This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. It feels really good to be here with all of you this evening as we get very close to the end of summer. Yeah, and then many changes. So what I wanted to talk about tonight is practicing with right effort or joyful effort. But before I get into that, I want to set it in a bit of a broader context. Maybe kind of take the scenic route through some of my favorite teachings from the Polycanon. So the Dhammapada... is a collection of verses from the earliest period of Buddhism in India.

[01:01]

And the verses describe a path of practice that leads to liberation, and they speak to the peace and freedom that is possible. The opening verse of the Dhammapada is, All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a peaceful mind, and happiness follows like a never-departing shadow." This first emphasizes the power of the mind in shaping our lives and the importance of our actions. Each person has to make their own effort.

[02:05]

It's up to each of us what we make of our lives. And change, transformation, and liberation are possible. And this is the third noble truth. the cessation of suffering or the transformation of suffering is possible. So then the verse goes on to say, speak or act. So what we say and what we do and corrupt is the translation. I don't know what the original was. Impure translations are like a lack of Moral sense, which I understand is a lack of connection and compassion with other human beings. And a lack of right understanding. So the hindrances, all the veils that get in the way.

[03:09]

Not seeing or acting with clarity and concern, not only for others, but for self as well. And I love that image as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. Imagine that the ox is being guided by a person, by a human being, leading the ox up and down the fields. And the ox is pulling the cart and the wheels just follow right where the ox goes and often the mind is compared to our sense of self and then the body is compared to like a horse or an ox. So I see this as pointing toward how the mind leads our actions and they just follow one right after the other. speak or act with a peaceful mind and happiness follows like a never-departing shadow.

[04:23]

It never goes away. It's always right there, right there with you. Such a different feeling from the plodding ox that's just kind of going along in the dirt. But here's a shadow that just never leaves us, this beautiful reflection. And To give a little context for the Buddha's time, what he's saying is that the universe and human beings are not just subject to randomness of the universe. And the only way you can get out of that is by propitiating the beings or the workings of the invisible world with offerings. But there is cause and effect. There is lawfulness in our world. and we can understand it, and we can participate it, and we can move with it. So this cause and effect, the Dharma, is the true law.

[05:29]

There's this, then that. So, in order to be able to put this into practice, we have to be able to discern what's wholesome and what's unwholesome states of mind, speech and actions. We might not always know, but we do need continual inquiry and refinement of beneficial versus harmful. This is why it's practice. There's this continual learning and growth and development. It never ends. The Buddha said many times, I teach only suffering and the cessation of suffering. And I really like Thich Nhat Hanh's transformation. Thich Nhat Hanh's translation. I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering. That feels really accurate to me. And of course, the Buddha's first teaching was the Four Noble Truths.

[06:39]

And in the Four Noble Truths, We're talking about cause and effect in these two pairs. They're very similar to the opening verses of the Dhammapada. So, first there's suffering, unsatisfactoriness, that's out of balance feeling. And there's a cause. There's a cause for this arising. And the cause is thirst, or clinging, or how we relate with what arises. starts with the effect and then states the cause. And then the third is this possibility of transformation, this good news that life is not preordained to be suffering. It could be another way. We could be another way. We could experience a little differently. Dogen in Bendawa says, Although this inconceivable Dharma is abundant in each person, it is not actualized without practice, and it is not experienced without realization.

[07:50]

Although this inconceivable Dharma is abundant in each person, it is not actualized without practice, and it is not experienced without realization. So how? How do we do that? So that's the fourth noble truth, the path of practice, the Eightfold Path. Which brings us now to right effort, which is the sixth step in the Eightfold Path. The word in Sanskrit is virya, which is a quality of energy, the enthusiasm to undertake virtuous actions. Virya is specifically about virtuous actions. Some local ones that occurred to me are being generous, volunteering for zendo jobs and work circle, and helping them live the town trip.

[08:53]

And I think we all know the difference in feeling. Maybe when we first got here, it's like, I'll do it, I'll do it. that may get lost over time and tiredness and heat and repetition. And then often new people come and their hands go up, just wanting to participate, wanting to be part of this mandala of joyful effort together. So it's that kind of energy. So Thich Nhat Hanh, in the heart of the Buddhist teachings, He has a chapter on what he calls right diligence. Right diligence or right effort is the kind of energy that helps us realize the Noble Eightfold Path. If we are diligent for possessions, sex or food, that is wrong diligence. If we work round the clock for profit or fame or to run away from our suffering, that is wrong diligence also.

