Thoughts on Vigilance Chapter of Dhammapada

“... the guard [their vigilance] as their greatest treasure.”

Dhammapada, vs. 26, trans. Eknath Easwaran

Diligence comes from the Latin verb diligere, meaning to love, to take delight in.  That isn’t the usual feeling I’ve had when thinking of diligence; my own thinking, and that of many people I have discussed this concept with, is of drudgery, hardship, sacrifice, etc…  But, thinking of diligence with its Latin etymology helps when it comes to cultivating Right Diligence (yes, that is one of the parts of the Noble Eight-Fold Path).  

It’s not a drudgery or a chore; it’s something delighted in.  This line of thought reminds me of Jesus’ “My yoke is easy, my burden in light” (Matt. 11.30).  In the Dhammapada chapter on vigilance, I see the connection between the two concepts: vigilance means to keep awake; diligence means to be careful and persistent, or assiduous.  They are brought together in earnestness (i.e. showing sincere and intense conviction).

The delight gives one conviction to stay awake.  This all leads to one guarding their conquest of the mind, of the four kinds of Mara1.  Without Right Diligence we will lack the earnestness to be vigilant.  

We awaken a little to realize that we need to awaken.  We have an instant of enlightenment to show us we are sitting in darkness.  This is beginner’s mind.  Without that “small” awakening we will not be aware that we are asleep.  Once we have that beginner’s mind we will delight in practice: we will fall in love with the Buddha we are to become.  Love will keep us on the path.  This is why last time I talked about love as being the only thing that will put an end to hatred.  Love is what gave the five “wise” virgins, of the Gospels, their wisdom, i.e. their vigilance.

If what you’re doing feels like a chore, a burden, a drudgery, then it will not be Right Diligence.  There must be and ease and a joy involved in the doing.  Verse 26 of the Dhammapada says, “... the wise guard it [vigilance, heedfulness] as their greatest treasure” (trans. Easwaran).  Treasure is something people love, otherwise it’s not treasure.  If you have trouble with your faith or practice, if they are bothersome, like something you don’t want to do but must, then those are not your treasure--they are your burden.

Think about it like this: people don’t love, don’t take great care, and don’t keep awake and guard a thing they don’t want.  They do those things for things they treasure--for treasure!  This is the reason Jesus said in Luke 12.34, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The thing is: how do you change this?  How do you change what feels like a burden into a treasure?  Sometimes, you can’t, and in that case you have to accept the situation.  

You know the saying, “One person’s trash is another’s treasure”?  It has merit.  It may help to get a new perspective.  Try this: Make two columns on a piece of paper.  Then, write how you truly feel about the concept/practice that you consider a burden/a mere duty.  Then, in the second column, write down a different feeling--one you would rather have, would prefer to have.  Try something like: “I would prefer to see _________ as a splendid treasure instead of as a burden.”  Questions are powerful, so you can ask yourself, several times a day, something like: “Why is this belief/practice/concept/_______ a treasure to me?”  Have fun with it.  “Why is this _______ ‘my precious’?”  ;-)

It may be necessary to find a new practice--one that has ease, joy, peace and happiness in it.  It’s important to walk the Middle Way, i.e. not too tight, not too loose, but perfectly tuned to make the beautiful music of your life.

Once we have experienced the “small” awakening, we need vigilance to keep awake in order that we can walk the path to liberation, to freedom, to cessation of suffering.  Carry the treasure of vigilance with love and earnestness, with ease and joy, within your heart everywhere you go, every day of your life, every precious moment.

Peace! :-)


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1. The four kinds of Mara: unwholesome mental factors, the Five Skandhas, death, and distractions.  For more on this, see: Thich Nhat Hanh, Awakening the Heart, note 75.

Thoughts on The Dhammapada, verses 3 and 4

"He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.

"He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who do not harbor such thoughts still their hatred.

-- The Buddha, The Dhammapada verses 3 and 4,

trans: Acharya Buddharakkhita

How does one "be" with their feelings, if those mentioned in verses 3 & 4 are present?  If one is experiencing hatred and stops dwelling on those thoughts, the hatred will cease.  How do we decide to not dwell on a thought?  It is in allowing the thought to flow through the river of the mind.  Often, we create snags that catch our thoughts and then, we dwell on them and, before long, in them.  They become the walls and bars of our self-constructed prison.  Then, we cry that someone else did it to us.  We complain and cry that we're falsely accused, but we don't realize that it is we who are falsely accusing others and we who have imprisoned ourselves with our thoughts.  

So, if I have and dwell in the thoughts like those in verses 3 & 4 of the Dhammapada, I will in reality be reinforcing my prison walls and strengthening its bars, and over time my cell will grow narrower and smaller until it fills my entire head.

Thoughts are things and they can be more powerful than nuclear bombs and harder than diamonds.  They can grow to fill our universe and yet fit in the space inside our heads.  If our thoughts are in line with our path, we can live in happiness and peace.  If they're not, our lives can be hell.  Allowing the kinds of thoughts in verses 3 & 4 can be like another Buddhist idea: i.e. like swallowing a red-hot iron ball and being unable to spit it out.  Hatred is, imho, one of the hell realms.  And, according to verses 5 & 6, love is the only thing that can put an end to hatred.  Love (Sanskrit: Maitri; Pali: Metta) is the key, the jailer, the dismantler of the prison we build for ourselves with hatred.  If that is the case, and from experience I believe it is, how do we "grow" our love, cultivate our love; how do we forge the key of love that will free us from our self-created prison in the hell realm of hatred?  Verse 6 gives us a hint--"People forget their lives will end soon.  For those who remember, quarrels come to an end." (trans. Eknath Easwaran).  We begin to awaken love by remembering that life is impermanent.  Impermanence is an important ingredient in love (not selfish, clinging, or attachment; but, true love--a love that gives).  The Tibetan Buddhists believe that all beings have at one time been our mothers.  If that helps, use it.  

