The Buddhist Path to Enlightenment (study)
by Dr Kala Acharya | 2016 | 118,883 words
This page relates ‘Psychic Power of Effort (Viriyiddhipada or Virya)’ of the study on the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Buddha was born in the Lumbini grove near the present-day border of India and Nepal in the 6th century B.C. He had achieved enlightenment at the age of thirty–five under the ‘Bodhi-tree’ at Buddha-Gaya. This study investigates the teachings after his Enlightenment which the Buddha decided to teach ‘out of compassion for beings’.
3.2.2. Psychic Power of Effort (Vīriyiddhipāda or Vīrya)
[Full title: The Fourfold Psychic Power (cattāro iddhipāda)—(2): The Psychic Power of Effort (Vīriyiddhipāda or Vīrya)]
The Vīriyippāda is explained in the Chanda sutta under the following:
“Bhikkhus, if a monk gains concentration, gains one-pointedness of mind, relying on desire (chanda), this is called concentration due to effort (vīriya-samādhi).
He brings for the desire for the non-arising of unarisen evil unwholesome states. He makes an effort, rouses energy, applies his mind and strives;
he brings for the desire for the abandoning of arisen evil unwholesome states. He makes an effort, rouses energy, applies his mind and strives;
he brings for the desire for the arising of unarisen wholesome states. He makes an effort, rouses energy, applies his mind and strives;
he brings for the desire for the maintaining of arisen wholesome states. He makes an effort, rouses energy, applies his mind and strives—there are called the forces of exertion (padhānasaṅkhāra).
Thus, there are this desire and the concentration due to desire and these forces of exertion—this, bhikkhu, is called the psychic powers accomplished in concentration due to the desire and these forces of exertion (these forces and abandoning).[1]
Vīriya means sammāpadhāna-vīriya together with its four characteristics. A person with this vīriya is infused with the thought that the aim can be attained by energy and effort. He is not discouraged even though it is said to him that he must undergo great hardships. He is not discouraged even though he actually has to undergo great hardships. He is not discouraged even though it is said to him that he must put forth effort for many days, months, and years. He is not discouraged even though he actually has to put forth effort for such long periods.
Those who are weak in energy recoil from their task when confronted with work requiring great energy and effort. They shrink when told that they will have to stay apart from friends and associates. They shrink from the prospect of the necessity to be frugal in sleep and food. They shrink from the prospect of long periods of concentration.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
SN 51.13/5: p. 268