user-1: I understand and have understood what in Buddhism is linked to right effort, which involves aspiring to what is skillful and abandoning what is unskillful. 
Yet, I wonder:
How do practitioners proceed in terms of order or in terms of determining what to do next? How does one determine what is most important?
Thank you

user471: When you first learn to drive a car, do you learn how to start the car on one day, how to accelerate on the second day, how to brake on the third day, how to turn the steering wheel to the left on the fourth day and how to turn the steering wheel to the right on the fifth day? No. It doesn't make sense. You have to learn and develop these steps altogether in tandem, and practise them together.
Another example is this. When you learn to cook, would you learn to cut vegetables on one day, then learn how to wash ingredients on another day, then learn to boil on another day, then learn to simmer on another day and so on? No. Instead, you learn and practise them altogether at once by trying to cook a certain recipe. By practising them together, you slowly deepen your cooking skills. You would then expand to add frying, broiling, baking, steaming, poaching, sauteeing etc. to your techniques, but you would practise them together in one recipe.
Similarly, in the case of the Noble Eightfold Path, you would have to first cultivate Right View (the forerunner of the path) by learning the Buddha's teachings (the Dhamma). Then you would start developing Right Resolve, and decide to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, and practise the five precepts (which form the core part of the virtues - Right Action, Right Speech and Right Livelihood).
As you deepen your progress into Right View by studying more of the Dhamma, you then increase your knowledge of the virtues (Right Action, Right Speech and Right Livelihood) and try to practise them with more fervour. That's more of Right Resolve and Right Effort being applied.
As you deepen your contemplation of the teachings, you start cultivating Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, and then go into the meditation practices. These meditation practices would then lead you to better understanding of the Dhamma through first hand experience, which is improving the Right View once again. If you stumble into the five hindrances during meditation, you may need to deepen your practice of the virtues once again. This of course again is applying Right Resolve and Right Effort towards making progress in meditation and cultivation of wisdom.
So, every step helps the other. You can't practise only one of them at a time. But of course, learning the Dhamma and practising virtues tend to come before meditation, in general. This is just as in the case where you need to start a car and accelerate, before braking, but you would anyway do them in one session of driving, with repetition of all the steps as needed, to take you to your destination.
Even if you have not tried to meditate, if you continually reflect and ponder upon the teachings (that you have studied) and see how they match your experiences in life, you would still begin to understand the teachings from first hand experience. Then meditation could still progressively come later.

user295: The order is in the 3 fold training is

sila
samadhi
panna

Having said that dana proceeds sila. The 3 main merits are

dana
sila 
bavana

Bavana incudes samadhi and panna. 
So do,

dana
sila
samadhi
panna

This is a gradual training starting from simpler like dana to more advanced like panna. This is like building a house. What you want is a roof above your head (panna). Do do that one has to have walls to support (samadhi). Walls need to be on a strong foundation (Sila).
Right effect is to prevent unwholesome and develop wholesome my guarding the sense doors.
After right effort come right mindfulness. Order of practice is given here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path. Namely, items 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2
The stating from panna is for the very intelligent out of the  4 types of people. 

user254: There's a non-Buddhist saying, "Put the big rocks in first".
I understood that to mean "duty first", i.e. don't neglect what it might be immoral or unwise to neglect.
There's a Zen story, Wash your bowl -- that I suppose is meant to be instructive. Or maybe Zen people will stereo-typically "sweep the floor" or something like that. Is that aspirational, perhaps you might want to reach a stage of simplicity (of other-duties-having-been-finished) in life that there is no more to do than to "sweep the floor"? Is that an aspect of "liberation"?
I don't know but I get the impression that life in a monastery is regulated, i.e. that there are rules about what to do when, and how (e.g. rules to follow if you're a monk newly-arrived in a monastery).

user43: Not just my own understanding, but a standard teaching is to approach things gradually, from coarse to subtle.
First, we have to stop creating major sources of trouble for ourselves. How do we do that? By following five precepts. Then, we stop creating medium-sized issues, by following the behavioral parts of the Eightfold Path. Then we stop creating subtler types of problems, by learning to control our emotions. Then, we get to subtle problems, by engaging in Samatha meditation to learn to stop compulsory thinking and inner dialog. Then, very subtle problems, by getting rid of egoistic perspectives. Then, ultrasubtle problems, by letting go of attachment to perfection and spirituality. Then extremely ultrasubtle problems, by practicing groundless suchness. These are just examples, you get the idea. 
This is taught in many schools, and by many teachers. One thing at a time, by size, do the bigger stuff first. Stop creating large problems first.

