---
ai_generation_date: '2026-09-26'
ai_model: gemini-3-pro-preview
audiodharma:
  talks:
    - date: '2021-01-25'
      mp3_url: https://audiodharma.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/talks/12798/20210125-Diana_Clark-IMC-strengths.mp3
      speakers:
        - speaker_name: Diana Clark
          speaker_url: https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/240
      talk_start_time_seconds: 0
      title: Strengths
      url: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/12798
      video_unavailable: false
location_city: Redwood City, CA
video_unavailable: false
youtube:
  id: UibSjn2mpuk
  imprecise_upload_date: '2021-05-04'
  title: 'Dharma Talk: Strengths'
  upload_date: null
  uploader_str: Insight Meditation Center
  uploader_url: https://www.youtube.com/@InsightMeditationCenter
youtube_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UibSjn2mpuk
---

# Strengths - [Diana Clark](https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/240)

_This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers._

## [Strengths](https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/12798)

So, a really warm welcome. It's quite something to be practicing together. I know I'm actually in this room by myself, and perhaps you're in your room by yourself too, but somehow we're practicing together with the wonders of technology.

Tonight I want to talk a little bit about the Five Strengths. I'll start with a story that comes from the _Mahaparinibbana Sutta_[^1]. It is the sutta that describes the last few months of the Buddha's life.

It's quite remarkable that the Buddha knows when he's going to die, and he proclaims, "I'm going to die in three months." After he makes this announcement, he tells Ananda[^2], his attendant, to go assemble all the monks that are nearby, all his followers, and then the Buddha addresses them.

These aren't the last words he says before he dies, but it's nearly the end. He says, "Those matters which I have discovered and proclaimed should be thoroughly learned by you, practiced, developed, and cultivated, so that this spiritual practice may endure for a long time and be for the benefit and happiness of the multitudes." He wants his teachings to be passed down through the generations and to endure for a long time, so they should practice them. It's not just so much memorizing all the teachings, but practicing them.

Then he asks, "And what are those matters? Those matters which I have discovered and proclaimed, what are they?" Here he summarizes his teachings in this way: the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Success, the Five Faculties, the Five Strengths, the Seven Factors of Awakening, and the Noble Eightfold Path.

It's a list of lists. Some people know this as the thirty-seven. If you count up all those different elements, there are thirty-seven wings to awakening, or aids to awakening. Sometimes it's also called the seven sets, as there are seven elements in this list of lists. The total of thirty-seven things is known as the _Bodhipakkhiyādhammā_[^3], these aids to awakening.

In that list, there might be a few things that you're familiar with: Foundations of Mindfulness, Right Efforts, Five Faculties, Seven Factors of Awakening, and the Noble Eightfold Path. There are plenty of dharma talks and dharma books about these, and they are certainly sprinkled throughout the suttas. But there are two that are not quite as well known. One is the Four Bases of Success, the _Iddhipada_[^4]. I'm not going to talk about those this evening. I'll just say as a little aside that those are really difficult to translate and to understand. Even in the commentaries, there are such different interpretations of them, and it's not entirely certain that they offer anything unique. That's often why teachers and scholars haven't really fleshed those out.

The second item in these seven sets is the Five Strengths, sometimes called the Five Powers. What are these? These are defined as the exact same as the Five Faculties: faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom.

I've given a number of dharma talks on this list of five. The first talk I gave discussed how when you cultivate these Five Faculties, you slant, slope, and incline to Nibbana[^5] in the same way that the Ganges river slants, slopes, and inclines towards the east. It has this sense of inevitability; if you cultivate them, it leads towards awakening. I gave another talk on how heedfulness—or diligence—is a key part in cultivating these.

One way we might understand this list of the Five Faculties and the Five Strengths, which begins with faith and ends with wisdom, is as a progression of going from faith to wisdom. We pass through energy, mindfulness, and concentration, using those as tools to go from faith to wisdom.

I also gave a talk on the importance of balancing these different faculties. In particular, we balance energy and concentration. The gusto or striving that we might have has to be balanced with concentration. Sometimes energy can be up and concentration can be down, so is there a way that we can have them work together? Then I gave a talk on the importance of balancing faith and wisdom—not letting wisdom slide into mere accumulation of knowledge, or letting faith lead to dogmatism or constriction. And of course, there is this recognition that mindfulness is the one that helps us to balance energy with concentration, and faith with wisdom.

Now, this is my fifth talk, introducing this idea of the Five Strengths from those seven sets. When the Buddha summarizes his teachings, the Five Strengths, or Five Powers, are mentioned the least often. For the most part, they seem like they're the exact same as the faculties. So what purpose do they serve? Perhaps that's why we don't hear about them as much in dharma talks and dharma books.

