I AM GRATEFUL to have come upon a path that asked me to “buck up,” to throw myself in completely, to take my yearnings for awakening seriously, and to commit to an arduous road. I am grateful because this is how life is. Life is vigorous. My teacher didn’t ask me to give up family, job, or commitment to reforming society; instead, he invited me into my own life of striving, into the dynamic force of embodiment, whatever shape that might take.
The practice of virya paramita, or vigor, is best when it is straightforward—not reliant on a clear idea about what, how, or why, but enacted directly. Too often, a clear idea feels sufficient, and that sense of sufficiency gets in the way straightforward doing. Direct enacting reveals the depths that our figuring mind doesn’t even consider. The perfection of vigor is the practice of this straightforwardness, both the subject and the mode of inquiry.
Buddhism has always prized great effort. The legend of the Buddha centers on his great effort to know and liberate suffering, to win victory over greed, hate, and delusion. Following his example and that of countless ancestors since, we put ourselves forward on the path. We don’t just think abstractly about what might be true—we put ourselves in fully, unreservedly, to uncover the noble truth of suffering. This total commitment is the only way to become a servant of liberation.
The practice of vigor is here, in this present step. How do we walk right now? What result is here, immediately, in the step
