Pīti

"Prīti" (Sanskrit; Pali: "pīti") is a mental factor (Pali:"cetasika") associated with the concentrative absorption (Sanskrit: "dhyana"; Pali: "jhana") of Buddhist meditation. Piti is a very specific joy associated with a state of deep tranquillity. It is often translated with the English words "joy" or "rapture" and is distinguished from the longer-lasting meditative "pleasure" or "happiness" ("sukha") that arises along with "pīti".

Absorption factor

In Buddhist meditation, the development of concentrative absorption (Sanskrit: "dhyāna"; Pali: "jhāna") is canonically described in terms of the following five factors:
* applied thought ("vitakka")
* sustained thought ("vicāra")
* joy/rapture/happiness ("pīti")
* happiness/pleasure/bliss ("sukha")
* equanimity ("upekkhā") [See, for instance, "SamādhaIAST|ṅga Sutta" (a/k/a, "PañcaIAST|ṅgikasamādhi Sutta", AN 5.28) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.028.than.html (Thanissaro, 1997).] ]

Both "pīti" and "sukha" are born of bodily seclusion and mental quietude. The 5^th c. CE "Visuddhimagga" distinguishes between "pīti" and "sukha" in the following experiential manner::And wherever the two are associated, happiness [here, ÑāIAST|ṇamoli'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.... [Vsm. IV, 100 (ÑāIAST|ṇamoli, 1999, p. 142). Similarly, see also the Abhidhamma's commentary, "Atthasalini" [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html (Bodhi, 1980).] ]

Fivefold classification

As the meditator experiences tranquillity ("samatha"), one of five kinds of joy ("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 only the last two are considered specifically piti. The first four are just a preparation for the last one, which is the jhanic factor. [Vsm. IV, 94-99 (ÑāIAST|ṇamoli, 1999, pp. 141-2).]

See also

* Dhyāna/Jhāna (absorption)
* Sukha (happiness/bliss, conascent with piti during first two jhanas)
* Rapture (Christian use of the term "rapture")

Notes

ources

* 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.

* ÑāIAST|ṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1999). "The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga". Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.

* 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.