The Seven Factors of Awakening

The Seven Factors of Awakening are; mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, diligence, joy, ease, concentration and letting go. Buddha stated that "The Seven Factors of Awakening are already in us, but we don't know it." (Hanh 214) The idea that we have the potential at any time to unlock the secret of enlightenment, we just have to grasp this basic idea of awakening through these seven factors. I myself will be focusing on two of the factors Diligence, and Joy and relating them to my own experiences in life; but before that lets delve into a brief description of the 5 other factors beforehand. Mindfulness, is the idea of being conscious or aware of things and your decisions that you are making. With that being said, being mindful would include making sure you are always aware of what decisions you are making and are choosing to make them for the right reasons. Investigation of phenomena  relates to this idea of basic human nature. Humans are a curious species, wanting to gain knowledge, learn, evolve, and adapt in order to grow as a species. We as humans love to understand and figure out mysteries of the past generations and "solve the in-explainable". "With right mindfulness, investigation takes us deeply into life and into reality" (Hanh 216). Ease, represents this idea of letting go and trying to calm down and realize we can't control everything. Every individual should take time out of his or her day to relax and relieve themselves from their stress filed lives. Concentration, refers to the idea of being able to focus on certain tasks and not let your mind wander. Being able to put your all your effort forth without engaging in the distraction that will be surrounding you. Lastly this idea of letting go, that grudges should not be held and the idea that "we should love everyone equally" (Hanh 218) regardless of race, gender, sexual preference, age, opinions, or ideals.


Now to direct relate to of these factors to my life. Diligence is something that I constantly (and I'm sure many others have faced) throughout my life. What is Diligence? Diligence or being diligent is the idea of never giving up. To constantly work toward achieving a goal, no matter how many times you may fail. A perfect example of this was during high school I joined the track team my sophomore year. I began throwing discus and wasn't very good at it. I continued track the following year but hadn't improved that much. I spent all season and summer constantly practicing, lifting weights, learning new techniques so that the following year my senior year I was elected discus track captain, became the top thrower for the team, and ended up going to Western Massachusetts Championships. I was able to persevere and achieve my goal by being diligent and not giving up. Without this idea of diligence that as long as I keep working hard I will eventually achieve my goal, it's more than likely I would have thrown in the towel almost immediately.

Now what is Joy? Joy is what we experience when we are incredibly happy. It may be from winning a competition or receiving something we desperately wanted or needed. The differences between joy and happiness is that joy refers to the state of mind you are put in when you know something good is about to happen but actually physically hasn't happened yet. The book uses the quote "when you are thirsty and a glass of water is being served to you that is joy. When you actually able to drink the water, that is happiness" (Hanh 218). One of the greatest moments of joy I experienced in my life was when i was eighteen. My family took me to Las Vegas to watch the magic show "Believe" by Criss Angel. I was unaware but my mom had arranged for us to meet Criss Angel after the show whom at the time I looked up to and admired. When the show ended a security personnel came over to our seats and said follow me please. We were lead backstage to this private lounge area and although at that moment I wasn't meeting Criss Angel I knew that what was coming and was overjoyed in anticipation.