4. The Perfection of Joyful Effort

The fourth perfection is that of joyful effort. The concept of having to work to get some where in this life is a bitter pill to swallow, we would much rather enjoy life with all its rich diversity than ‘work’, but as the saying goes “No pain, no gain.” So it is with Buddhism, following the Buddha’s path is a richly rewarding experience; however, at times we have to work at it. Simple!

It has been said that indulging in the sensual pleasures of this world is like “licking honey off the blade of a razor; it is the source of a little sweetness and it slices up the tongue”. That is not to say that following the Buddha’s path is dull, dreary and monotonous, on the contrary. If we change our perspective, then, when the going gets tough and we feel like giving up, consider that we are being presented with a great opportunity to practice, our effort then becomes joyful.

In all our daily activities joyful effort helps us to keep practicing and encourages us in times of weakness to keep trying. We should live our lives with joyful effort. Each moment should be a moment lived with an eye toward living it fully and completely. Sometimes it takes all of our strength to "just sit" for ten minutes in meditation, or find the right response to a loved one, or set aside the temptation to cheat on our vows.

Generally speaking, there are three aspects of joyous effort:
Joyful effort in following Dharma practice
Joyful effort of continuous practice
Joyful effort in not giving up

If we recognize that the main obstacles to the development of our efforts are the different levels of laziness, i.e. the laziness that comes with procrastination, the laziness that stem’s from indolence and laziness that comes from a sense of inferiority. Then we can make progress along the path we choose to follow and eventually gain higher realizations. We can over come discouragement, remember we, like the Giant Redwood grow from a single seed.

Breathe deep, take up the challenge, change your life