The beauty of Buddhism is that you try things out and if they work, they become the raft (or at least part of the raft) that can take you to the other shore.  Love should be a major part of that raft. Or, in keeping with the prison metaphor: we try different combinations of things in order to fashion a key that will ultimately lead to our liberation--nirvana.  If we are talking about getting out of hatred, then love is the key, if we are talking about getting out of the prison house of samsara, love is only one ingredient of the key.  We will also require self-discipline and faith (to be full of faith), and a purified mind, truthfulness, self-control--all parts of a well-trained mind.  We will also need to be selfless.  Once we have cultivated all of those things through practice of the teachings, we will begin to have more freedom and joy and peace.  Enlightenment can come at any time, but it will not come (I use these words while assuming you understand it does not "come," it is here and now, but, alas, I struggle with language) if we continue to live in our thoughts of hatred, anger, lust, greed, etc.  In other words, it needs the proper conditions.

These thoughts act like a very strong sleeping pill, keeping us asleep.  It is when we learn, and practice what we learn, that we counteract the drug of samsara and thus, are able to wake up.  So, it takes a small amount of waking up to see that we are dwelling on/in the kinds of thoughts stated in verses 3 & 4.  We have to wake up enough to realize that it is our own mind (our own thoughts) that is keeping us in the prison of the hell realm of hatred.  We have to wake up enough to see that love is the way out.  We have to wake up enough to learn the way to cultivate love, faith, compassion, and the other things, that will liberate us.  It's not enough to recognize the key or even to hold the key.  It must be placed in the lock and turned.  This is the practice.  

If someone has done wrong to us or to our loved ones, often we experience anger, hatred, and maybe a host of other emotions.  How do we keep these from becoming a prison (even temporarily)?  One way is by remembering that we have used the key to free ourselves, and we have been practicing with that key: love.  But, how do we love those people?  I answer that with a question: How do we love anyone?  If we love one person, we can love two, and so on.  It is our own mind that produces the thoughts of affinity and of aversion.  If we can let go of those, we can truly love.  And then, we will come to understand the other person better which will lead to a deeper and a truer love.

Review of This Dark Road to Mercy

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wiley Cash has a strong voice. The writing is tight and Cash draws the reader in with the well-written characters.

A few reviewers have compared Cash to other Southern writers, such as Harper Lee. I don't see the resemblance beyond the setting being in the South, and young female characters and their fathers; there, Cash just sorta leaves Lee in the dust of an old dirt road and I for one could not see her when I looked backed--for all the dust, ya know!

There was also mention of Elmore Leonard and Cormac McCarthy. I would agree here, to a certain extent. But, the resemblance isn't because Cash sounds like an imitation of those writers, it's the rawness one senses behind the words, the darkness that is always there no matter how bright and hot the summer day is being described in the work. No, Cash has his own voice and it's strong and smooth like a shot of good Southern Whiskey: it hits you before you realize you've finished the drink. Yeah, that smooth. It's a voice telling powerful stories.

I think I have found another author to add to my favorites, another author that makes me glad I'm a reader and jealous that I ain't that writer! This book was on my to-read-again list before I even finished the first read. I caught the Icantputitdownitis right away, and only stopped reading when my eyes were no longer able to remain open.

One of the things that I enjoyed, apart from the voice, characters and diction, is the way the book is organized: e.g. chapters are told from different characters' POVs. There were no parts of this book that seemed out of place or unnecessary. It all fits.

I can't wait to devour more of Wiley Cash's work and will keep my eyes out for any new work.

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This Dark Road to Mercy: A Novel

Review of Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom - (Volume 2 Tantra)

Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom - by Kelsang Gyatso
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This volume goes deeper into Tibetan Buddhism. It covers a very deep and somewhat complicated practice. It is more of a manual for this deeper practice.

In another book I read with similar content, it was said that one needs a master to receive the transmissions to begin the Vajrayogini/Heruka meditation.

It was an interesting read, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Buddhism.

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Review of God's Problem by Bart Ehrman

God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question-Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a good introduction to theodicy. Ehrman gives a broad and fairly thorough overview of what the Bible says about suffering. I like that he is not satisfied with the pat answers that are usually given for why people suffer.

Ultimately, I'm not satisfied with those answers, either and this idea of suffering was a key reason in my own leaving the Church and Christianity. This is not to say that I am an enemy of Christianity, but like Ehrman, I take an agnostic stance when it comes to the ideas of gods and spirits and other supernatural ideas.

I try to keep an open mind, and I have to be careful not to get set in one mindset; I appreciate Ehrman's way of presenting his discussion of this important subject: he didn't try to make those who believe the pat answers look ignorant or foolish, like so many militant atheist/agnostics do. He actually has an open mind, and with his current knowledge he makes many good points, all based on what is in the Bible.

The main thing, I think, is to start a dialogue and Ehrman has made an excellent starting place for such a dialogue.

This book resonates with me because many of the things Ehrman writes are similar or exactly my own thoughts, and it is always good to know that one is not alone when it comes to important issues and sometimes controversial topics.

If you wonder why the God of the Bible allows suffering and/or you're not satisfied with the pat and often parroted answers, you could do worse than to read this book. You may, as I did, walk away with more questions, but that is fine if you remember that the only thing that is certain in this world is uncertainty. We don't always have to have an answer.

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