Roshi continued our study of the Paramitas this week.  Before proceeding, however, he felt it necessary to make one more comment on the Paramita of Patience we covered last week.  Roshi met with a group of friends this past week.  One person in the group seemed intent on sharing all of their myriad “life challenges.”  These challenges started with chronic physical ailments, but quickly moved on to relationship and professional issues as well.  Social norms dictate that we are supposed to make light of these issues and try to make the suffering person laugh it off.  However, is this really skillful?  Roshi clearly did not think mirth was skillful in this situation, rather the better approach to take is “tough love.”  “STOP COMPLAINING – who cares?  None of these issues matter!!”  Roshi was not being cruel – actually the exact opposite.  The friend was not acting skillfully – they were only increasing their anger by constantly complaining.

 

Roshi noted that our society seems to be mired in this slow burning rage and that it is destroys everything including ourselves.  Perhaps, this rage is all around our modern world because technology gives us so many opportunities to “talk” about the things which bother us.  In decades past, if you were out with a group of friends, and you complained excessively about a politician and their policies, the friends would quickly find you boring.  Pretty soon, they would stop calling on you.  Today, we can complain endlessly on social media and find other angry people who simply amplify our anger.  Is it any wonder that all measures of happiness have declined over the past decade?

 

So what is the correct response to all the things in the world which cause hurt.  Roshi noted that it would have been unskillful to invoke the Dharma to his friends, but to the Sangha it makes perfect sense!  The way forward is the Paramita of Patience!  We need to understand that in most things, the problem is not totally your fault and you do not have a complete understanding of the situation causing you pain.  The skillful action is to have patience, reflect deeply, and gain proper perspective.  This gives the mind the proper time and space to choose the most appropriate action.

 

Tesshin Roshi next continued our discussions of the Paramitas by focusing on Virya which roughly translates as vigor.  Tesshin noted that translations are heavily affected by the value judgements of the culture making the translation, and this term is no exception.  In the west we look at a word like Virya and virility and physical strength come to mind.  However, as this concept moved into China and Korea the term became more subtle and morphed into perseverance and single mindedness.

 

Tesshin recounted that in Japan there is the practice of “Polishing Rice.”  When preparing rice in the Japanese style there is a process of repeated washing until the white color has completely disappeared.  Each time you clean the rice; something always rinses away.  Is the rice ever perfectly clean?  You could keep cleaning until there was no rice left!  So how much washing is enough?  What happens when we completely wash ourselves away?  Virya in the Zen tradition is exactly this practice except that the object of purification is our mind instead of the rice.  We polish over and over again – in a never-ending process.  

 

Like all the other Paramitas – Virya comes in three levels.  The first layer is about cultivating the energy of “Courage” to practice even when it is hard.  Can we give up all the excuses we use not to practice?  

“I am tired”

“My knees hurt!”

“I am just too busy!”

 

We should bring energy to our practice and not run away when things get hard.  When we start practice, we are all excited with the new forms and ideas.  This is like “spiritual fireworks.”  However, what happens when the excitement wears off?  How do we continue and not lose interest or give up?  We could simply continue to practice out of stubbornness.  The issue here is that pure “grit” will not sustain us during deep challenges in practice when we make little progress and we seem lost on the path.  Grit and determination are the death of spirituality as they turn what is essential and alive into yet another mundane task to be completed.  If we enter the Zendo because we feel it is expected or out of rote habit, we are simply wasting our time.  We need something different – namely Virya.  Tesshin likened this to “Enthusiastic Perseverance.”   

 

The second level of Virya is engagement in actual training and understanding.  As students we are constantly asking if we are “doing it right.”  In the beginning, we are NOT doing Zen, but are building the foundation of skills to do Zen.  We learn how to sit and concentrate.  Many students get discouraged at this point.  They think that after five meditation sessions, they should be enlightened.  Roshi likened this to training for a marathon by going out and buying a pair of sneakers.  That purchase is simply the first foundational step of a long training period to run the marathon.  Sitting properly on the cushion is the first necessary step in the journey of Zen.  We must approach these foundational steps with energy and determination, but not expect them to deliver some end in themselves.

 

The third level is sharing the benefits of practice in a skillful way.  Again, this is a common problem in beginning students.  Perhaps a student has an insight – they will then go share the “good news” with everyone from the office secretary to the mailman.  These people do not have the context of what this all means.  It goes right over their head.  However, our student also does not have the context as the initial insight has not matured.  

 

So how should one practice this third and highest form of Virya?  It is all about the energy you bring to other people.  Think about why you were attracted to practice in the first place.  Many times, it was because you were impressed with a teacher.  You could not describe it – it was simply how they were.  THIS is the energy which a mature practice brings to others.  As you deepen in practice, you will automatically affect other people and you will be practicing this third level of Virya.