Diligence is Declared to be The Chief

Monks, whatever beings there are - whether those without feet or those with two feet or those with four feet or those with many feet, whether consisting of form or formless, whether insightful, non-insightful, or neither insightful nor non-insightful - The Tathāgata the Arahant, The Perfectly Enlightened One, is declared to be the chief among them.

So too, whatever wholesome states there are, they are all rooted in diligence, merge upon diligence, and diligence is declared to be the chief among them.

When a Monk is diligent, it is to be predicted that he will develop and cultivate The Noble Eight Fold Path.

(The Tathāgata also made analogies of ‘diligence’ being the chief with the following:

• elephant’s footprint being the chief among footprints of all living beings;

• roof peak being the chief among all the rafters of a peaked house;

• black orris being the chief among all fragrant roots;

• red sandalwood being the chief among all fragrant heartwoods;

• jasmine being the chief among all fragrant flowers;

• Wheel-Turning Monarch being the chief among all petty Princes;

• radiance of the moon being the chief among the radiance of all the stars;

• the sun in autumn when the sky is clear and cloudless shines and beams and radiates;

• Kasian cloth being the chief among all woven cloths.)

(Reference: SN 45.139)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how diligence is the most important asset or quality of mind for a Practitioner on The Path to Enlightenment.

Without diligence to develop one’s life practice, a Practitioner would find it extremely difficult to progress on The Path to Enlightenment.

The unEnlightened mind will experience sluggishness, complacency, lack of motivation or enthusiasm, doubt, and other unwholesome mental states that will hinder one from consistent progress.

Through developing and cultivating diligence to develop one’s life practice, this would include practicing the Enlightenment factor of Energy.

Energy: (Effort, determination, ambition, initiative, motivation, vigor, and enthusiasm; willingness to do something.)

Through observing the continuous benefits experienced through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings, a Practitioner can develop increased amounts of diligence. To accomplish this goal, a Practitioner needs to despise discontentedness so much that they are highly motivated to eliminate it from the mind. There is no specific meditation or other aspect of practice that can help a Practitioner develop diligence other than one’s own motivation to rid themselves of all discontentedness and the suffering it causes.

Being part of an active Community of Practitioners can be encouraging, supportive, and motivating but ultimately, a Practitioner will need to actively pursue their own learning, reflection, and practice of these Teachings. The Path to Enlightenment is an independent journey where one seeks guidance from a Teacher but all the work and effort needs to come from the Student. A Teacher, nor anyone else, can give a Student Enlightenment. Each Practitioner will need to actively, consistently, and diligently work towards the goal of their own Enlightenment.

Sustaining one’s energy and effort over the duration of multiple years is what will produce the results of Enlightenment. Short bursts of energy and effort based on craving/desire/attachment to attain Enlightenment will quickly burn out resulting in a Practitioner potentially giving up on their progress. The unEnlightened mind is like a wild animal that, at times, does not want to be trained or tamed.

It is only diligence that will sustain a Practitioner’s continued growth.

Diligence: careful and persistent work or effort.

There will be many challenges along The Path to Enlightenment. There will be times when the mind struggles and fights itself not being interested to give up its old ways. But, through remaining careful and persistent to work and apply effort, a Practitioner can experience the joy of liberating the mind from discontentedness.

No one ever said life would be “easy” but it’s also not supposed to be “tough”.

Learning Gotama Buddha's Teachings is not “easy” but learning and practicing The Teachings of The Buddha will ensure “life is not tough”.