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Overview
Rapture or Joy (Pīti) is a crucial factor of concentration and an awakening factor. As a meditator deepens their practice (especially through subjects like the recollection of the Buddha or breath meditation), joy arises progressively. The commentarial tradition categorizes this physical and mental thrill into five distinct intensities.
The List
- Khuddakā pīti - Minor Joy: A slight thrill that raises the hairs on the body, resembling a sudden shower of rain.
- Khaṇikā pīti - Momentary Joy: Flashes of joy that appear and disappear repeatedly, like flashes of lightning in a dark sky.
- Okkantikā pīti - Showering / Descending Joy: A stronger wave of joy that washes over the body again and again, like waves breaking on a seashore.
- Ubbegā pīti - Uplifting Joy: A highly intense, exhilarating rapture that can cause physical levitation or make the body feel incredibly light, as if leaping into the air.
- Pharaṇā pīti - Pervading Joy: The most refined state of joy. It completely suffuses, fills, and permeates the entire physical body like a blown bladder filling with air. This is the rapture associated with full absorption (jhāna).
Quote
72. Pītisukhanti ettha pīṇayatīti pīti.
- In Pītisukhaṃ (joy and happiness), pīti (joy) is that which gladdens or increases.
Sā sampiyāyanalakkhaṇā, kāyacittapīnanarasā, pharaṇarasā vā, odagyapaccupaṭṭhānā.
It has the characteristic of gladdening; its function is to invigorate the body and mind, or to pervade (the body with mental concomitants); its manifestation is an uplifting of the mind and body.Sā panesā khuddikā pīti, khaṇikāpīti, okkantikāpīti, ubbegāpīti, pharaṇāpītīti pañcavidhā hoti.
This pīti, however, is five-fold: minor joy (khuddikā pīti), momentary joy (khaṇikā pīti), showering joy (okkantikā pīti), uplifting joy (ubbegā pīti), and pervading joy (pharaṇā pīti).Tattha khuddikāpīti sarīre lomahaṃsamattameva kātuṃ sakkoti.
Among these, minor joy (khuddikā pīti) can only cause the hairs of the body to stand on end.Khaṇikāpīti khaṇe khaṇe vijjuppādasadisā hoti.
Momentary joy (khaṇikā pīti) is like flashes of lightning occurring moment by moment.Okkantikāpīti samuddatīraṃ vīci viya kāyaṃ okkamitvā okkamitvā bhijjati.
Showering joy (okkantikā pīti), like a wave breaking repeatedly upon the seashore, repeatedly surges over the body and bursts.Ubbegāpīti balavatī hoti kāyaṃ uddhaggaṃ katvā ākāse laṅghāpanappamāṇappattā.
Uplifting joy (ubbegā pīti) is powerful, capable of lifting the body upwards into the air, like a ball struck (on a smooth surface).Tathā hi puṇṇavallikavāsī mahātissatthero puṇṇamadivase sāyaṃ cetiyaṅgaṇaṃ gantvā candālokaṃ disvā mahācetiyābhimukho hutvā ‘‘imāya vata velāya catasso parisā mahācetiyaṃ vandantī’’ti pakatiyā diṭṭhārammaṇavasena buddhārammaṇaṃ ubbegāpītiṃ uppādetvā sudhātale pahaṭacitrageṇḍuko viya ākāse uppatitvā mahācetiyaṅgaṇeyeva patiṭṭhāsi.
Indeed, Mahātissa Thera, residing in Puṇṇavallika, on the full moon evening, went to the pagoda courtyard, saw the moonlight, faced the Great Pagoda, and thought, “At this very time, the four assemblies will be venerating the Great Pagoda.” By means of a previously seen object, he generated a strong uplifting joy (ubbegā pīti) with the Buddha as its object, and like a skillful ball player striking a ball on a smooth surface, he flew up into the air and landed precisely within the Great Pagoda courtyard.— Visuddhimagga (Chapter IV, 72)
Textual References
- Commentary: Visuddhimagga (Chapter IV) – Buddhaghosa provides the definitive explanation and similes for these five ascending levels of meditative joy.