My student is coming along fine. We’re trading English lessons for Lao lessons. We had words the other day about her lackadaisical attitude. “Having words” in the Lao culture entails a slightly raised voice and a stern glare – there is no flailing of arms, no shouting. As much as I try to restrain the cut-throat methods I learned building skyscrapers for Local 59 and again in the brokerage houses of Wall Street, it is a learning experience with which I struggle.
Although my method was a bit more harsh than my student is accustomed, I reminded her of our agreement; I will teach her as long as she is diligent with her studies. She had failed to do any lessons in her workbook and was taking a nonchalant position towards our podcast projects. She was enjoying the business lunches, but not consuming the work with the same gusto. Her effort was dismally lacking.
The 5th of the 10 Buddhist Perfections is effort, aka diligence, aka energy, aka vigor. Without pulling out the Buddhism card, I was able to impress upon my student the importance of effort. It did not take much convincing. Viriya parami is an innate quality in human beings. However, we also have a tendency to do just the opposite… to be lazy.
In Christianity, one of the ten 10 mortal sins is sloth (specifically it is spiritual slot but I’m taking a slight liberty). My knowledge of Islam, Shinto, Baha’i and the many other world religions is not deep enough to say for sure, but I’m guessing they too have something to say about effort and sloth. Effort on one side, sloth on the other, this is a coin we all toss everyday. We struggle with it sometimes, but mostly, I see an underestimation of how important this choice is.
If we show exertion, energy, nisus – all part of the effort clan – we are saying to the world and to ourselves, “I am worth it. I have value. I am a life worth living.” This is the shine that gets jobs and promotions and happy marriages and a little slack on a bad day.
If we show apathy, neglect, lack of ambition – the kissin’ cousins of sloth – we are saying “Do not care for me, my thoughts or my actions for, certainly, if I do not care for myself, I am of no benefit to you.” These are the faces that get downsized first; they beg for money and offer nothing in return; they sit all day on the couch wondering why they are sad, out of shape and unemployed.
Every single one of us has the tools to turn this coin heads up. It is one of the easiest choices to make. Is could possibly be one of the easiest parami to practice. Practice of effort can have astounding results. My student is now doing fantastic and I am thrilled with her progress. All it took was a little bit of effort.
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