Post # 42 – Thirty Seven Factors  Supporting Awakening – Part 2

The factors towards attainment of Nibbana (sath tiss bodhi pakkhiya Dhamma)

Are you visiting this Blog for the first time? It would be good if you could visit the 1^st Post to know about this Blog and then read the others in sequence.  

In Post # 41 we discussed how some learned monks have described these thirty seven factors that support Awakening. I will in this Post attempt to show how they develop along with our regular Buddhist Practice.

The 37 factors we see constitute Buddha’s own list of his most important teachings. Toward the end of his life, he has stated several times that as long as the teachings in this list were remembered and put into practice, his message would endure.

I will give below some descriptions on the seven sets (the 37 factors grouped into 7 sets) as extracted from the aforesaid discourses from learned monks. They are:

1.0 The Four Frames of Reference (satipatthana) or the four focuses of mindfulness. They are- contemplation of the body (kāyâ-nu-passanā); contemplation of feeling (vedanā’-nu-passanā); contemplation of mind (cittâ-nu-passanā); and contemplation of phenomena (dhammâ-nu-passanā)--- They are developed by:

i. Remaining focused on the body in & of itself – ardent, alert, & mindful – putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.

ii. Remaining focused on feelings in & of themselves – ardent, alert, & mindful – putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.

iii. Remaining focused on the mind in & of itself – ardent, alert, & mindful – putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.

iv. Remaining focused on mental qualities in & of themselves – ardent, alert, & mindful – putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.

2.0 The Four Right Exertions or the four Right Efforts (samma-p,padhana).They are - the effort to prevent un-arisen evil states from arising (sa×vara padhāna); the effort to abandon arisen evil states (pahāna padhāna); the effort to cultivate un-arisen wholesome states (bhāvanā padhāna); and the effort to maintain arisen wholesome states (anurakkhanā padhāna). That is by:

i. Generating desire, endeavoring, arousing persistence, upholding & exerting one’s intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen.

ii. Generating desire, endeavoring, arousing persistence, upholding & exerting one’s intent for the sake of the abandoning of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen.

iii. Generating desire, endeavoring, arousing persistence, upholding & exerting one’s intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen.

iv. Generating desire, endeavoring, arousing persistence, upholding & exerting one’s intent for the maintenance, increase, development & culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen.

3.0 The Four Bases of Power or the four paths to spiritual power (iddhi pada).They are the desire to act (chanda); effort (viriya); mind or consciousness (citta); and investigative wisdom (veeman×sā). These can be expressed as:

i. Developing the base of power endowed with concentration founded on desire to act for achieving enlightenment (chanda).

ii. Developing the base of power endowed with concentration founded on persistence & exertion to act for achieving enlightenment (viriya).

iii. Developing the base of power endowed with concentration founded on intent or will to act for achieving enlightenment (citta/chethana).

iv. Developing the base of power endowed with concentration founded on investigation and discrimination to act for achieving enlightenment   (veeman×sā).

4.0 The Five Spiritual Faculties (pancha’indriya).They uphold and guide your thoughts and acts towards spiritual development. They are the faculty of conviction or faith (saddha’indriya); the faculty of persistence or effort (viriya’indriya); the faculty of mindfulness (sati-indriya ); the faculty of concentration (samādhi- indriya); and the faculty of discernment or  wisdom (pañña’indriya).

5.0 The Five Strengths or the five spiritual powers (pancha bala). They are the forces or strengths that drive you onward and give momentum for attaining spiritual development. They are the strength of conviction or faith (saddhā bala); the strength of persistence or effort (viriya bala); the strength of mindfulness (sati bala); the strength of concentration (samādhi bala); and the strength of discernment or wisdom (paññā bala).

6.0 The Seven Factors for Awakening (satta bojjhanga). They are:  mindfulness as a factor for Awakening (sati-sambojjhanga);  analysis of qualities of phenomena as they really are and beyond their conventional perception as a factor for Awakening (dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga); persistence or effort as a factor for Awakening (viriya-sambojjhanga); rapture or joyful interest as a factor for Awakening (piti-sambojjhanga); tranquility or serenity as a factor for Awakening (passaddhi-sambojjhanga); concentration as a factor for Awakening (samadhi-sambojjhanga); and equanimity as a factor for Awakening (upekkha-sambojjhanga).

7.0 The Eight Factors of Path Wisdom ( Stream Entry, Once Returner etc.) that arises when the  Noble Eightfold Path (ariyo astanh’angiko maggo) develops from a mundane state (loukika) to a supra mundane state (lokuthara). They are what were discussed in        Post # 16 to Post #21;  right view (samma ditthi); right thought (samma sankappa); right speech (samma vaccha); right action (samma kammantha); right livelihood (samma ajīva); right effort (samma vayama); right mindfulness (samma sati); and right concentration (samma samadhi).

