Virya implies a kind of energetic perseverance, actively going the distance without succumbing to distraction or dismay. You have an aim and you hit your intended target, not some other thing. Think of the little engine that could, and did.
In virya there is a very strong sense urgency, like the undistracted mood of a grandmother pulling a child out of highway traffic (no compromises, you just get the kid out of there). Virya feels and sounds like this:
Get up and do it. Now do it. Up and doing it.
Just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep going.
Fall down, get up, keep going. Fall down, get up, keep going.
Just keep going. Just keep going. Keep going now.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
Keep going.
"Only go straight."
Virya finishes twelve-year isolation retreats. Virya completes the thousand-day kaihogyo. Virya raises the kids and heals the sick. This is virya expressed in action.
But virya can also be expressed in non-action, in the refusal to give in to a bad habit or to any kind of excess. Just keep going without a cigarette break. Just keep going without being drawn into a temper tantrum. Just keep going in your great work without sleeping in or daydreaming about whatever. In this sense, virya implies strength of character and commitment as it does vigorous or energetic activity. Both are expressions of the same category of wisdom, the perfection of virya or perseverance.
I think I can
ReplyDeleteI think I can
I think I can
My Son asked me a few years ago about mantra... what they are, how they work and why we use them.
The little engine that could was the example I used for him. "I think I can, I think I can!"
~ That engine has a good working understanding of the Paramitas. He is a cute little booger too ; )