Part ofa series on
Buddhism
Glossary Index Outline
History Timeline The Buddha Pre-sectarian Buddhism Councils Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Decline in the Indian subcontinent Later Buddhists Buddhist modernism
Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Dharma wheel Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering No-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Mettā Emptiness Morality Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology
Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Early Texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Sanskrit literature Tibetan canon Chinese canon Post-canon
Practices Three Jewels Buddhist paths to liberation Five precepts Perfections Meditation Philosophical reasoning Devotional practices Merit making Recollections Mindfulness Wisdom Sublime abidings Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Lay life Buddhist liturgy Buddhist chant Pilgrimage Vegetarianism
Nirvāṇa Awakening Four Stages Arhat Pratyekabuddhayāna Bodhisattva Buddha
Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar
Buddhism by country Bhutan Brazil Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar New Zealand Russia Singapore US Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam
Buddhism portal
v t e

Part ofTheravāda Abhidhamma
52Cetasikas
Theravāda Buddhism
7 universal(sabbacittasādhāraṇa) Phassa Vedanā Saññā Cetanā Ekaggatā Samādhi Jīvitindriya Manasikāra
6 occasional(pakiṇṇaka) Vitakka Vicāra Adhimokkha Viriya Pīti Chanda
14 unwholesome(akusala) 4 universal unwholesome(akusalasādhāraṇa): Moha Ahirika Anottappa Uddhacca 3 greed-group(lobha): Lobha Diṭṭhi Māna 4 hatred-group(dosa): Dosa Issā Macchariya Kukkucca other unwholesome: Thīna Middha Vicikicchā
25 beautiful(sobhana) 19 universal beautiful(sobhanasādhāraṇa): Saddhā Sati Hiri Ottappa Alobha Adosa Mettā Tatramajjhattatā Upekkhā Kāyapassaddhi Cittapassaddhi Kāyalahutā Cittalahutā Kāyamudutā Cittamudutā Kāyakammaññatā Cittakammaññatā Kāyapāguññatā Cittapāguññatā Kāyujukatā Cittujukatā 3 abstinences(virati): Sammāvācā Sammākammanta Sammā-ājīva 2 immeasurables(appamañña): Karuṇā Muditā 1 faculty of wisdom(paññindriya): Paññā Amoha
Buddhism portal
v t e

Pīti in Pali (Sanskrit:Prīti) is amental factor (Pali:cetasika, Sanskrit:caitasika) associated with the development ofjhāna (Sanskrit:dhyāna) inBuddhist meditation. According toBuddhadasa Bhikkhu,piti is a stimulating, exciting and energizing and dry quality, as opposed to the calmness ofsukha.^[1]

Piti is a joyfulsaṅkhāra (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 alongsidepīti.

In the commentarial tradition onBuddhist meditation, the development ofjhāna (Sanskrit:dhyāna) is described as the development of fivemental factors (cetasika) that counteract thefive hindrances:^{[note 1]}

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

Bothpīti andsukha are born of bodily seclusion and mental quietude in firstjhāna, then are born of focused concentration (samādhi) in the secondjhāna but onlysukha is sustained in the thirdjhāna whilepīti fades away in the course of cultivatingpure,mindfulequanimity (upekkhāsatipārisuddhi).

The 5th century CEVisuddhimagga distinguishes betweenpīti andsukha in the following experiential manner:

And wherever the two are associated, happiness [here, Ñāṇamoli's translation ofpīti] 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 theformationsaggregate; bliss is included in thefeeling 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....^[5]

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

• Weak rapture only causespiloerection.^{[citation needed]}
• Short rapture evocates some thunder "from time to time".^{[citation needed]}
• Going down rapture explodes inside the body, like waves.^{[citation needed]}
• Exalting rapture "makes the body jump to the sky".^{[citation needed]}
• Fulfilling rapture seems to be a huge flood of a mountain stream.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[6]

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

• 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) athttp://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html.
• Ñāṇamoli, 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" athttp://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.028.than.html.

• Mental factors in Buddhism

• CS1 Pali-language sources (pi)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from July 2025