Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [123]
As the Zen master Dogen once wrote:
To study the Buddha’s way is to study the self;
To study the self is to transcend the self.
To transcend the self is to be enlightened by all things.
To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barrier
between self and others.
STEP SIX
RIGHT EFFORT
A Passion for Enlightenment
With sustained effort and sincerity
Discipline and self-control
The wise become like islands
Which no flood can overwhelm.
—FROM THE DHAMMAPADA (SAYINGS OF THE BUDDHA)
There is no word for Buddhist in the Tibetan language. The word used is nangba, which means insider. This term is not about exclusion. It’s a way of describing those who look inward for what they are seeking. “Insiders” are not seeking refuge in anything that can be found externally; they are looking for the kind of existential meaning that can only be found within. Through this sixth step on the Noble Eight-Fold Path, we become “insiders,” committed to doing the genuine inner work—with energy, discernment, and love.
It’s interesting that Right Effort is considered part of meditation training (samadhi). It reminds us that meditation is dynamic, not passive. It tells us that Right Effort really means spiritual effort. We are working to elevate ourselves, trying to develop more wholesome mind states, while gently striving to go deeper and live more fully. Through this effort we are opening and awakening our hearts and minds, body and soul.
When Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” the sentence struck such a profound chord of truth that even now, more than two thousand years after Socrates’ death, these words continue to resound. It takes sincere spiritual effort to examine our lives and work at cultivating ourselves. Through introspection, prayer, and contemplation—mindfulness and awareness practices—we utilize the timeless, tried and true, effective inner science of spiritual awakening and transformation. This is how Bodhisattvas—past, present, and future—do their productive Dharma farming, bringing forth the beautiful flowers for the entire world to enjoy.
EFFORT AND INSPIRATION
DRIVE THE SPIRITUAL PATH
Effort is defined and expressed in so many different ways: exertion, perseverance, courage, self-discipline, diligence, consistency, patience—the words seem almost endless. Because we all have different spiritual paths, we are each going to be called upon to exert different kinds and degrees of effort. What looks easy for one person is difficult for another. And since we have all been conditioned in different ways, our senses, propensities, and personal histories pull us each into different spiritual arenas. It is a karmic principle that we usually go with what we know; it takes effort to change our patterns. For example, every day, Doug, a recovering alcoholic, exerts enormous spiritual effort not only in avoiding liquor, but also in trying to undo the mistakes that his heedless behavior caused in the past. He is struggling to rebuild relationships with his children, parents, and siblings; he is also trying to develop satisfying friendships and relationships that don’t resemble the ones from his past.
Every morning, Maggie starts her day with an hour of meditation and quiet reflection. She is also making a prodigious effort to read and learn more about Buddhism. In the evening after work, she takes classes in yoga and tai-chi. She does this because she wants to change. Like Doug, she also hopes to make new friends and would like to find a romantic partner who shares her spiritual interests. People joke about meditation nights at the local meditation center as being the “singles bar-do.” Maggie has begun to truly love the meditation group she meets with once a week, and she has made several new friends.
Although she has an exhausting career in sales, Jane volunteers for two overnights a month in a homeless shelter in addition to