Greetings,

This month we will be exploring Right Effort which are the 4 right exertions. In English effort can be thought of as a physical force or striving. Sama Vayama (Right Effort) is something far simpler. The effort necessary to shift from our grasping/clinging nature to stillness. And remember Sama is pointing to harmonious. So we are looking for a harmonious exertion that shifts us away from grasping. The right type of effort is based upon your interest in shifting away from grasping, which leads to continuity of mindfulness and relaxing the mind. The wrong type of effort (that which is not harmonious) is based upon striving for results, which will lead to greater frustration and mental torment. Cultivating a skillful relationship with effort is very important to a strong mental foundation for the path.

Right effort always begins in the present moment. In each moment you are discerning what is skillful and unskillful and what is possibly both. Second, we stay within the 4 frames that cultivate right effort. These are not the actual exertions, these 4 frames represent attitudes that we exert effort within. They are 1) Generate Desire (maintain an upbeat attitude), 2) Endeavor (a willingness to practice; don't be afraid to fail), 3) Activate Persistence (a willingness to renew and refresh your efforts), and 4) Uphold & Exert Your Intent (this is a willingness to begin again and again). If you're in the right frame of mind, then your efforts will cultivate the skillful shift from grasping to release. I chose the picture below because it best represents what I'm trying to say. Our life is busy with all kinds of twists and turns just like this frame. Within this busy life, the above 4 attitudes frame our practice, which is represented by the 4 lines that create the box in the middle of the picture. Within that attitude box, we practice right effort.

Right effort is broken up into 4 exertions. First, there is abandoning arisen unskillfulness. I always start with abandoning arisen unskillfulness, mostly because this is what I always notice. We need to let go of a lot of habit energy that has built up. Abandoning is not aversion, it is more like food left on your plate. You were interested in it, but now you are no longer interested. Second, there is guarding against (preventing) the arising of unskillfulness. Here we are preventing the arising of unskillfulness. I have found that a lot of this is environmental. When we're tired, hungry, stressed and anxious, we have less capacity to prevent unskillful habits from coming forward. Cultivating mindfulness will increase our ability to prevent the arising of unskillfulness. Third is cultivating (developing skillfulness that has not arisen. Here we began to establish mindfulness. We balance this with cultivating metta and cultivating present moment awareness. We are bringing together body and mind. The more they are together, the more skillful our actions become. Fourth is sustaining arisen skillfulness. This is about recognizing skillful actions and dwelling on our good conduct. The more dwell on our skillful actions, the more likely they will become habitual.

Sama Vayama (right effort) is about practicing with subtle energy. Any kind of force or will-power is too coarse. We are developing a way to move within the nature of a present moment that is constantly changing and impermanent. A changing nature that moves in and out of what we want/like and what we don’t want/don’t like. We are cultivating a different type of exertion. We want to move with the freshness or immediacy of now. You are learning to recognize what is skillful and what is unskillful in order to move towards that which is skillful and away from that which is unskillful. We don't do this conceptually or intellectually. We're learning to do this immediately. That immediacy comes from our intention. Intention is a strange phenomenon. It doesn’t seem to do anything but intention is felt in the present moment. It can seem like just another thought, but it is not focused on the future. When intention is combined with right effort, it moves, shifts, and rearranges conduct. It becomes more than just another thought; it becomes the power you need to keep going.

This month we will be exploring some of the pitfalls we encounter with right effort at home and how to overcome them.

With a deep bow,
Tuere