Vigour and lethargy

For Kinder, vigour is the third element of adulthood, which drives the achievement of goals. Key point: goals breed vigour. Kinder's three questions for ascertaining life goals are based on the distant, then imminent approach of death.

St B: "let us rouse ourselves from lethargy" and "run while you have the light of life before the darkness of death overtakes you" (prologue).

Joseph Goldstein (Benedict’s Dharma) reflects how impermanence and change awakens us from lethargy:

• “The end of birth is death”: time is running out, but we see death more in others than in ourselves. St B: “Keep the reality of death always before your eyes” (4.7); in other words, return to Kinder’s three questions time and time again. Reflecting on death can paradoxically enhance our freedom and give us vigour.
• “The end of all accumulation is dispersion”: Kinder sees possessions as a vigour drain. In money terms, why spend money on possessions for them only to be burdened with clutter? Acceptance of impermanence is a route to freedom
• “All meetings end in separation”: forgetting this leads to such entanglement and attachment that separation leads to undue suffering