-1: <p>I understand and have understood what in Buddhism is linked to right effort, which involves aspiring to what is skillful and abandoning what is unskillful. </p>

<p>Yet, I wonder:
<strong>How do practitioners proceed in terms of order or in terms of determining what to do next? How does one determine what is most important?</strong></p>

<p>Thank you</p>
 471: <p>When you first learn to drive a car, do you learn how to start the car on one day, how to accelerate on the second day, how to brake on the third day, how to turn the steering wheel to the left on the fourth day and how to turn the steering wheel to the right on the fifth day? No. It doesn't make sense. You have to learn and develop these steps altogether in tandem, and practise them together.</p>

<p>Another example is this. When you learn to cook, would you learn to cut vegetables on one day, then learn how to wash ingredients on another day, then learn to boil on another day, then learn to simmer on another day and so on? No. Instead, you learn and practise them altogether at once by trying to cook a certain recipe. By practising them together, you slowly deepen your cooking skills. You would then expand to add frying, broiling, baking, steaming, poaching, sauteeing etc. to your techniques, but you would practise them together in one recipe.</p>

<p>Similarly, in the case of the Noble Eightfold Path, you would have to first cultivate Right View (the forerunner of the path) by learning the Buddha's teachings (the Dhamma). Then you would start developing Right Resolve, and decide to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, and practise the five precepts (which form the core part of the virtues - Right Action, Right Speech and Right Livelihood).</p>

<p>As you deepen your progress into Right View by studying more of the Dhamma, you then increase your knowledge of the virtues (Right Action, Right Speech and Right Livelihood) and try to practise them with more fervour. That's more of Right Resolve and Right Effort being applied.</p>

<p>As you deepen your contemplation of the teachings, you start cultivating Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, and then go into the meditation practices. These meditation practices would then lead you to better understanding of the Dhamma through first hand experience, which is improving the Right View once again. If you stumble into the five hindrances during meditation, you may need to deepen your practice of the virtues once again. This of course again is applying Right Resolve and Right Effort towards making progress in meditation and cultivation of wisdom.</p>

<p>So, every step helps the other. You can't practise only one of them at a time. But of course, learning the Dhamma and practising virtues tend to come before meditation, in general. This is just as in the case where you need to start a car and accelerate, before braking, but you would anyway do them in one session of driving, with repetition of all the steps as needed, to take you to your destination.</p>

<p>Even if you have not tried to meditate, if you continually reflect and ponder upon the teachings (that you have studied) and see how they match your experiences in life, you would still begin to understand the teachings from first hand experience. Then meditation could still progressively come later.</p>
 295: <p>The order is in the 3 fold training is</p>

<ul>
<li>sila</li>
<li>samadhi</li>
<li>panna</li>
</ul>

<p>Having said that dana proceeds sila. The 3 main merits are</p>

<ul>
<li>dana</li>
<li>sila </li>
<li>bavana</li>
</ul>

<p>Bavana incudes samadhi and panna. </p>

<p>So do,</p>

<ul>
<li>dana</li>
<li>sila</li>
<li>samadhi</li>
<li>panna</li>
</ul>

<p>This is a gradual training starting from simpler like dana to more advanced like panna. This is like building a house. What you want is a roof above your head (panna). Do do that one has to have walls to support (samadhi). Walls need to be on a strong foundation (Sila).</p>

<p>Right effect is to prevent unwholesome and develop wholesome my guarding the sense doors.</p>

<p>After right effort come right mindfulness. Order of practice is given here <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path</a>. Namely, items 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2</p>

<p>The stating from panna is for the very intelligent out of the  4 types of people. </p>
 254: <p>There's a non-Buddhist saying, "<a href="http://www.appleseeds.org/big-rocks_covey.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Put the big rocks in first</a>".</p>

<p>I understood that to mean "duty first", i.e. don't neglect what it might be immoral or unwise to neglect.</p>

<p>There's a Zen story, <a href="http://www.nozen.com/washbowl.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wash your bowl</a> -- that I suppose is meant to be instructive. Or maybe Zen people will stereo-typically "sweep the floor" or something like that. Is that aspirational, perhaps you might want to reach a stage of simplicity (of other-duties-having-been-finished) in life that there is no more to do than to "sweep the floor"? Is that an aspect of "liberation"?</p>

<p>I don't know but I get the impression that life in a monastery is regulated, i.e. that there are rules about what to do when, and how (e.g. rules to follow if you're a monk newly-arrived in a monastery).</p>
 43: <p>Not just my own understanding, but a standard teaching is to approach things gradually, from coarse to subtle.</p>

<p>First, we have to stop creating major sources of trouble for ourselves. How do we do that? By following five precepts. Then, we stop creating medium-sized issues, by following the behavioral parts of the Eightfold Path. Then we stop creating subtler types of problems, by learning to control our emotions. Then, we get to subtle problems, by engaging in Samatha meditation to learn to stop compulsory thinking and inner dialog. Then, very subtle problems, by getting rid of egoistic perspectives. Then, ultrasubtle problems, by letting go of attachment to perfection and spirituality. Then extremely ultrasubtle problems, by practicing groundless suchness. These are just examples, you get the idea. </p>

<p>This is taught in many schools, and by many teachers. One thing at a time, by size, do the bigger stuff first. Stop creating large problems first.</p>
