Pīti

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Pīti, meaning rapture or joy, is a mental factor in Buddhist meditation that helps deepen concentration (jhāna). It is a lively, energizing joy that arises without craving and without a specific object. It is different from sukha, which is a calmer, longer-lasting happiness that can accompany pīti.

In practice, pīti and sukha appear as you quiet the body and mind. In the first jhāna, both arise from bodily seclusion and mental quiet. In the second jhāna, they come from stronger focused attention. In the third jhāna, pīti tends to fade away as you cultivate pure, mindful equanimity (upekkhāsatipārisuddhi), and only sukha remains.

Traditional teaching also notes five mental factors (cetasikas) that help overcome the five hindrances; pīti is one of these factors, along with sukha. The Visuddhimagga explains that during calm (samatha) practice, five kinds of physical pleasure can arise; only the last two are true pīti, while the first four are preparations for entering the deeper jhāna.