## Faculties Versus Strengths

But there is a sutta that talks about the difference between a faculty and a strength. In the sutta, the Buddha gives a simile of a river. I'm paraphrasing now: Suppose there's a river, and there's an island in the middle of the river. If you look one way, you can see the river splits. On one side of the island is part of the river, and on the other side is another part. Downstream, they come back together. If you look straight onto the island, you can see there are two streams of water. But if you look upstream, before where the island is, you can see there's one stream of water.

In the same way, we can look at these qualities—faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—as faculties, or see them as strengths, depending on the perspective we take. Are we looking straight on at the island, or are we looking upstream?

If we look at them as faculties, we can consider them as something that needs to be developed and cultivated. There are a lot of teachings that really support this idea. These are capacities that we have, but they can be cultivated and developed so they might be more perfected, come to fruition, or blossom and show up in different ways. The emphasis is more on the fact that there's more to be done; they should be developed and cultivated.

In contrast, with the strengths, we can appreciate what's already here, what we've already done. From this frame of reference, we might be able to recognize that because we have some faith, it is able to withstand its opposite, which is distrust. Because we have energy, it is able to withstand its opposite, which is laziness. Because we have mindfulness, it is able to withstand its opposite, heedlessness. Because we have some degree of concentration, we are able not to be overcome by its opposite, distraction. And because we have some degree of wisdom, we are able not to be overcome by confusion.

It doesn't mean that distrust, laziness, heedlessness, distraction, or confusion never happen. It's just more about the stance that we take: appreciating what is here, the qualities that we already have, the function they may be serving, and how they might be supporting us. Often, we tend to be dismissive or ignore the things that have already been cultivated and developed. We tend to focus on what we need, what we should be doing, or what's not quite right. But what the Buddha is pointing to here is that these same qualities can be viewed in different ways—as something to be developed, or as something to be appreciated.

## The Negativity Bias and Flexible View

This brings to mind the quote by Suzuki Roshi[^6]. It goes something like, "You're perfect just the way you are, and you could use a little improvement." From one perspective, you're perfect. There's this beauty, grace, and perfection that we all have. And yet, maybe we could use a little improvement. Can we hold both of these in our minds? Can we appreciate both of these?

Sometimes it's very difficult because, as humans, we have a negativity bias. We have this inclination to look at what's wrong, what needs to be fixed. And of course we do. [Laughter] I just had a little tickle in my throat.

We might have this inclination to look at what needs to be better, or fixed. We might have a natural inclination where we tend to notice that the glass is half empty, or we might notice that the glass is half full. I don't even know if it's really possible to have a completely neutral lens or a neutral perspective. In that simple simile of what the Buddha taught, we look at the river one way and we see where it's split into two streams of water. We look at it from another perspective and we see one stream of water. But we always have a perspective; we can't see the stream without having a perspective.

When we have a tendency to lock onto what's not quite right—what needs to be fixed, cultivated, or developed—sometimes we might use these types of words as a way to beat ourselves up a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to let us all off the hook. There are things to be cultivated and developed. But can we notice that there's more than just that? There are qualities that we already have. We can shift our perspective to see both: to see the beauty and perfection, and to see some work that might need to be done, some room for improvement.

Often, if we have the inclination to see problems, viewing the world as just one thing after another that has to be fixed, we take a perspective that increases the "problem-ness" of the experience. If we see something that's not quite right, a sense of self gets reified, constricted, and solidified. We think, "I have to be the one that fixes that thing," or "I have to fix this about myself," or "That person has to fix this thing." There's a clumping or narrowing down around the sense of self. We blame ourselves or some other self. Blame is a way in which we often solidify things, becoming rigid in our views of ourselves or others. It's innocent; we're not meaning to harm anybody. But if we're inclined to notice the way in which things are problems, it often goes along with the solidification of a sense of self or blame, even though it might be subtle.

We might be making more of a problem than is needed. For example, if we don't have the solidification around a sense of self, there might be more of an opportunity to consider all the conditions that came together to cause this event or experience. Maybe I find myself eating mindlessly, cookie after cookie after cookie. One way to view this is to really blame myself: "Diana, you're always eating cookies. What's wrong with you? It's not good for you. When are you going to stop doing that? You know better." There's this blame that happens, and it's all about Diana and her not doing well around the cookies.

