The next paramita, vīrya, is very often misinterpreted. Bringing the quality of diligence to our practice does not mean that we have to drive ourselves very hard and suffer a lot. Many people think that to be a diligent practitioner you have to practice sitting meditation for one or two hours, or you have to sit all day until you feel pain all through your body, and you think that this is good. You are able to push yourself hard, and so you feel like a hero. You can bear the pain in your mind and body. You have made it. You have survived a retreat.

This is not the practice of vīrya. You don’t have to suffer in order to progress in the practice. True diligence, wholesome energy, and effort in our practice, is born from joy. The point of the practice is not to create more suffering, but to bring well-being, transformation, and healing. We are not practicing only to achieve some better state in the future, but in order to get in touch with the joy and peace that are available right now, in every moment. If you practice with the correct attitude, you will feel relief from suffering right away.