a factor of awakening, Joseph Goldstein offers some insight into the interplay of effort and energy in our practice.Satipatthana Sutta – part 29 – Factors Of Awakening: Energy (the section from about 33:00 through 40:00)https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/1967/ Joseph highlights something we may have noticed: effort itself can generate energy. He notes, “Usually… Read More »
Dear Friends, Our next topic focuses on the second wise effort: abandoning unwholesome states that have arisen. Joseph Goldstein offers this: “Mindfulness of [the unwholesome states] is always the first strategy; if we’re not even aware that they are present, there’s not much possibility of abandoning them. Sometimes mindfulness itself is enough.” (Mindfulness, page 393) However, some unwholesome… Read More »
Dear Friends, Joseph Goldstein poses some questions about viriya: “What is effort? When is it balanced? When is it counterproductive?” (Mindfulness, page 242) He highlights how effort can sometimes be unskillful, such as when there’s a forcing of the mind, what he calls an “in-order-to” mindset. Joseph shares a story of his own experience with this, recounting how… Read More »
Dear Friends, Joseph Goldstein suggests reflecting on the preciousness of this human birth as a way to support the first effort of preventing unwholesome states from arising. He reminds us:“It’s precious because now we have the opportunity to weaken and eventually uproot these latent defilements that have been with us throughout our lives.” (page 392) Ajahn Sucitto offers… Read More »
Dear Friends, Energy, or viriya, can be directed toward many different goals. To align our energy with our intentions, we focus it on the four endeavors of wise effort. Over the next few weeks, we will explore each of these in depth. The first endeavor is to prevent unwholesome states from arising. Joseph Goldstein reflects: When we’re leading… Read More »
Dear Friends, Thank you for choosing to be part of this January email offering. This marks the tenth year of this tradition, and I am continually inspired by the teachings and by the knowledge that you are here with me on this shared journey. This month, we will be exploring the factor of energy, or effort, as one… Read More »
Dear Friends, The seventh factor is right (or wise) mindfulness. Mindfulness is a buzzword nowadays. If you use your favorite internet search engine for “mindful ___”, where you fill the blank with practically any subject, you’ll probably find an array of articles related to it. But what is right mindfulness? In one of the discourses, Sariputta describes it… Read More »
Dear Friends, In a course on the eightfold path I took with BCIMS a couple years ago, the reflection document included this reminder: “the practice of Right Livelihood is not an effort to live up to an externally imposed set of rules in order to not be shamed, but an ongoing inquiry into how to better align with… Read More »
Dear Friends, In the second short talk on the faculty of sati, mindfulness, Gil brings in an element to help with the establishment of mindfulness – “the mind’s capacity to comprehend what is happening, to know what is happening. … This is the ability to clearly recognize what something is.”https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11117 The simple recognition that Gil discusses is not… Read More »
