Two Wolves

Laura Taylor forwarded this inspirational to us:

 One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all..

One is Evil.  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

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On the Eightfold Path, this is the factor of Right Effort. It is traditionally phrased in terms of the four right strivings: 

Striving to abandon arisen unwholesome states;

Striving to prevent unarisen unwholesome states from arising;

Striving to maintain arisen wholesome states;

Striving to arouse unarisen wholesome states.

Of course, “striving” has become a dirty word in many forms of Buddhism. Much emphasis is placed on mindfulness and concentration, but very seldom is Right Effort even mentioned. The wolf of “ease” is becoming well fed.