[09:57]

From the outside, it may appear that we are diligent, but it is not right diligence. The same can be true of our meditation practice. We may appear diligent in our practice, but if it takes us farther from reality or from those we love, it is wrong diligence. When we practice sitting and walking meditation in ways that cause our body and mind to suffer, our effort is not right diligence and is not based on right view. It is not because we practice hard that we can say that we are practicing right diligence. It is not because we practice hard that we can say that we are practicing right diligence." Then he goes on to say, the fourfold right diligence is nourished by joy and interest. If your practice does not bring you joy, You are not practicing correctly. The Buddha asked the monk, Sona, is it true that before you became a monk, you were a musician?

[11:05]

Sona replied that it was so. The Buddha asked, what happens if the string of your instrument is too loose? When you pluck it, there will be no sound, Sona replied. Oh, what happens when the string is too taut? It will break. The Buddha said, the practice of the way is the same. Maintain your health. Be joyful. Do not force yourself to do things you cannot do. I love the kindness of Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching and practice and the practicality of it. I also think of Virya as the the joyful energy to wholeheartedly pursue what Suzuki Roshi called the heart's inmost request. Not just feeling this longing, but actually embarking on the path to realize it, to make it real for ourselves.

[12:13]

So virya is considered a mental state that is essential to practice. It appears on multiple lists of the numerical lists of factors conducive to awakening in the polycanon, one of the many, many lists, the five spiritual faculties, the seven factors of awakening in the paramitas, and very yet counters the hindrance of sloth or laziness. But isn't energy something that we either have or we don't have? how can we practice right effort? How can we cultivate right effort? So the practice part of it is that the Buddha taught the four right exertions or efforts. One is the energy and the other is the practice part. Virya is the quality of energy and the other is the practices. So of the four right efforts,

[13:20]

The first two are related to practicing with unwholesome, harmful states of mind. And the second two are about how to practice with wholesome, beneficial states of mind. So the first, and it's interesting because these are, I think these were originally presented as kind of a linear sort of progression through these four, but you can start anywhere and a practice loops back and forth continuously, and they interrelate also. But nonetheless, the first is overcoming or abandoning unwholesome, harmful states of mind that are already present. So you recognize that you're angry or depressed or anxious or having ill will or whatever it is. that there's an unwholesome, harmful state of mind that has already arisen.

[14:26]

How do you practice with it? So first, being aware of your state of mind, whether it's harmful or beneficial. If we're not aware, it's just kind of going on at the background mode, then it's very hard to do anything about it. So first, awareness. And then clearly observing the arising, sustaining, and passing away of various states of mind and body as cosmic conditions change. Usually we notice things when we're kind of in the middle of it. We suddenly go, I'm losing it? Oh, I'm losing it. How did I get here? I have no idea. And it feels like it will last forever. And then at some point you realize, oh, earlier I was really having a hard time. And I... I neither know how I got into that state or how I came out of it, like what shifted things one way or the other. So being able to notice those is really helpful.

[15:33]

And strangely, although these states of mind are often really painful, some of them are not, some of them we feel kind of weirdly satisfying. But regardless of whether they're painful or familiar, it can be really hard to let them go because we tend to hold on to them. They're very familiar. So an example of this is like, so we're trying to let these go, basically, and overcome or let go of these states of mind. So if you're trying to train a dog to drop a stick, this is challenging. especially this first trick, right? First, the dog has to have some understanding of what you're trying to do here, that you want the dog to drop the stick. Because if you try to grab the stick, the dog is like, oh good, it's a game. We'll hold on harder. And then once the dog has some idea of what you want it to do, then you have to get it to let go.

[16:45]

Which is... still be very challenging. I want the stick. And interestingly, even when dogs have some understanding that you want them to drop the stick because then you're going to throw it and we're going to play fetch and we're going to have so much fun, they won't drop the stick. My stick. I've got it. I'm going to hold on. So we can be like that. So Practicing with just dropping it, learning how to let go, is very powerful and very subtle. Usually we think about doing something, not about not doing something. So the not doing is further deepened in the next step of the four right efforts.

[17:47]

which is guarding against or the non-arising of unwholesome, harmful states of mind that are not present, not yet present. And usually this is, I think of this as like, it's sort of hovering there as a possibility. It's hanging out. You could go there, and you're going to choose not to. This is such a great time of year to practice that because... We don't have quite so much energy. When we have lots of energy, we can just go to all kinds of crazy places in our minds. But at a certain point, it's just like, you know, really, I don't have it in me to get upset about that. And just seeing that possibility can be very liberating. So again, there has to be some discernment. Oh, there's a possibility that I could follow this impulse to be angry, jealous, greedy, whatever it is.

