4. vīrya

4. Energy

viriya

vīrya

勤精進

(gon-shojin; applying energy)

The Tibetan translation of Aśvaghoṣa's Buddhacarita Canto 26:

| rtag par rab źugs chu yi rgyun ni mñen na yaṅ | | rdo yi logs la dus su rnam par ’bigs pa ste |
| brtson ’grus kyis ni rñed par dka’ ba ci yaṅ med | | de phyir khur rnams mi ’bor bar ni bzod bgyis daṅ | 60

| gaṅ źig yaṅ yaṅ ṅal bso nas ni srub byed pa | | de yi śiṅ la me ni rñed par sla min źiṅ |
| brtson ’grus brtsams pas rñed par sla bar ’gyur ba ste | | de phyir sbyor ba yod na bya ba ’grub pa ñid |  61

EHJ60. A stream, whose waters ever flow, however softly, in time wears away the surface of the rock. Energy finds nothing impossible of attainment. Therefore be strenuous and do not put down your loads.

EHJ61. The man who stops repeatedly in drilling with fire-sticks finds it hard to get fire from wood, but by the application of energy it comes easily. Therefore where there is diligence, the task is accomplished. 

The Chinese translation of Aśvaghoṣa's Buddhacarita Canto 26:

若人勤精進　無利而不獲

If one applies oneself with zeal, there is no benefit one will not obtain.

是故當晝夜　精勤不懈怠

One should therefore be strenuous night and day, not lazy!

山谷微流水　常流故決石　

As the small streams in the valley continuously flow, they hollow out a rock.

鑚火不精進　徒勞而不獲

If one is not strenuous when trying to make a fire with a stick, one toils in vain and does not obtain it.

是故當精進　如壯夫鑚火

Therefore, always be vigorous, like someone in his prime making a fire!

Anuruddha Sutta

“When it was said: ‘This Dhamma is for one who is energetic (āraddhaviriyassa), not for one who is lazy (kusītassa),’ with reference to what was this said?

Here, a bhikkhu has aroused energy (āraddhaviriyo) for abandoning unwholesome qualities (akusalanaṁ dhammānaṁ pahānāya) and acquiring wholesome qualities (kusalanaṁ dhammānaṁ upasampadāya); he is strong, firm in exertion, not casting off the duty of cultivating wholesome qualities. When it was said: ‘This Dhamma is for one who is energetic, not for one who is lazy,’ it is with reference to this that this was said.

Yuikyo-gyo (Bequeathed Teaching Sūtra)

汝等比丘。若勤精進則事無難者。 是故汝等。當勤精進。 是故汝等。當勤精進。 譬如小水常流則能穿石。 若行者之心數數懈廢。譬如鑚火未熱而息。 雖欲得火火難可得。 是名精進 。

Nishijima-Cross translation from Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Chapter 95:

If you bhikṣus practice diligence, nothing will be difficult. For this reason you should practice diligence—as a trickle of water that constantly flows is able to drill through rock. If the mind of a practitioner often tires and quits, that is like [a person] twirling a stick to start a fire and resting before it gets hot: although [the person] wishes to obtain fire, fire is unobtainable. This is called “diligence.”