Hard Work, Etc. (SN49.23-34)

Linked Discourses 49.23–34

3. Hard Work

Hard Work, Etc.

“Mendicants, all the hard work that gets done depends on the earth and is grounded on the earth.

In the same way, a mendicant develops and cultivates the four right efforts depending on and grounded on ethics.

How so?

It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. …

so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are fully developed.

That’s how a mendicant develops and cultivates the four right efforts depending on and grounded on ethics.”

(Tell in full as in SN 45.149–160.)

Hard work, seeds, and dragons,

a tree, a pot, and a spike,

the atmosphere, and two on clouds,

a ship, a guest house, and a river.