A.Right Effort (Samma Vayama)
Right Effort is the endeavorto live a moral and
blameless life.
The four Right Efforts are classified as follows:
- The effort to overcome evil that has
alreadyarisen - The effort to avoid evil not yet arisen
- The effort to develop good not yet arisen
- The effort to promote the good that has
already arisen.
We should avoid evil and do good because evil
always brings anxiety, corruption and ill-repute
while good always brings peace, harmony and
nobility for beings.
Right Effort plays a very important part in
developing wisdom through cultivation of virtue
and mental discipline. Our deliverance is not
obtained by seeking refuge in others or by
offering prayers but by our own effort.
In everyone is found a rubbish heap of evil and a
storehouse of virtue. Like a good housekeeper
we should cleanse ourselves from the rubbish
and cultivate the virtue, latent or present.
B. Right Mindfulness (Samma Sati)Right Mindfulness is to be diligently attentive of
what happens to us and in us. It is to be mindful
of our thoughts, speech and actions.With mindfulness, we are less inclined to be
thoughtless and careless. We establish harmony
and peace by cultivating the alertness of the
mind and awareness of conduct.The most important discourse on
the development of mindfulness is the
Satipatthana Sutta, which is one of the most
unique and important features of Buddhism.In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha gave a full
explanation of the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness i.e. awareness of (a) the activities of
the body, (b) sensations or feelings, (c) the
activities of the mind, and (d) ideas, thoughts,
conceptions and things.The Buddha teaches us to observe and watch the
subjects mindfully with a view to penetrating
into their intrinsic nature and getting rid of
ignorance and defilements. We should see things
as they really are without the relative concepts
of "I", "mine", "he", "she" tainting our
perception.Look at things objectively as they arise, free from
assumptions, bias, prejudice and other
preconceived ideas. Being mentally removed
and uninfluenced by the object, we can see the
true picture of the object clearer and better than
as a subjective observer.When anything comes our way, we must watch,
observe, and be mindful of it objectively be it a
sight, a sound, a taste, a smell, a touch, a feeling
or a thought. Even when anger arises, don't think
"I'm angry", as if that anger belongs to us.
Be aware of the arising of anger and the state
of an angry mind and realize that it is
both impermanent and devoid of self.8