I will try to show now how they develop along with the Buddhist Practice we have been discussing so far.

i. When you develop Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood under the practices described in Post #s 16 to 21, for cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path, you begin to develop Conviction (Saddha)  the first of the five faculties and five powers in the 37 factors, and Desire to act (Chanda)  of the Four Bases of Power.

ii. When you develop Right Effort under the Noble Eightfold Path, the factor Four Right Exertions develops along with Persistence under the Four Bases of Power and Persistence under Factors for Awakening and Persistence the second of the five faculties (viriya indriya) and the second of the five powers (viriya bala).

iii. Developing Right Mindfulness (Sathi) in the Noble Eightfold Path you develop the factor Four Frames of Reference, along with the factor Intent under the Four Bases of Power and   mindfulness as a factor for Awakening (sati-sambojjhanga).

iv. Developing Right Concentration (Samma Samadhi) in the Noble Eightfold Path you develop the factor Concentration in the Four Bases of Power, along with Rapture, Serenity, Concentration and Equanimity in the Factors for Awakening

v. When we develop Right View under the Noble Eightfold Path we develop Discernment (Panna) of the Path, Right Aspiration in the Eightfold Path, Analysis of Qualities in the Factors for Awakening, Discrimination in the Bases of Power, Equanimity in the Factors for Awakening, and desire to act towards achieving enlightenment -Chanda in the four bases of Power .

I trust that the above account gave you some idea of the 37 factors that assist in attaining enlightenment and how they develop as you progress in the Noble Eight fold Path without having to apply a specific or dedicated practice for their development. 

I will  attempt  to give  some  more details about these seven sets of the 37 factors as I continue my research for your benefit in the following Posts. They will not be in the same order as above. I will post the material I discover in my research on these seven sets as and when I am able to  compile them.

Post # 41 – Thirty Seven Factors Supporting Awakening – Part 1

The factors towards attainment of Nibbana (sath tiss bodhi pakkhiya Dhamma)

Are you visiting this Blog for the first time? It would be good if you could visit the 1^st Post to know about this Blog and then read the others in sequence.  

We have hitherto been discussing effective Dhamma practice by busy householders. Apart from the reference to Punya Kamma (meritorious acts) and Kusala Kamma (ethically skillful acts) which were virtues that we develop to ensure a well endowed birth in a happier realm after death, we focused on the path to liberation as that was the essence of what Buddha taught. That is attaining the world transcending wisdom to realize Nibbana.

The Buddha has referred to 37 factors that assist in realizing this world transcending wisdom and has said: “Then you should train yourself –harmoniously, cordially, and without dispute-in the qualities I have pointed out, having known them directly: the four frames of reference (sathara satthi-pattana); four right exertions (samma-padana); the four bases of power (iddhi-pada); the five faculties (pancha indriya); the five strengths (pancha bala); the seven factors of awakening (sattha bojjhanga); the noble eightfold path (ariya-ashtanga-magga) and this forms the heart of my message” – the bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma. In the Pali language these factors are termed as sath tiss bodhipakkhiya-dhamma.

I therefore feel that we should attempt to get a good understanding of these 37 factors grouped into 7 sets, considered so important by the Buddha in his above statement for us to achieve our goal.

Many Buddhist monks and scholars have given descriptions of the 37 factors to be developed towards Nibbana based on the thripitaka (pali canon). I have extracted to place before you some of these descriptions in the hope that they will give you some insight into this important teaching by the Buddha. What I realize is that developing these factors does not need a separate and dedicated effort but most of them develop while we engage in the other Buddhist practices that we discussed before.  I will try to flag these practices as we discuss the respective factors.

Ven. Renukane Chandawimala Thero describes the 37 factors to be developed for attaining Nibbana (sath tiss bodhipakkhiya-dhamma) as follows:  “If someone in the past attained Nibbana it is by developing these 37 factors. Even in the future if one were to attain Nibbana it is also in this way. The world transcending path knowledge or Bodhi, develops when Seela (moral restraint), Samadhi (concentrated mind) and Panna (wisdom) develop while cultivating these 37 factors. Nibbana is realized by acquiring the path wisdom of Sotha Patthi (Stream Enterer), Sakrudhagami (Once Returner), Anagami (Non Returner) and Arahant (Enlightened One). That is by observing and developing the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path.

He then goes on to elaborate the 37 factors, which I will discuss later along with the observations given by other scholars on them and their respective roles in the above attainments.

Ven. Pitigala Gunerathane in a talk on Sabbasawa Sutta - says that when one talks of Buddhist Meditation for realizing Nibbana you talk about insight meditation for the development of the Bojjanga Dhamma. That is one part of the 37 factors to be developed for attaining Nibbana.  The Bojjanga Dhamma or the Seven Factors for Awakening (satta bojjhanga), develops while engaging in mindfulness meditation. 

In another exposition named as - ‘Wings to Awakening’ – An anthology from the Pali Canon translated and explained by Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu,  a vivid description has been given on these  37 factors that assist in realizing the world transcending wisdom or Awakening.

Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu in this exposition describes the concept of Awakening so as to give a clear sense of where the Wings to Awakening are headed. He does this by discussing the Buddha’s accounts of his own Awakening, with special focus on the way in which the principle of skillful kamma formed both the “how” and the “what” of that Awakening. He says that, “The Buddha was able to reach Awakening only by developing skillful kamma – that is the “how”.  His understanding of the process of developing skillful kamma is what sparked the insights that constituted the seven sets (the 37 factors grouped into 7 sets) that make up the Wings to Awakening themselves”. This he says is “what”.

He goes on to say that “The reality of the Wings to Awakening lies in the qualities of the mind. The words with which they are expressed in the Pali Canon are simply pointers. These pointers have to be tested in the light of serious practice……., Buddha’s words should be read repeatedly, reflectively, and put to test in the practice.....this way they will give you useful insights for training the mind so that someday you won’t have to read about Awakening, but will be able to know it for yourself”.

With this background now in place, I will go on to extract and present, further details about the 37 factors to be developed for realizing the ultimate (world transcending) wisdom or Awakening. Please await Post # 42 for details.