But there could also be a certain relaxation around this idea that there's a problem. There could be this recognition: "Well, okay, you didn't have a proper lunch, and you're feeling tired. You didn't sleep well last night, and the cookies are right here on the counter. And you're a little bit nervous about what's going to happen next. So, of course you ate the cookies." It's pulling together some of the conditions so that we can see what's happening, as opposed to making a rigid sense of self. In the same way, can we appreciate some of the qualities and strengths that we have without having to make a strong sense of self around it, and without having to only focus on the problems?

It's not just about being a "glass half empty" or "glass half full" person, but having the flexibility to see, "Yeah, I can look at it this way—it's half empty, and there's a person or a self that's to blame. Or I could look at it this other way that's maybe a little bit delusional and doesn't see that there's anything that's a problem." But can there be a third way that appreciates the conditions coming together? Maybe there is a way to see that some of these qualities and faculties are beautiful and supportive, and yet maybe there's a little bit of development that can be done. You're perfect just the way you are, and you could use a little improvement.

Of course we have this negativity bias. Evolutionarily, our ancestors had to take care of things that were life-threatening. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have passed their genes on to the next generations, and we wouldn't have inherited them. So, naturally, there is this human tendency. I appreciate very much what Rick Hanson[^7] says about the negativity bias. He says that positive experiences, or even appreciating ourselves, are a little bit like Teflon. It's actually difficult to do, given the ways we've been socialized and our biology.

This idea of the Five Strengths—faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—requires us to appreciate when they are there and to recognize that they are counteracting their opposites. It takes a little bit of effort. Rick Hanson says that positive experiences are like Teflon; they can just be wiped away. In contrast, unpleasant, negative experiences are like Velcro. We tend to stick to them, and the mind likes to ruminate and go over them.

This is often where the blame comes in: "I can't believe he said that," "I can't believe she said that," or "I can't believe I said this." We can get sticky, get stuck there, and find ourselves going around and around. Is there a way that we can recognize when this is happening and allow both to be there? Can we look at it in a flexible way, looking both straight on at the island and up the river?

## The Progression of the Path

One way to view these thirty-seven aids to awakening, these seven sets, is that they are in numerical order. There are a couple of sets of four, a couple of sets of five, one group of seven, and one group of eight. Another way to view it is as the path. It starts with mindfulness, goes through effort, and then the bases of success, which can be related to concentration. Then the faculties and the strengths, the Seven Factors of Awakening, and finally the Eightfold Path.

If we view it as a progression starting with mindfulness and ending with the Eightfold Path, I'll add a little note here about the Noble Eightfold Path. It can also be translated as the "Eightfold Path of the Noble Ones," which is a valid interpretation. The Noble Eightfold Path is just the expression of what awakened people do, how they are in the world.

If we use that model of the thirty-seven aids to awakening, the strengths come after the faculties in that list. After there's a certain amount of cultivation and development of the faculties, the strengths come on board as a support. They really start flowering and blossoming, leading to the Factors of Awakening.

What is it about the faculties leading into the strengths? Maybe it happens when faith in our own capacity and in this path of practice is really strong. Faith is an element that is not in any of the other seven sets. We see energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom in some of the other sets, but faith is unique. When we use that faith as a strength, it can really support our awakening.

Our inner critics may sometimes rise up and say we shouldn't think about our strengths. They tell us we should just be working on what needs to be developed and cultivated, that we have to do better or strive more. But I think the Buddha is pointing out here that recognizing our strengths—the capacities we already have and how they are operating in our lives—is a support for awakening. It is a support towards finding greater ease, greater freedom, and greater peace. And not just for ourselves, but so that we can be a support for others.

May you find an opportunity to notice that we can be flexible in our view. We don't always have to focus on what needs to be done or what isn't quite right. We can also notice and appreciate what is working and what is doing okay, so that we might help others. May you have an opportunity to exercise this flexible view.

Thank you.

---

[^1]: **Mahaparinibbana Sutta:** The Buddhist discourse detailing the last days and passing away of the Buddha.

[^2]: **Ananda:** The Buddha's cousin and primary attendant, known for his prodigious memory of the Buddha's discourses.

[^3]: **Bodhipakkhiyādhammā:** The 37 aids or wings to awakening; a collection of the essential teachings for liberation.

[^4]: **Iddhipada:** The Four Bases of Success or Power: intention, effort, consciousness, and investigation.

[^5]: **Nibbana:** The Pali word for Nirvana; the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, signifying liberation from suffering.

[^6]: **Suzuki Roshi:** Shunryu Suzuki, a foundational Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States.

[^7]: **Rick Hanson:** A psychologist and author known for his work bridging neuroscience and Buddhist contemplative practices.