Pīti

''Pīti'' in Pali (Sanskrit: ''Prīti'') is a mental factor (Pali:''cetasika'', Sanskrit: ''caitasika'') associated with the development of '' jhāna'' (Sanskrit: ''dhyāna'') in Buddhist meditation. According to Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, ''piti'' is a stimulating, exciting and energizing quality, as opposed to the calmness of ''sukha''.

Definition

Piti is a joyful saṅkhāra (formation) associated with no object, so the practitioner is not attaining it by desire. It is often translated into the English word "rapture" and is distinguished from the longer-lasting meditative "joy" or "happiness" (Pali, Sanskrit: '' sukha'') which is a subtler feeling which arises alongside ''pīti''.

Mental factor in meditation

In the commentarial tradition on Buddhist meditation, the development of ''jhāna'' (Sanskrit: ''dhyāna'') is described as the development of five mental factors (''cetasika'') that counteract the five hindrances:

# '' vitakka'' ("applied thought") counteracts sloth and torpor (lethargy and drowsiness)
# '' vicāra'' ("sustained thought") counteracts doubt (uncertainty)
# ''pīti'' (rapture) counteracts ill-will (malice)
# '' sukha'' (non-sensual pleasure") counteracts restlessness-worry (excitation and anxiety)
# ''ekaggata'' (one-pointedness) counteracts sensory desire

Both ''pīti'' and ''sukha'' are born of bodily seclusion and mental quietude in first ''jhāna'', then are born of focused concentration (''samādhi'') in the second ''jhāna'' but only ''sukha'' is sustained in the third ''jhāna'' while ''pīti'' fades away in the course of cultivating pure, mindful equanimity (''upekkhāsatipārisuddhi'').

The 5th century CE ''Visuddhimagga'' distinguishes between ''pīti'' and ''sukha'' in the following experiential manner:
:And wherever the two are associated, happiness ere, Ñāamoli's translation of ''pīti''is the contentedness at getting a desirable object, and bliss 'sukha''is the actual experiencing of it when got. Where there is happiness 'pīti''there is bliss (pleasure) 'sukha'' but where there is bliss 'sukha''there is not necessarily happiness 'pīti'' Happiness is included in the formations aggregate; bliss is included in the feeling aggregate. If a man exhausted in a desert saw or heard about a pond on the edge of a wood, he would have happiness; if he went into the wood's shade and used the water, he would have bliss....

Fivefold classification

As the meditator experiences tranquillity (''samatha''), one of five kinds of physical pleasure (''piti'') will arise. These are:

*Weak rapture only causes piloerection.
*Short rapture evocates some thunder "from time to time".
*Going down rapture explodes inside the body, like waves.
*Exalting rapture "makes the body jump to the sky".
*Fulfilling rapture seems to be a huge flood of a mountain stream.

Note that only the last two are considered piti, specifically. The first four are a preparation for the final stage, which is the jhanic factor. Vsm. IV, 94-99 (Ñāamoli, 1999, pp. 141-2).

See also

* Samatha (tranquility of the mind)
* Jhāna (absorption)
* Sukha (happiness/bliss, conascent (sahajāta) with piti during first two jhanas)
* Upekkha (equanimity)

Notes

References

Further reading

* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1980). ''Transcendental Dependent Arising: A Translation and Exposition of the Upanisa Sutta'' (Wheel No. 277/278). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2008-05-08 from "Access to Insight" (1995) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html.
* Ñāamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1999). ''The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga''. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. .
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). ''Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration'' ( AN 5.28). Retrieved 2008-05-09 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.028.than.html.

Mental factors in Buddhism

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