Right Effort (sammā-vāyāma)
Subsumes: Non-arising of unarisen evil unskillful qualities (anuppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ anuppādāya), Abandoning of arisen evil unskillful qualities (uppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ pahānāya), Arising of unarisen skillful qualities (anuppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ uppādāya), Fulfillment of arisen skillful qualities (uppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ pāripūriyā), Four Right Efforts (cattāro sammappadhānā)
Parent topics: Eightfold Path, Meditation
See also: Energy
77 excerpts, 5:33:23 total duration

All excerpts (78) Questions about (30) Answers involving (38) Stories (2) Quotes (8) Texts (2)

Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 3 – Apr. 28, 2001

Download audio (3:02)
8. Story: Ajahn Sumedho wants Ajahn Chah to affirm whether he had attained a degree of insight. Told by Ajahn Jitindriyā. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Stages of awakening] [Ajahn Chah] // [Impermanence] [Liberation] [Bowing] [Becoming]

Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 606

Quote: “We talk about things to develop and thigs to give up, but there’s really nothing to develop and nothing to give up.” — Ajahn Chah [Right Effort] [Relinquishment] [Emptiness] [Dispassion]

Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 102


Tudong Stories at Spirit Rock, Session 2 – Jun. 2, 2011

Download audio (5:32)
10. “For Lent, I practiced metta every day for six weeks for a person who I was very angry at. By the end of Lent, I was even more angry. Could you speak to this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Aversion] [Christianity] // [Right Effort] [Discernment] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Clinging]

Quote: “If the kilesa (defilements) come at you high, then you duck, and if they come at you low, then you jump over them.” — Ajahn Tongrat [Ajahn Tongrat] [Right Effort]


Tudong Stories at Spirit Rock, Session 3 – Jun. 2, 2011

Download audio (2:31)
5. Quote: “You’re inspired, and you put forth effort. You’re depressed and fed up, and you put forth effort. You’re rested, and you put forth effort. You’re tired, and you put forth effort. ” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Right Effort] [Ardency] [Faith] [Tudong] [Depression] [Sloth and torpor] // [Gladdening the mind]


Calming the Busy Mind, Session 2 – Aug. 11, 2013

Download audio (2:17)
3. “In the suttas, if you recognize a defilement like ill-will, you need to do something about it. How can we reconcile this with the Ajahn Chah teaching you just read (‘Receiving Visitors’ in In Simple Terms)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta] [Right Effort] [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Discernment]

Quote: “Practice is really easy. If the defilements come at you high, you duck, and if they come at you low, you jump over them.” — Ajahn Tongrat [Ajahn Tongrat] [Unwholesome Roots] [Right Effort]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 18 – Jan. 29, 2014

Download audio (5:22)
4. “Do you have any advice about how to hold a particularly strong “fighting spirit” teaching, like Ajahn Dtun?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Dtun] // [Culture/Thailand] [Ardency] [Right Effort] [Restlessness and worry] [Heedfulness] [Discernment] [Goodwill]

Sutta: AN 1.49: The mind is radiant.

Quote: “If you invite visitors into your home [the mind] and they just make a mess, then you want to close the door on them before they come in. You can’t be too polite.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Similes] [Unwholesome Roots] [Right Effort]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 48 – Mar. 12, 2104

Download audio (1:10)
6. “Could the Ajahn Teean technique work for restlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Movement meditation] [Restlessness and worry]

Quote: “There’s no such thing as the Ajahn Chah method of meditation.” [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation/Techniques] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of mind]


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 2 – May. 27, 2015

Download audio (2:25)
11. Comment: Before I get to all that [deep reflection on not-self], in the meantime I thing of Luang Por Sumedho’s saying, ‘Every time I think of myself, I get depressed.’ [Ajahn Sumedho] [Self-identity view] [Depression] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts]

Quote: “It’s difficult but it’s not that complicated. The Buddha’s teachings go against the grain of our conditioning and habits, but the essence of it is quite simple.” [Proliferation] [Right Effort] [Craving] [Simplicity] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 3 – Oct. 10, 2015

Download audio (3:11)
24. “In the jhāna similies (MN 39.15), ‘He makes...’ seems very active. In dropping away things, is it a conscious dropping or an allowing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Right Concentration] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] // [Volitional formations] [Conditionality] [Right Effort]

Quote: “Ajahn Chah emphasizes the doing within a sphere of detachment and letting go.” [Ajahn Chah] [Right Effort]