[18:56]

So it's like, oh, there's a possibility there, and I'm not going to take it. My teacher, Sergeant Roshi, used to say, don't take offense, even when it's offered. Someone holds out, here's some offense for you. Oh, no thank you. Just not take it up. So there's a story called Autobiography in Five Acts, which some of you may know. It was popular on, appeared on many refrigerators at a certain time. It's a little cut up. So it goes like this. Chapter one, I walk out of my house. There's a giant hole in the middle of the street. I fall in. It's not my fault. I don't know how I got here. It takes me a really long time to get out. Chapter two.

[19:58]

I walk out of my house. I walk down the street. There's a giant hole in the middle of the street. I think I recognize it. Looks familiar. I still fall in. It's not my fault. Still takes me a really long time, but maybe not quite as long a time to get out. Chapter 3, I walk out of my house, the hole in the middle of the street, I see it, I fall in, I recognize that somehow I have something to do with this. I have some responsibility in falling, I'm participating somehow in falling into this hole. And I get out a little quicker. Chapter 4, I walk out of the house, the hole in the middle of the street, I walk around the hole. And chapter five, I walk down a different street. And being a good Zen person, I've added chapters six and seven where you might dive into the hole and jump out or go in to help other people and play around in there and then jump out again.

[21:14]

And no hole and no... suffering and all of that. But I found that story so helpful that particularly when I was on chapter three, I see the hole, I fall in, and I know that I'm responsible. I can't just blame it elsewhere completely. And I don't know how to stop it. That's the worst part. I don't know how to not go there. Not yet. But realizing that that's just one part of the path has been very freeing and allows me to not be fighting with where I am. Because it's, you know, there are many different holes, you know? It's not like there's a hole. There's always new holes to discover and explore and relate. So on the flip side, cultivating or developing

[22:17]

wholesome, beneficial states of mind that are not yet present. So what is wholesome can actually fill the place of what is unwholesome. So they can be an antidote. They can be like opposing states of mind or emotions because we can't experience these opposites at the same time. So we can cultivate one and it can simultaneously help us overcome the other. And just like guarding against harmful states of mind, a support for practice is being aware of, attending to, giving attention to wholesome states of mind. Because whatever we pay attention to grows, gets larger, occupies more of our attention, our awareness, our creativity. our stories, the grooves that we wear in our mind, they get fuller, deeper.

[23:19]

What ones do we want to cultivate? And there are so many positive states of mind on offer within the Buddhist canon to cultivate things like gratitude and patience and generosity, love and kindness, compassion, equanimity, sympathetic joy, and of course, virya is itself and to cultivate this enthusiasm for practice and virtuous deeds. And if we develop one aspect of the path, many others simultaneously develop because it begins just generating more that is positive, just as negative thoughts and states of mind just start attracting all their little friends to have an unhappy party rather than a celebration. an old Dharma friend who deeply studied Shantideva's guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life for many years, and she was really familiar with chapter six on patience, because she's kind of a hothead.

[24:42]

And she suffered a lot with her anger, and other people suffered a lot with her anger, so she really wanted to learn how to practice differently with it, and she really studied that chapter on patience, because that's the antidote that was presented to anger. And she suspects that Shantideva also had a lot of difficulty with anger himself because it's by far the longest chapter in the Bodhisattva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. So whatever our challenges are when we work to overcome them and cultivate other qualities. This is our Dharma gate. This can be the Dharma gate that we know so intimately that we can share it with others and it becomes a gift. Similarly, Sharon Salzberg talks about doing metta practice many years ago as a concentration practice and she struggled with so many negative thoughts and

[25:56]

Eventually, she dropped something, and she would ordinarily have been really hard on herself. And she realized that even though she hadn't seen any progress, so to speak, in her practice, in that moment, she didn't give herself a hard time. She's like, oh, wow, it works. So noticing and appreciating what is going well for us is just so important that we don't miss it. And finally, the fourth one is sustaining or maintaining wholesome beneficial states of mind that arise and are sustained for extended periods of time becoming more continuous rather than being like blips of happiness that becomes more of a settled state and we can fall out of it periodically that we can find our way back into more settled ways of being. I kind of think of it as

[26:57]

maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly, it actually takes some effort, takes some work to do that. And I remember in college, I was not eating or sleeping or exercising very well, and my body was very unhappy, and I was too. And I tried one thing or another, and it didn't seem to make much difference. I finally decided, okay, I'm gonna do all the things that I think that I should do at once, I'm going to give it a shot for two weeks. And if I don't feel a whole lot better, forget it. I'm not going to worry about any of it. And I was really kind of disappointed, in a way, at the time. But I felt great. I realized, OK, I'm going to have to work. If I want to feel good, I'm going to have to do something about it. And I think I was supported in that by the fact that when I was growing up, We lived kind of near a bay.

