Philosophy: Balance, Striving, and Virtue

Balance: Life needs a balance of activity and relaxation. I’ve lost balance lately and I’m hoping working to regain it. For a while we need goals to strive for and (dare I say) tasks. But we also need to transcend our goals and tasks, to develop an intense appreciation for this moment. In this moment there is no task, no goal, no you, no discomfort. Living here in this moment is a life of balance. So have goals, have tasks, but don’t let them trap you. Don’t let your conceptions of the world cut you off from reality.

Striving: The fourth Bodhisattva virtue/perfection, or paramita, is viriya, which is I believe etymologically tied to the Latin virulence and virtue, both referring to masculine energy. Note: I would consider wisdom, prajna/sophia, as the quintessential feminine energy. Wisdom is holistic, virtue is directed. In any case, I believe that the energy I am (over-) expending now will set me on a trajectory through life in which I will not need to struggle to live well/actively.

This is essentially derived from Aristotle’s understanding of the virtues. We have to actively work to acquire them, but at some point they just become part of our very character. There is a danger that Aristotle didn’t recognize though, that the very activity to acquiring new virtues could itself become a character trait. That is, one could become a ‘virtue collector’. This goes against Aristotle’s and Buddha’s points when teaching the virtues and paramitas. For each, the cultivation of virtues was to be transcended. For Aristotle the finest life was that of contemplation, a life buttressed by virtues but no longer seeking them. For the Buddha the awakened one would act spontaneously to relieve suffering; the knowledge that this is what needs to be done and the compassion to do it are no longer cultivated, they are at the very core of and inseparable from the individual.

Kinds of Virtue: One paradox (or pseud-paradox) thus comes to mind. Striving for virtues, taking on tasks and projects, can be highly isolating. It can lead one to focus on oneself to the detriment of relationships and community. Aristotle avoided this (though not consciously as far as I know) by directing the would-be striver to individuals in his community who would give him direction. Such an individual, known as a phronemos or wise one, would have displayed through his own life that he had embodied essential virtues. So the young striver would begin his journey by humbling himself before the phronemos. The Buddha, too, established his community as homeless wanderers in complete dependence on the lay community. Within the monastic community he also instituted apprentice-master relationships wherein a preceptor would be responsible for the welfare of a young monk (and the young monk would live in the service of the master) for 5 or 10 years.

So within these traditions there is an intrinsic tie to community. There are, however, some so-called virtues that are not necessarily embedded in community. Scholarship is one of them, industriousness is another. Neither of these are necessarily acommunal, they just happen to be that way in our modern society. There are others like this, no doubt. The question we then must ask ourselves is “why am I cultivating this particular virtue? Why am I taking up this particular task?” If your answer does not get back to community in some way (for instance you can only relate back to money or mere self-development), you are probably cultivating the wrong kind of virtue.