Viriya is translated variously as endurance, diligence and also continuous and persistent effort. Related to this are compassion, joy, perseverance, not seeking to gain anything and self-reliance. Virya highlights the repeated ‘keep on going’ quality or determination which is needed for this practice. It also relates to the energy applied to investigate the Dharma. 

There are said to be Four Great Efforts; the first two are to encourage the arising and continuation of that which is helpful and the second two are to discourage the arising and stop that which is unhelpful. That which is unhelpful is what leads to suffering, and that which is helpful leads to the ending of suffering, and this is the practice of the Paramitas. 

Virya is persistent and continuous effort. It follows the first three Paramitas because it is in giving, restraint and patient endurance that we have continuously to direct our efforts. Restraint will stop that which is not helpful and patient endurance will discourage it from arising. Giving will encourage the arising and the continuing development of what is helpful along this path and it could be said that, through their functioning, restraint and patient endurance do the same.

We are able do this practice because everything is in a state of continual change. Thus we can influence this change through doing the practice, but it requires effort. It is the state of the heart that gives every act its flavour. There is also the emotion during the act and afterwards. These influence the outflow or consequences of action. 

A very common experience in this day and age is the provocative email. We open our inbox and read an email from a work colleague or other individual we know. It’s outrageous; it accuses, perhaps, or demands unreasonably. Immediately I react. I type out a reply full of fury. The email done, the finger slams down on ‘send’ and off it goes. However, after a bit of cooling off we may then begin to ask ourselves, ‘was that really the right thing to say?’ In fact, this is so common that now, after pressing ‘send’, there is a little message that comes up which offers to ‘Undo’ the sending of the email for a few moments. This immensely useful little button I have to say I have pressed a number of times! With reflection we can see we were carried away and perhaps next time practice leaving any provocative email at least one day before replying and then typing a draft and leaving that for another day and reading it carefully before sending it. Effort is required with restraint and patient endurance and this can only be done with the reflection afterwards which has the wisdom to see that it wasn’t such a smart thing after all. If restrained again and again, then the temptation to shoot off responses begins to change. 

The wholeheartedness of effort also includes joy, because to do something wholeheartedly means to do it joyfully. The joyful aspect lightens the whole action and then it’s not some dreadful grinding chore but a repeated application which is willingly done. Virya is also practiced with a sense of directness and non-distraction.  Practice ‘as if your hair is on fire’ is the expression. In other words, we apply ourselves fully to what is at this moment. 

There is a story regarding this about the son of a master thief who asked his father to teach him the secrets of the trade. After repeated refusal the old thief finally agreed and that night took his son to burglarize a large house. While the family was asleep, he silently led his young apprentice into a room that contained a clothes closet. The father told his son to go into the closet to look for jewelry hidden amongst the clothes. When he did, his father quickly shut the door and locked him in. Then he went back outside, knocked loudly on the front door, thereby waking the family, and quickly slipped away before anyone saw him. Hours later, his son returned home, bedraggled and exhausted. "Father," he cried angrily, "Why did you lock me in that closet? If I hadn't been made desperate by my fear of getting caught, I never would have escaped. It took all my ingenuity to get out!" The old thief smiled. "Son, you have had your first lesson in the art of burglary."

We are not trying to become burglars. It’s against the precepts. However, this story is a pointer for us. Our practice is such that we give the whole of ourselves into each moment. For the thief, it was desperation that put him in that state, for us it is aspiration. Aspiration to settle this great matter whilst we are still able. We are a little like our thief too in that our situation is constrained, our time in this human form is limited. However, because of our human form, because of being born at this time and being exposed to the Buddha’s teaching and being touched by it and having a possibility to practice, our opportunity to give ourselves for the benefit of all sentient beings is without limit.