Key Terms/Vīrya
From Bodhicitta
वीर्य vīrya
diligence
བརྩོན་འགྲུས་
brtson 'grus
精進
jīngjìn
Sanskrit - Noun
3·Study
Study details
- Abhidharma (Indo-Tibetan): In Abhidharma literature, vīrya (T. brtson 'grus) is defined as a wholesome mental factor (kuśalacaitasika) characterized by a mind that is enthused about and joyfully engages in virtuous activities. Its primary function is to bring all virtuous qualities to completion. It is categorized as the direct antidote to laziness (kausīdya), which is classified into three distinct types:
- The laziness of indolence (T. le lo): A preference for idleness, sleep, and ease.
- The laziness of attraction to unwholesome activities (T. bya ba ngan zhen gyi le lo): Being busy with non-virtuous or worldly distractions.
- The laziness of self-defeat or discouragement (T. sgyid lug pa'i le lo): Thinking one is incapable of attaining enlightenment.
- Furthermore, in the context of the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment, it appears as the faculty of diligence (vīryendriya), the power of diligence (vīryabala), and the limb of enlightenment of diligence (vīryasaṃbodhyaṅga).
- Mahāyāna (Indo-Tibetan): In the Mahāyāna, diligence is cultivated as the fourth perfection (vīryapāramitā). It is described as the indispensable force that supports all other perfections
,without it, generosity, discipline, and patience cannot be perfected, and meditation and wisdom cannot be attained. Mahāyāna texts typically classify it into three types:
- Armor-like diligence (T. go cha'i brtson 'grus): The courageous mental preparation to endure any hardship for eons to benefit beings.
- Diligence of applying oneself to virtue (T. dge ba chos sdud kyi brtson 'grus): The active engagement in accumulating merit and practicing the path.
- Diligence of working for the benefit of others (T. sems can don byed kyi brtson 'grus): The unflagging effort to perform the eleven types of activities that aid sentient beings.
- Vajrayāna (Indo-Tibetan): In the context of Secret Mantra, diligence is essential for the swift attainment of siddhi. It involves the continuous maintenance of the deity visualization and the stable application of the generation and completion stages. It is often described as "unflagging vigour" required to transform ordinary perception into the sacred outlook of the maṇḍala.
- Dzogchen/Mahāmudrā (Indo-Tibetan): Within these traditions, diligence is refined into a state of "effortless perseverance" (T. rtsol med). Once the nature of mind (rigpa) is recognized, diligence consists of the continuous, undistracted familiarization with that natural state, where the practitioner remains in non-meditation without slipping into ordinary confusion.
- Theravāda/Pāli Tradition Context: In the Pāli tradition, viriya is one of the ten perfections (pāramī) and a central component of the Four Right Exertions (sammappadhāna). It involves the effort to prevent unarisen unwholesome states, abandon arisen unwholesome states, arouse unarisen wholesome states, and maintain arisen wholesome states.
In other languages
Tibetan
བརྩོན་འགྲུས་
brtson 'grus
tsöndrü
Sanskrit
वीर्य
vīrya
Chinese
精進
jīngjìn
Japanese
shōjin
Korean
jeongjin
How translators render it
diligenceBuddha-nature Standard
Term type
Noun
Source language
Sanskrit
Topic
vīrya
Alternate spellings
brtson 'grus, བརྩོན་འགྲུས་, viriya, perseverance, enthusiastic effort
