“Do you have time to chant?” 

“Sorry, not now.” 

“Then do you have time to watch a movie?” 

“Sure!” 

In the thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment, diligence appears four times. Why so often? Because diligence is crucial to our accomplishing pretty much everything worthwhile. Unless we have already planted abundant seeds to attain something, we need to get busy. But getting busy is the difficult part. We find it much easier to do something enjoyable than to do something we regard as work.

An example? Observing the efforts of others rather than doing something ourselves. Most of us make excuses to just coast. Inertia is king.

Any exceptions? Yes. We get energized with things that matter to us: our loved ones, an avocation, our principles. We need to move our Buddhist practice to this exception list. And then move it to the top of the list!

Because in samsara, freeing ourselves from momentary indulgence and inertia will prove to be the ultimate enjoyment.