[27:59]

And every morning, most days of the year, there would be this older woman who walked down the street in her bathing suit and went swimming in the bay just for exercise. And I thought, I'm going to be like that when I'm older. About 10 years later, I realized I'm not like that now, much less older. But that really planted a seed. And it's been a slow practice to... do things that take care of my body and my health and my practice. But it's grown steadily, I would say, and I no longer worry so much about getting off of it because I'm anchored securely enough in it to want to come back to it. It pulls me back. And then just a few notes on... practicing with the four right efforts. One of the things I like about this particular practice is it's always available.

[29:04]

Just like following the breath. The breath is always available. It's always right there. Because there's always something that's arising and we're going to find at least one of those four things to relate to. It's going to be a positive, you know, a a difficult state, an unwholesome state that's already there, or something we want to cultivate. One of those could have some relevance. And sometimes when I'm feeling a little fuzzy in my practice, it helps me orient. It helps me give a focus. Most of us, I think, have a tendency to focus on two particular factors out of the four, two particular of the four right efforts, specifically on overcoming unwholesome factors and developing wholesome factors. In other words, we tend to focus on the bad things that we're currently doing and the good things that we're not doing.

[30:11]

That's where our minds tend to go, these kind of negatives, critical things. For most people, not true for everyone. But... our minds tend to be wired for the negative as a survival strategy, which doesn't always serve us so well. But that just points to the importance of counterbalancing these tendencies so that we also attend specifically to what's going well in our practice, what we appreciate about our practice, what we're cultivating, so that we're contributing to making more continuity of those states of mind and taking them just as seriously as we often do the negative states of mind. When we do give our attention that way, it can feel like it develops its own life and becomes kind of three-dimensional in terms of practice, like a landscape that we can wander through.

[31:14]

I was thinking this is kind of like learning how to find the exit at Ikea. You go into Ikea and it goes on this long track through the entire store so that you have to go past every single display. There are ways to get out, but they're not so evident that you can take the shortcut and get out once you learn the ways to go. So we can learn little exit ramps. in our stuck places in practice. I want to close with a little bit from Suzuki Roshi on right effort. The most important point in our practice is to have right or perfect effort. Right effort directed in the right direction is necessary. If your effort is headed in the wrong direction, especially if you're not aware of this, it is diluted effort.

[32:21]

Our effort in our practice should be directed from achievement to non-achievement. Usually when you do something, you want to achieve something. You attach to some result. From achievement to non-achievement means to be rid of the unnecessary and bad results of effort. on to say, people ask what it means to practice zazen with no gaining mind. What kind of effort, what kind of effort is necessary for that kind of practice? People ask what it means to practice zazen with no gaining mind. What kind of effort is necessary for that kind of practice? The answer is effort to get rid of something extra from our practice. If some extra idea comes, you should try to stop it. You should remain in pure practice. That is the point toward which our effort is directed.

[33:25]

So try not to see something in particular. Try not to achieve anything special. You already have everything in your own pure quality. If you understand this ultimate fact, there is no fear. There may be some difficulty, of course, but there is no fear. That if your effort is in the right direction, then there is no fear of losing anything. Even if it is the wrong direction, if you are aware of that, you will not be deluded. There is nothing to lose. There is only the constant pure quality of right-backness. So... I find that the foundational teachings and practices of the Pali Canon can be such a good support for practice, can help us find a guide on the path.

[34:28]

Certainly my own early practice and still it was very, very supportive for me. And then to have Zen just pull the rug out under anything we might want to cling to. and let go now that we have some ground from which to operate. I think we have time for one question, if anyone has any. Oh, Mark. Sorry, I couldn't see. In the beginning, you mentioned it was right diligence and wrong diligence, I think. Yeah, distinguishing when you're putting your effort in the wrong way.

[35:32]

And there were some things that I thought of. corresponding, you know, to the wrong side and the right side. And as I heard that, I thought to myself, oh, that's a lot easier to do here at Tazahara, or easier to practice, I mean. Like, just for example, you know, making money to pay rent or something, get to tell some of those network things where everybody's going to have a career to go for it. Well, as a monastery, this is set up to be a place to support practice. That's what everything is designed for as much as possible.

[36:38]

So yeah, that's great that you experience it that way. When we're out in the world, it requires more effort, for sure. But I think the distinction, once my mother said something like, it seems like people used to want to make a living and now they want to make a killing. So there's taking care of our lives and those around us and it can be really challenging in this environment. But we can find to the best of our ability, a way of relating to the world that is wholesome and beneficial, even though many of the conditions that we're encountering in the world are not so wholesome and beneficial. But we can still find a way to be in that. That's the image of the lotus in muddy water. It's not like we won't be in pain, we won't suffer all of this.

[37:42]

It can be really difficult. but we can keep coming back to practice. We can keep coming back to how do we want to relate with this world? What do we want to bring forth for ourselves and for others? Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, Visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[38:17]

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