Four Right Exertions


The Four Right Exertions are an integral part of the Buddhist path to Enlightenment. Built on the insightful recognition of the arising and non-arising of various mental qualities over time and of our ability to mindfully intervene in these ephemeral qualities, the Four Right Exertions encourage the relinquishment of harmful mental qualities and the nurturing of beneficial mental qualities.
The Four Right Exertions are associated with the Noble Eightfold Path's factor of "right effort" and the Five Spiritual Faculties' faculty of "energy" ; and, are one of the seven sets of Bodhipakkhiyadhamma, factors related to bodhi.

In the Pali literature

The Four Right Exertions are found in the Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, Abhidhamma Pitaka and Pali commentaries. Additionally, a similar-sounding but different concept, the "four exertions," is referenced in the literature as well. These two concepts are presented below.

Four Right Exertions

The Four Right Exertions are defined with the following traditional phrase:
This elaboration is attributed to the Buddha in response to the following questions:
  • "What is right effort?"
  • "What is the faculty of energy?"
  • "What are the four right strivings?"
This formulation is also part of an extensive exposition by Ven. Sariputta when addressing the question of "What is this Dhamma that has been well-proclaimed by the Lord ?". In addition, in a section of the Anguttara Nikaya known as the "Snap of the Fingers Section", the Buddha is recorded as stating that, if a monk were to enact one of the four right exertions for the snap of the fingers then "he abides in jhana, has done his duties by the Teacher, and eats the country's alms food without a debt."
A similar two-part elaboration is provided by the Buddha in SN 48.9, again in the context of the Five Spiritual Faculties, when he states:
What constitutes "unskillful" or "unwholesome" and "skillful" or "wholesome" qualities is taken up in the Abhidhamma Pitaka and the post-canonical Pali commentaries. In general, the unskillful states are the three defilements : greed, hatred and delusion. Skillful states are the defilements' opposites: non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion.

Four Exertions

Throughout the Pali Canon, a distinction is made between the fourfold "exertions" and the four "Right Exertions". While similarly named, canonical discourses consistently define these different terms differently, even in the same or adjacent discourses.
The four exertions are summarized as:
  1. Restraint of the senses.
  2. Abandonment of defilements.
  3. Cultivation of Enlightenment Factors.
  4. Preservation of concentration, for instance, using charnel-ground contemplations.