Buddhist teaching describes spiritual power in five particular ways, called panchabala. The second of these five powers is a familiar word: virya. Virya, or heroic perseverance, is also one of the paramitas. (You can read all my posts on practicing virya for a month here.) But as I’ve been reading about the five powers, I’m seeing it in an entirely new way- in terms of energy and effort.

Heroic perseverance is about effort, on face value. It’s about not giving up, and valiantly pressing forward. But what I’m now seeing and learning is that it’s also about receiving and surrendering. When we view virya as a spiritual power, we acknowledge that energy comes from a source beyond us. Our effort only comes afterward. Energy first, effort second. And spiritual power comes through the combination of the two. We receive energy, and we channel our efforts in a good direction in response.

Virya also asks us to surrender, which seems counter-intuitive at first. Isn’t heroic perseverance about never giving up? But this kind of surrender is more like a holy allowing. I find this so important, because the one great pitfall when practicing heroic perseverance is the idea that it revolves solely around our effort. It’s just us, going ninety miles an hour until we finish the task. When we remember to place heroic perseverance within the broader spiritual power of energy, that ego-driven striving shifts. It becomes surrender. We don’t grasp at goals. We simply embody the commitment.

In other words, a true hero doesn’t demand history to remember her, but stays so faithful and true to her cause that it inevitably will. Demand=ego. Commitment=virya.

Energy comes first. When we live in the flow of spiritual power, we receive that energy and allow it to fuel our best intentions.

This post is part of the Paramita Project, where I’m practicing one paramita each month. Read all my posts about bala, spiritual power, here.