Right Effort (Pali: samma vayama; Sanskrit: samyak vyayama) is traditionally listed as the sixth element of the Noble Eightfold Path. It is also known as "Right Diligence". (See The Fourth Noble Truth: the Noble Eightfold Path.)
The Saccavibhanga Sutta, the Magga-vibhanga Sutta, and the Maha-satipatthana Sutta are three different early Buddhist scriptures written in Pali. In each of them, Shariputra, one of the historical Buddha's foremost disciples, essentially says of Right Action:1
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And what, monks, is right effort?
(i) There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (ii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen.(iii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (iv) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, and culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen:This, monks, is called right effort. |
At her About.com webpage Right Effort: Part of the Eightfold Page, Barbara O'Brien gives an apt interpretation of this:
"As recorded in the Pali Canon, the Buddha taught there are four aspects to Right Effort. Very simply --
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In my webpage Right Intention it is pointed out that most of our intentions occur in the form of habitual thoughts. We can abandon our bad habits and cultivate our good habits through the practice of Right Mindfulness coupled with Right View but this requires some effort. That effort is what the Buddha calls Right Effort.
Ringu Tulku, in his book Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha, writes:2
| "To counteract our habits, it is therefore necessary to exert a certain amount of effort. We set our mindfulness and awareness against them. Doing this again and again, we will carry the practice of Dharma into our daily lives. There is no special technique to apply. It is simply done through mindfulness and effort. How much we practice in this way depends entirely on ourselves. As has been said earlier, we ourselves are the practice. There is no other practice apart from ourselves, and practice is not assigned to a special time. The whole day is practice. We constantly face all kinds of difficulties and emotions. Whenever we manage to be mindful in dealing with these, we practice. In this way we can turn each aspect of everyday life into practice." |
In the same webpage, Barbara O'Brien goes on to say:
| "You might think Right Effort means practicing hard, but that's not necessarily so. Do not forget the Middle Way, between extremes. Don't force yourself to endure aesthetic practices or push yourself to exhaustion. If your practice becomes a 'chore,' that's a problem. Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says, 'The Fourfold Right Diligence is nourished by joy and interest. If your practice does not bring you joy, you are not practicing correctly.'" |
Thich Nhat Hanh, in his book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, writes:3
| "The practice of mindful living should be joyful and pleasant. If you breathe in and out and feel joy and peace, that is Right Diligence. If you suppress yourself, if you suffer during your practice, it probably is not Right Diligence. Examine your practice, see what brings you joy and happiness of a sustained kind. Try to spend time with a Sangha, brothers and sisters who are creating a field of mindful energy that can make your practice easy. Work together with a teacher and with a friend to transform your suffering into compassion, peace, and understanding, and do it with joy and ease." |