Deep Commentary

Whether in worldly life or spiritual practice, diligence is essential. In this world, no one succeeds by being perpetually lazy. Students, farmers, merchants, and scientists all must work tirelessly to achieve their goals, though their diligence is often driven by worldly desires for wealth, status, or comfort. Even so, they are productive members of society, whereas those who are lazy and idle become a burden and are looked down upon. Lazy individuals often make excuses and resort to deception just to survive without effort. In the spiritual realm, the situation is parallel. If lay Buddhists are lazy, they reap no spiritual benefits; without planting good seeds, there is no good harvest. Thus, 'diligence' in Buddhism means actively cultivating wholesomeness. This is encapsulated in the Four Right Efforts: to prevent unarisen evil, to abandon arisen evil, to cultivate unarisen good, and to maintain arisen good. For monastics, diligence is even more critical. All practices aim at eradicating defilements. Laziness leads directly to spiritual degeneration. A monastic's high aspiration to attain enlightenment cannot be realized through idleness. Therefore, the Buddha teaches that living a hundred years in sluggishness and dissipation is a wasted existence, bringing only prolonged suffering. Conversely, living just one day with energetic resolve and pure diligence is far more meaningful and truly worth living.