Viriya

The Buddha defined viriya as application to four things.

The first is if an unwholesome state of mind arises, one recognizes it first, and then one strives to overcome it. For example, if anger arises, one recognizes “I am angry,” and then one strives to overcome that anger. The next aspect is if an unwholesome state of mind hasn’t yet arisen, then one strives to make sure that it doesn’t arise. It’s a preventative.

And in that example of anger, it’s often the case that we need to develop loving-kindness (which is the antidote to anger) before it arises. It is very difficult to spread loving-kindness when we are already angry, isn’t it? So the preventative is very important. You’ll find that if you develop loving-kindness when the mind is at ease, then that allows the mind to develop strength and prevent anger from arising.

If the mind gains strength and develops this quality of preventing unwholesome states to arise, that leads on to the next aspect of Right Effort, which is encouraging wholesome states which haven’t yet arisen to arise. One puts forth effort to purposely arouse a thought of loving-kindness in the mind.

If one is not thinking a thought of compassion, one intentionally arouses a thought of compassion in the mind. If one is not thinking a thought of renunciation or letting go, one purposely arouses that in the mind. And when these qualities have arisen, the final aspect is to sustain them: make much of thoughts of loving-kindness, compassion or renunciation; rejoice in them; make them great, infinite, immeasurable.

Those qualities then become very strong. This is the effort of the mind: the earnestness to create wholesome qualities, to make them grow; and to recognize unwholesome qualities, abandon them, and not allow them to arise again.

The next faculty is Right Mindfulness, and mindfulness has two aspects: an ability to recall and the ability to know what one is doing. One remembers, for example, “I am watching the breath”, “I am watching this out-breath”, “I am watching this in-breath”. And then it has this ability to remember and recall what is the purpose of watching the breath, why one is doing it.

Often people are told when meditating to watch the breath at the tip of the nose, but actually many people find this is a distraction. If you look in the suttas, the Buddha never tells us to watch the breath in a physical place. He says to know that you are breathing in and to know that you are breathing out. The important thing is to note it in time. So, “Am I breathing in at this time, or am I breathing out at this time”?

Mindfulness also knows its goal. It recalls why we’re watching the breath: so that we’re knowing the breath, in each moment in time, for the purpose of calming the mind. But to achieve calm, it’s also important to approach meditation with the right attitude. One has to be content to watch the breath or else you can’t watch the breath; the mind will go elsewhere.

So this sense of contentment is important because it composes the mind.

This reflection by Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo is from the book The Spiritual Faculties, (pdf) pp. 3-4.