The Second Treatise on the Perfections – 2777
goal is not easily achieved, he flinches with the thought: “Even though I carry
on with the work, I shall not succeed,” and thus they stop putting forth effort.
11. Inclination towards the development of energy in all four postures (
tad-
adhimuttatā
).
Energy will develop in him who is intent on and inclined to cultivating it in all
four
[1617]
postures of lying down, sitting, standing and walking.
These are the eleven factors which develop energy.
The Main Foundation of Energy
The main foundation of energy is spiritual urgency (
saṁvega
). It is of three
kinds:
1. Urgency that disturbs the mind (
cittutrāsa-saṁvega
).
Disturbance of mind through urgency because of the dangers of elephants, tigers,
weapons, such as swords, spears, etc. is known as urgency that disturbs
(
cittutrāsa-saṁvega
). In terms of the Abhidhamma, it is the mental concomitant
of aversion (
dosa
). Through weak aversion arises fear; through strong aversion
arises aggressiveness.
2. Urgency from concern (
ottappa-saṁvega
).
Concern about doing evil is urgency from concern (
ottappa-saṁvega
). It is a
wholesome type of mental concomitant (
sobhana-cetasika
).
3. Urgency from knowledge (
ñāṇa-saṁvega
).
Dread that arises as urgency through reflecting on cause and effect is known as
urgency from knowledge (
ñāṇa-saṁvega
). It is the kind of fear of Saṁsāra felt
by the virtuous. In the texts, urgency from knowledge is described also as the
knowledge that is accompanied by concern about evil.
One should also include the wisdom of Arahats that arises accompanied by
concern on seeing the dangers of conditioned phenomena (
dhamma-saṁvega
),
then there will be four kinds of spiritual urgency (
saṁvega
).
Of these types of spiritual urgency, only urgency from knowledge (
ñāṇa-
saṁvega
) should be considered as the main spring of energy. When one sees the
dangers of Saṁsāra through wisdom and is stirred by concern, one would