Spiritual Training: Studying the Teachings
Theme: Energy
07/24/2017
Discussion let by Philip Murphy
A man’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.
– Albert Camus
If only we arrange our life according
to that principle which counsels us
that we must always hold to the difficult,
then that which now still seems to us
the most alien will become what we
most trust and find most faithful.
– Rainer Maria Rilke
Viriya: Persistence; energy
[The pāramīs] are the noble qualities such as giving, etc., accompanied by
compassion and skillful means, and untainted by craving, conceit, and views.
Viriya: Persistence; energy. One of the ten perfections (pāramīs), the five
faculties (bala; see bodhi-pakkhiya-dhammā), and the five strengths/dominant
factors (indriya; see bodhi-pakkhiya-dhammā). [Viriya, or energy, is the fifth of the
ten perfections, preceded by the development of generosity, virtue,
renunciation, and wisdom; and followed by patience, truthfulness, determination,
loving-kindness, and equanimity.]
The perfection of [Viriya, or] energy is bodily and mental work for the welfare of
others, accompanied by compassion and skillful means…
[Viriya, or] Energy has the characteristic of striving; its function is to fortify;
its manifestation is indefatigability; an occasion for the arousing of energy,
or a sense of spiritual urgency, is its proximate cause.
From Access to Insight (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/)
Framing Question, for Discussion:
How has Viriya, or energy, impelled you forward on the path of practice?
Before opening for discussion, Philip played Stevie Wonder’s hit Higher Ground.
“This is like my second chance for life, to do something or to do more, and to value the fact that I am alive.”
~ Stevie Wonder