Passaddhi
Encyclopedia
Passaddhi is a Pali
noun that has been translated as "calmness," "tranquillity," "repose" and "serenity." The associated verb is passambhati (to calm down, to be quiet).
In Buddhism
, passaddhi refers to tranquillity of the body, speech, thoughts and consciousness on the path to enlightenment
. As part of cultivated
mental factors, passaddhi is preceded by rapture (pīti) and precedes concentration (samādhi).
Passaddhi is identified as a wholesome factor in the following canonical contexts:
schema, the calming of the body, speech and various mental factors is associated with gladness (pāmojja, pāmujja), rapture (pīti), and pleasure () and leads to the concentration needed for release from suffering.
's famed Anapanasati Sutta
:
By establishing mindfulness, one overcomes the Five Hindrances
(pañca nīvaraṇi), gives rise to gladness, rapture, pleasure and tranquillizes the body (kāyo passambhati); such bodily tranquillity (passaddhakāyo) leads to higher states of concentration (samādhi) as indicated in this Pali-recorded discourse ascribed to the Buddha
:
Similarly, with the realization of wisdom (or, as below, "discernment") (paññā
) these wholesome states arise:
) and leads to concentration (samādhi
) as further described by the Buddha in the Anapanasati Sutta
:
suffering (see Dependent Origination) to destruction of the cankers, the Buddha describes the following progression of conditions:
In the Pali literature
, this sequence that enables one to transcend worldly suffering is referred to as the "transcendental dependent arising" (lokuttara-paticcasamuppada).
's Dhammasangani
, the first chapter identifies 56 states of material-world consciousness that are wholesome, including "lightness of sense and thought," upon which the text elaborates:
and other Pali commentarial (atthakatha
) texts.
Páli
- External links :* *...
noun that has been translated as "calmness," "tranquillity," "repose" and "serenity." The associated verb is passambhati (to calm down, to be quiet).
In Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, passaddhi refers to tranquillity of the body, speech, thoughts and consciousness on the path to enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
. As part of cultivated
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...
mental factors, passaddhi is preceded by rapture (pīti) and precedes concentration (samādhi).
Passaddhi is identified as a wholesome factor in the following canonical contexts:
- the seven factors of enlightenmentSeven factors of enlightenmentIn Buddhism, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment are:* Mindfulness i.e...
(sambojjhangas) - meditative absorptions (jhanani)
- transcendental dependent arising (lokuttara-paticcasamuppada)
Canonical references
In various Buddhist canonicalPāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
schema, the calming of the body, speech and various mental factors is associated with gladness (pāmojja, pāmujja), rapture (pīti), and pleasure () and leads to the concentration needed for release from suffering.
Meditative calming
Calming () bodily and mental formations is the culmination of each of the first two tetrads of meditation instructions in the Pali CanonPāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
's famed Anapanasati Sutta
Anapanasati Sutta
The Ānāpānasati Sutta or Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra , "Breath-Mindfulness Discourse," is a discourse that details the Buddha's instruction on using the breath as a focus for meditation.-In Theravada Buddhism:...
:
| [1] | Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'.... | .... |
| [2] | Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'.... | .... |
| [3] | He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body....' | .... |
| [4] | He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication....' | .... |
| [5] | He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to rapture....' | .... |
| [6] | He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure....' | .... |
| [7] | He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to mental fabrication....' | .... |
| [8] | He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming mental fabrication....' | .... |
Sati, pāmojja, pīti, passaddhi, sukho
As indicated in the prior and future sections and highlighted here, a number of discourses identify the concurrent arising of the following wholesome mental states with the development of mindfulness (sati):- pāmojja or pāmujja ("gladness" or "joy")
- pīti ("rapture" or "joy")
- passaddhi ("tranquility" or "serenity" or "calm")
- sukho ("happiness" or "pleasure").
By establishing mindfulness, one overcomes the Five Hindrances
Five hindrances
In Buddhism, the five hindrances are negative mental states that impede success with meditation and lead away from enlightenment...
(pañca nīvaraṇi), gives rise to gladness, rapture, pleasure and tranquillizes the body (kāyo passambhati); such bodily tranquillity (passaddhakāyo) leads to higher states of concentration (samādhi) as indicated in this Pali-recorded discourse ascribed to the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
:
| Seeing that [these five hindrances] have been abandoned within him, he becomes glad. Glad, he becomes enraptured. Enraptured, his body grows tranquil. His body tranquil, he is sensitive to pleasure. Feeling pleasure, his mind becomes concentrated. |
Similarly, with the realization of wisdom (or, as below, "discernment") (paññā
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
) these wholesome states arise:
| When defiling mental qualities are abandoned and bright mental qualities have grown, and one enters & remains in the culmination & abundance of discernment, having known & realized it for oneself in the here & now, there is joy, rapture, serenity, mindfulness, alertness, and a pleasant/happy abiding. |
Enlightenment factor
Passaddhi is the fifth of seven factors of enlightenment (sambojjhanga) that lead to deliverance from suffering. Among the factors of enlightenment, serenity (passadhi) is preceded by rapture (pītiPiti
Pīti in Pali is a mental factor associated with the concentrative absorption of Buddhist meditation. Piti is a very specific joy associated with a state of deep tranquillity...
