Details: John Bruna, spiritual director and primary teacher at the Way of Compassion Dharma Center, will lead the Center for Contemplative Research’s monthly Ghatika session. It will run for approximately 90 minutes. This session will include:
- An introduction to the concept of joyful effort, or vīrya, as conceived in the Buddhist tradition
- Guided 24-minute meditation session (ghatika)
- Q&A about incorporating joyful effort into our contemplative practice and socially engaged lives.
Saturday, November 9th, 10:00 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) 9 a.m. PDT / 12 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. Central European Time (CET)
Ways to attend:
- Online via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86066316034 (Meeting ID: 860 6631 6034)
- In-person at Miyo Samten Ling Hermitage at 10:00 a.m. MDT (1 Carmelite Way, Crestone, CO), in the chapel (the building with the bell tower)
Right now, in this very moment, we have the opportunity to create a meaningful life. In the Buddhist tradition, we refer to this opportunity a “rare and precious human birth,” favorable to Dharma practice. It is beyond measure and more precious than a wish-fulfilling gem.
While the mythical wish-fulfilling gem may grant your wishes and provide you with anything you desire, It cannot provide liberation or full enlightenment. In this life, conditions have ripened for us to have the complete path of liberation under our feet and the directions in our hands. These precise conditions come only once. Lama Tsong Khapa states: “Contemplate this and you will realize that all worldly activities are but winnowed chaff and night and day you must extract some essence of this life. I, a yogi, practiced this way. You, seeking liberation, should do the same.”
Whether we are Buddhist or not, when we become aware of what an incredible opportunity we have in this life, we naturally become more enthusiastic. We might begin a contemplative practice, seek out teachings, and engage in other practices that help us “extract the essence” of this life. However, all too often that initial enthusiasm fades into perseverance and lethargy. At times, we can let our Dharma practice fall to the wayside and take refuge in worldly concerns and all that our surrounding environment has to offer. Our practices and engagement in the Dharma can often ebb and flow between joyful effort and doubt. This is quite common, and I personally have experienced such ebbs and flows throughout my years of practice. Within the “six perfections,” the word vīrya is translated in a variety of ways—diligence, perseverance, enthusiastic perseverance, and joyful effort. You can see they all have a bit of a different flavor.
In our time together I would like to share some of the methods that I have cultivated in my own life to help overcome the three forms of laziness and transform perseverance into joyful effort, enthusiastically engaging in this rare and precious opportunity with all of the ups and downs that arise in samsara.
