Friday, August 23, 2013

Seven Factors of Enlightenment

On Page Fifty-Four, Sayadaw begins discussing the seven factors of enlightenment.  These include four of the five 'controlling factors' of mindfulness, concentration, effort, and wisdom (here 'investigation of phenomena'), with the addition of equanimity, tranquility and joy.

For more on the seven factors, go here.   And here is an excerpt from that article on effort:
"Just," says the Vitakka Santhana Suttanta of the Majjhima Nikaya (No. 20), "as a competent carpenter or carpenter's apprentice with a slender pin will knock out, remove and dispose of a thicker one, so also, when through dwelling on some idea that has come to him, evil, unsalutary considerations connected with desire, hate, and delusion arise in the monk, then he should engender in his mind an idea other than that former idea and connected with salutary things, whereupon the evil unsalutary considerations will disappear, and with their disappearing his mind will become settled, subdued, unified, concentrated."[14]

 

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