) and leads to concentration (samādhi
Samadhi (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, samādhi is mental concentration or composing the mind.-In the early Suttas:In the Pāli canon of the Theravada tradition and the related Āgamas of other early Buddhist schools, samādhi is found in the following contexts:* In the noble eightfold path, "right concentration" In Buddhism,...
) as further described by the Buddha in the Anapanasati Sutta
Anapanasati Sutta
The Ānāpānasati Sutta or Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra , "Breath-Mindfulness Discourse," is a discourse that details the Buddha's instruction on using the breath as a focus for meditation.-In Theravada Buddhism:...
:
- "For one enraptured at heart, the body grows calm and the mind grows calm. When the body & mind of a monk enraptured at heart grow calm, then serenity as a factor for awakening becomes aroused. He develops it, and for him it goes to the culmination of its development.
- "For one who is at ease — his body calmed — the mind becomes concentrated. When the mind of one who is at ease — his body calmed — becomes concentrated, then concentration as a factor for awakening becomes aroused. He develops it, and for him it goes to the culmination of its development."
Jhanic attainment
In describing one's progressive steps through the absorptions (jhanani), the Buddha identifies six sequential "calmings" (passaddhis):- With the first jhana, speech (vācā) is calmed.
- With the second jhana, applied and sustained thought (vitakkaVitakkaVitakka or vitarka , both in Hinduist yoga and Buddhist meditation, means the action of taking care of any object...
-vicārāVicaraVicara means the way mind maintains attention toward any object. It first referred to pre-Hindu yoga, later in Buddhist meditation. It has been translated as "consideration," "deliberation," "examination," and "investigation."-In Buddhism:...
) is calmed. - With the third jhana, rapture (pītiPitiPīti in Pali is a mental factor associated with the concentrative absorption of Buddhist meditation. Piti is a very specific joy associated with a state of deep tranquillity...
) is calmed. - With the fourth jhana, in-and-out breathing (assāsa-passāsā) is calmed.
- With the cessation of perception and feeling, perception and feeling (saññāSamjnaSaṃjñā and sañña can be translated as "perception" or "cognition."-In the Early Buddhist literature:...
-vedanāVedanaVedanā is a word in Sanskrit and Pāli traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, vedanā refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sense organs come into contact with external sense objects and the associated...
) are calmed. - With the ending of mental fermentations (āsava), lust, hatred and delusion (rāga-dosa-moha) are calmed.
Arahantship condition
Passaddhi is a "supporting condition" for the "destruction of the cankers" (āsava-khaye), that is, the achievement of Arahantship. More specifically, in describing a set of supporting conditions that move one from samsaricSamsara
thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...
suffering (see Dependent Origination) to destruction of the cankers, the Buddha describes the following progression of conditions:
- suffering (dukkhaDukkhaDukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
) - faith (saddhā)
- joy (pāmojja, pāmujja)
- rapture (pītiPitiPīti in Pali is a mental factor associated with the concentrative absorption of Buddhist meditation. Piti is a very specific joy associated with a state of deep tranquillity...
) - tranquillity (passaddhi)
- happiness (sukhaSukhaSukha is a Sanskrit and Pāli word that is often translated as “happiness" or "ease" or "pleasure" or "bliss." In Buddhism's Pali literature, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits, meditative absorptions and intra-psychic phenomena....
) - concentration (samādhiSamadhi (Buddhism)In Buddhism, samādhi is mental concentration or composing the mind.-In the early Suttas:In the Pāli canon of the Theravada tradition and the related Āgamas of other early Buddhist schools, samādhi is found in the following contexts:* In the noble eightfold path, "right concentration" In Buddhism,...
) - knowledge and vision of things as they are ()
- disenchantment with worldly life (nibbidā)
- dispassion (virāga)
- freedom, release, emancipation, deliverance (vimutti)
- knowledge of destruction of the cankers ()
In the Pali literature
Pali literature
Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language.- India :Main article: Pali CanonThe earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravada...
, this sequence that enables one to transcend worldly suffering is referred to as the "transcendental dependent arising" (lokuttara-paticcasamuppada).
Abhidhammic wholesome state
In the Abhidhamma PitakaAbhidhamma Pitaka
The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the last of the three pitakas constituting the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravāda Buddhism....
's Dhammasangani
Dhammasangani
The Dhammasangani is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, where it is included in the Abhidhamma Pitaka.Translations:* A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, tr C. A. F...
