Indriya (literally "belonging to or agreeable toIndra") is theSanskrit andPali term for physical strength or ability in general,[1][2][3][4] and for and specifically refers to thefive spiritual faculties, the five or six sensory faculties, and the twenty-two phenomenological faculties.[a]
Indriya, literally "belonging to or agreeable toIndra," chief deity in theRig Veda and lord of theTrāyastriṃśa heaven (also known asŚakra or Sakka in Buddhism), hence connoting supremacy, dominance and control, attested in the general meaning of "power, strength" from theRig Veda.[5][6][7][8]
In BuddhistSanskrit andPali the term generally refers to physical strength or ability in general, and more specifically to the five spiritual faculties, the five or six sensory faculties, or the twenty-two phenomenological faculties.
InAN 6.55, the Buddha counsels a discouraged monk, Sona, to balance or "tune" his spiritual faculties as one would a musical instrument:
"... what do you think: when the strings of your [lute] were neither too taut nor too loose, but tuned to be right on pitch, was your [lute] in tune & playable?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, Sona, over-aroused persistence leads to restlessness, overly slack persistence leads to laziness. Thus you should determine the right pitch for your persistence, attune the pitch of the [five] faculties [to that], and there pick up your theme."[15][16]
Relatedly, theVisuddhimagga and other post-canonicalPali commentaries[17] caution against one spiritual faculty overpowering and inhibiting the other four faculties, and thus generally recommend modifying the overpowering faculty with the investigation of states (seedhamma vicaya) or the development of tranquillity (samatha). Moreover, these commentaries especially recommend that the five spiritual faculties be developed in counterbalancing dyads:
Mindfulness
Faith
Under- standing
Energy
Concen- tration
Mindfulness
The balancing of the five spiritual faculties.
"For one strong infaith and weak in understanding has confidence uncritically and groundlessly. One strong inunderstanding and weak in faith errs on the side of cunning and is as hard to cure as one sick of a disease caused by medicine. With the balancing of the two a man has confidence only when there are grounds for it." (Vism. Ch. IV, §47, ¶1)
"... [I]dleness overpowers one strong inconcentration and weak inenergy, since concentration favours idleness. Agitation overpowers one strong in energy and weak in concentration, since energy favours agitation. But concentration coupled with energy cannot lapse into idleness, and energy coupled with concentration cannot lapse into agitation. So these two should be balanced; forabsorption comes with the balancing of the two." (Vism. Ch. IV, §47, ¶2)
"... One working onconcentration needs strongfaith, since it is with such faith and confidence that he reaches absorption." (Vism. Ch. IV, §48)
"... Then there is [balancing of]concentration andunderstanding. One working on concentration needs strongunification, since that is how he reachesabsorption; and one working oninsight needs strong understanding, since that is how he reaches penetration ofcharacteristics; but with the balancing of the two he reaches absorption as well." (Vism. Ch. IV, §48)
"Strongmindfulness, however, is needed in all instances; for mindfulness protects the mind lapsing into agitation through faith, energy and understanding, which favour agitation, and from lapsing into idleness through concentration, which favours idleness." (Vism. Ch. IV, §49).[18]
InSN 48.43, the Buddha declares that the five spiritual faculties are theFive Powers and vice versa. He uses the metaphor of a stream passing by a mid-stream island; the island creates two streams, but the streams can also be seen as one and the same.[19] ThePali commentaries remark that these five qualities are "faculties" when used to control their spheres of influence, and are "powers" when unshakeable by opposing forces.[20]
In the Sutta Pitaka, six sensory faculties are referenced in a manner similar to the sixsaḷāyatana ('centers of experience', 'six sense bases').[21] These faculties consist of thefive senses with the addition of "mind" or "thought" (manas). When distorted, they becomesaḷāyatana.[21]
vision (cakkh-indriya)
hearing (sot-indriya)
smell (ghān-indriya)
taste (jivh-indriya)
touch (kāy-indriya)
thought (man-indriya)
The first five of these faculties are sometimes referenced as the five material faculties (e.g.,pañcannaṃ indriyānaṃ avakanti).[22]
In theAbhidhamma Pitaka, the notion ofindriya is expanded to the twenty-two "phenomenological faculties" or "controlling powers" (Pali:bāvīsati indriyāni)[23] which are:
At times in the Pali Canon, different discourses or Abhidhammic passages will refer to different subsets of the 22 phenomenological faculties. Thus, for instance, in theAbhidhamma there are references to the "eightfoldform-faculty" (aṭṭhavidhaṃ indriya-rūpaṃ) which includes the first five sensory faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue and body faculties) plus the three physical faculties (femininity, masculinity and vitality).[26]
^Bodhi (2000) translatesindriya as "spiritual faculty" and, at times (particularly when referring to Abhidhammic sources), "faculty." Buddhaghosa & Ñāṇamoli (1999) consistently translateindriya simply as "faculty" both in the context of the five spiritual faculties (e.g., pp. 128-9) and the 22 phenomenological faculties (Ch. XVI). Conze (1993) mentions and uses translations of "faculty," "controlling faculty" and "spiritual faculty," and refers to the fiveindriya as "cardinal virtues." Thanissaro (1998) uses "faculty." Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 122-123,entry for "Indriya," (retrieved 2007-05-27) defines it as: "Indriya is one of the most comprehensive & important categories of Buddhist psychological philosophy & ethics, meaning 'controlling principle, directive force, élan, dynamis'...: (a) with reference to sense-perceptibility 'faculty, function'...."
^Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 122, entry "indriya"
^Thanissaro (1998), Part II, sec. E, "The Five Faculties."
^Alternatively,SN 48.8 andAN V.15 identify "faith" as referring to the four-fold faith of the stream-enterer which Conze (1993),n. 28, and Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999), p. 297,n. 9, identify as faith in theTriple Gem and"perfect morality."
^Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 685, defines "samādhi" firstly as "concentration; a concentrated, self-collected, intent state of mind and meditation ...." Shankman (2008), p. 3, notes: "Samādhi, generally translated as 'concentration' ..." (although, his book begins, "The termsamādhi basically means 'undistractedness'"). Samādhi has been translated as "concentration" by contemporary translators including Bodhi (2000, throughout) and Thanissaro (1997a).
^In Shankman (2008), p. 169, during an interview,Ajahn Brahmavamso states: "'Concentration' was never a very good translation forsamādhi, and I have moved from that to 'attentive stillness.'" Feldman (2023), as part of an introduction to a month-long online series on samādhi, writes: "[The Buddha] spoke about using the power of samādhi — the power of stillness and connectedness — in turning toward the development of understanding and liberation in insight."
^Bodhi (2000), pp. 1671-73; and, Thanissaro (1997a).
^While the Palicommentaries consistently use the termbodhipakkhiyā dhammā ("states conducive to enlightenment") to refer toseven sets of awakened qualities (i.e., the fourframes of reference,four right exertions, four bases of power, five faculties,five powers, sevenbojjhanga, andNoble Eightfold Path) (see, e.g., Bodhi, 2000, p. 1937,n. 235), a search of the Sinhala SLTP tipitaka (using La Trobe University's search engine at"La Trobe University: Pali Canon Online Database". Archived fromthe original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved2007-11-21.) finds the Pali phrasebodhipakkhiyā dhammā occurring only once in the early suttas: in theSālā Sutta (SN 48.51) where the term references solely these five spiritual faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom (Bodhi, 2000, p. 1695).
^Thanissaro (1997b). See also Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999), pp. 168-70. Following Nyanaponika & Bodhi, the Pali wordvīṇā (which Thanissaro leaves untranslated) is translated here as "lute"; other square-bracketed phrases are from Thanissaro (1997b). In Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999), they translate this excerpt's last line as: "Therefore, Soṇa, keep your energy in balance, penetrate to a balance of the spiritual faculties, and there seize your object." In the associated end note (pp. 301-2, n. 31), they provide the commentary's interpretation of "object" (nimitta) as: "When such balance exists, the object can arise clearly, just like the reflection of the face in a mirror; and you should seize this object, be it of tranquillity, insight, path or fruition."
^See also theAggi Sutta ("Fire Discourse,"SN 46.53) in which, within the context of the sevenenlightenment factors, the Buddha counsels that one should develop energy (and other factors) when experiencing a sluggish mind and develop concentration (and other factors) when experiencing an excited mind (Bodhi, 2000, pp. 1605-7).
^For instance, in an end note associated withAN 6.55, Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999, pp. 301-2, n. 31) reference theAṅguttara Aṭṭhakathā (AN commentary).
^Direct quotes from the Visuddhimagga are from Buddhaghosa &Ñāṇamoli (1999), pp. 128-9. Also mentioned in Bodhi (2000), p. 1511; and, Conze (1993), Part II, sec. 5, "The Balance of the Faculties."
^Bodhi (2000), pp. 1508-1509, refers to these 22 faculties as "phenomenological faculties"; while Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 122-3, entry on "indriya" refers to these 22 faculties as "controlling powers."
^The five feeling faculties are essentially an expanded scale of the threevedana, where pleasant and unpleasant feelings/sensations are divided between physical and mental experiences (see, e.g., Bodhi, 2000, p. 1510).
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000).The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications.ISBN0-86171-331-1.
Rhys Davids, Caroline A. F. ([1900], 2003).Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of theAbhidhamma-Piṭaka, entitledDhamma-Sangaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena). Kessinger Publishing.ISBN0-7661-4702-9.
.svg)