These five faculties are relatively feeble in him: the faculties of faith … and wisdom. Because of the feebleness of these five faculties, with the breakup of the body, he attains Nibbāna through volitional exertion. This is how a person, with the breakup of the body, attains Nibbāna through volitional exertion. – Anguttara Nikāya
Some trees grow in rich soil.
Some grow on rocky ground.
One rises easily.
Another holds on through many seasons.
The Buddha spoke of four kinds of persons on the path.
Some reach the end in this very life through exertion.
Some reach the end after the breakup of the body through exertion.
Some reach the end in this very life without exertion.
Some reach the end after the breakup of the body without exertion.
This teaching is about the one whose five faculties are still weak.
Faith is weak.
Energy is weak.
Mindfulness is weak.
Collectedness is weak.
Wisdom is weak.
So the path is not yet easy.
The heart does not settle on its own.
It must be gathered again and again.
When the fire is small,
you do not leave it alone.
You shield it from the wind.
You feed it carefully.
You return to it again and again
until it can stand on its own.
Practice can be like this.
The mind wanders,
so it is brought back.
Energy fades,
so it is stirred again.
Faith trembles,
so it is protected.
Stillness is thin,
so it is deepened.
Wisdom is dim,
so it is cleared little by little
through seeing things as they are.
This is volitional exertion.
Not the strain of ambition.
Not the pushing of self.
Just the quiet work
of not abandoning the path.
Like climbing a hill with tired legs,
you stop,
you breathe,
and you keep walking.
This teaching is gentle
because it does not cast aside the weak one.
It does not say
that because the faculties are feeble,
the path is lost.
It says only:
keep tending the causes.
A young tree needs support.
A small flame needs shelter.
A shallow stream still moves toward the sea.
In the same way,
even when the faculties are weak,
the path can still ripen
through steady effort.
So do not be discouraged.
If faith is weak, know it.
If energy is weak, know it.
If mindfulness slips away, know it.
Then begin again.
That beginning again
is already part of the way.
Little by little,
through not turning away,
through protecting what is still small,
through continuing to incline toward release,
this person reaches the end
with the breakup of the body.
The lamp is not bright.
But it is not allowed to go out.
And because it is tended,
it lasts until dawn.