, the first chapter identifies 56 states of material-world consciousness that are wholesome, including "lightness of sense and thought," upon which the text elaborates:
- What on that occasion is repose of sense (kayāpassaddhi)?
- The serenity, the composure which there is on that occasion, the calming, the tranquillizing, the tranquillity of the skandhaSkandhaIn Buddhist phenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas or khandhas are any of five types of phenomena that serve as objects of clinging and bases for a sense of self...
s of feeling, perception and syntheses — this is the serenity of sense that there then is. - What on that occasion is serenity of thought (cittapassaddhi)?
- The serenity, the composure which there is on that occasion, the calming, the tranquillizing, the tranquillity of the skandha of intellect — this is the serenity of thought that there then is.
Post-canonical Pali texts
Passaddhi is referenced in the VisuddhimaggaVisuddhimagga
The Visuddhimagga , is the 'great treatise' on Theravada Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka...
and other Pali commentarial (atthakatha
Atthakatha
Atthakatha refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries were based on earlier ones, now lost, in Old Sinhalese, which were written down at the same...
) texts.
Tranquillity's nutriments
In the Visuddhimagga, the enlightenment factors (bojjhangas) are discussed in the context of skills for developing absorption (jhāna). In particular, the Visuddhimagga recommends that in order to develop the skill of "restrain[ing] the mind on an occasion when it should be restrained" (such as when it is "agitated through over-energeticness, etc."), one should develop tranquillity (passaddhi), concentration (samādhi) and equanimity (upekkhā). Towards this end, the Visuddhimagga identifies seven things from which bodily and mental tranquillity arise:- "using superior food"
- "living in a good climate"
- "maintaining a pleasant posture"
- "keeping to the middle"
- "avoidance of violent persons"
- "cultivation of persons tranquil in body"
- "resoluteness upon that [tranquillity]."
See also
- Seven factors of enlightenmentSeven factors of enlightenmentIn Buddhism, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment are:* Mindfulness i.e...
- Jhana (Meditative absorption)
- Paticcasamuppada (Dependent Origination); Twelve NidanasTwelve NidanasThe Twelve Nidānas are the best-known application of the Buddhist concept of pratītyasamutpāda , identifying the origins of dukkha to be in tanha and avijja...
(12 Causes) - SamathaSamathaSamatha , śamatha "calm abiding," comprises a suite, type or style of Buddhist meditation or concentration practices designed to enhance sustained voluntary attention, and culminates in an attention that can be sustained effortlessly for hours on end...
Sources
- Bodhi, BhikkhuBhikkhu BodhiBhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area...
(trans., ed.) (1980). Transcendental Dependent Arising: A Translation and Exposition of the Upanisa Sutta (The Wheel No. 277/278) (SNSamyutta NikayaThe Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
12.23) Kandy: Buddhist Publication SocietyBuddhist Publication SocietyThe Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
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- BuddhaghosaBuddhaghosaBhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
, Bhadantacariya & Bhikkhu (trans.) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPSBuddhist Publication SocietyThe Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the doctrine of the Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S. Karunaratna and Richard Abeyasekera, and a European-born Buddhist monk, Nyanaponika Thera...
Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
- Nyanaponika TheraNyanaponika TheraNyanaponika Thera or Nyaniponika Mahathera was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society, contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi.-Chronology:*1901: born...
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- Rhys Davids, C.A.F.Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys DavidsCaroline Augusta Foley Rhys Davids was an English Pāli language scholar and translator, and from 1923-1942 president of the Pali Text Society which was founded by her husband T. W. Rhys Davids whom she married in 1894.-Early life and education:...
(trans.) (1900). A Buddhist manual of psychological ethics or Buddhist Psychology, of the Fourth Century B.C., being a translation, now made for the first time, from the Original Pāli of the First Book in the Abhidhamma-Piţaka, entitled Dhamma-Sangaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena). Lancaster: Pali Text SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
. Reprint currently available from Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-4702-9.
- Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
. A general on-line search engine for this dictionary is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
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) (MNMajjhima NikayaThe Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
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- Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series (SLTP) (n.d.-b). (in PaliPáli- External links :* *...
) (DNDigha NikayaThe Digha Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
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2). Retrieved 14 Jul 2007 from "Mettanet - Lanka" at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/1Digha-Nikaya/Digha1/02samannaphala-p.html.
- Thanissaro BhikkhuThanissaro BhikkhuṬhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, is an American Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order , Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon...
(trans.) (1997). Samaññaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Contemplative Life (DNDigha NikayaThe Digha Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
2). Retrieved 14 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html.
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118). Retrieved 09 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html.
- Upalavanna, Sister (n.d.). Aṅguttara Nikāya, [Navakanipāta], 006. Khemavaggo – Section on Appeasement (ANAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
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