The Buddhist Path to Enlightenment (study)
by Dr Kala Acharya | 2016 | 118,883 words
This page relates 鈥楾he Five Mental Powers (Pancabalani or Bala)鈥擨ntroduction鈥� of the study on the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Buddha was born in the Lumbini grove near the present-day border of India and Nepal in the 6th century B.C. He had achieved enlightenment at the age of thirty鈥揻ive under the 鈥楤odhi-tree鈥� at Buddha-Gaya. This study investigates the teachings after his Enlightenment which the Buddha decided to teach 鈥榦ut of compassion for beings鈥�.
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5. The Five Mental Powers (Pa帽cabal膩ni or Bala)鈥擨ntroduction
Bala means power, strength or force; various powers of both temporal and spiritual character are found mentioned in the Buddhist texts.
Among the most important and of frequent occurrence are the five mental powers (辫补帽肠补产补濒补苍颈); namely,
- mental power of faith (蝉补诲诲丑腻产补濒补),
- mental power of effort or energy (惫墨谤颈测补产补濒补),
- mental power of mindfulness (satibala),
- mental power of concentration (蝉补尘腻诲丑颈产补濒补) and
- mental power of wisdom (辫补帽帽腻产补濒补).[1]
An explanation of these five powers in found in the 础峁単耻迟迟补谤补 狈颈办腻测补. It says that faith is the belief in the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补, effort is striving to be rid of evil (akusala) and to cultivate good (kusala); in mindfulness one minds and remains oneself of things done and said long ago; concentration is to keep oneself aloof from sense-desires and to attain the four 箩丑腻苍补蝉, while wisdom is to be wise as to the way of origin and cessation and to possess Aryan penetration of the way to the utter destruction of suffering.[2]
What distinguishes them from the corresponding five spiritual faculties (辫补帽肠颈苍诲谤颈测补) is that they are unshakable by their opposites: the power of faith is unshakable by faithlessness (assaddha), effort by laziness (kosajja), mindfulness by forgetfulness (辫补尘腻诲补), concentration by distractedness (uddhacca), and wisdom by ignorance (补惫颈箩箩腻). They represent, therefore, the aspect of firmness in the spiritual faculties.[3] But in the Sa峁儁utta 狈颈办腻测补, we find these five powers being identified with the five faculties.
According to the 础峁単耻迟迟补谤补 狈颈办腻测补, the power of faith becomes manifest in the four qualities of the stream-winner (蝉辞迟腻辫补苍苍补), effort in the fourfold right effort (蝉补尘尘补辫辫补诲丑腻苍补), mindfulness in the four foundations of mindfulness (蝉补迟颈辫补峁弓丑腻苍补), and concentration in the four 箩丑腻苍补蝉 and wisdom in the full comprehension of the four noble truths.
The meaning of 蝉补诲诲丑腻产补濒补 is to be directly known as unshakenability with regard to the lack of faith, the meaning of 惫墨谤颈测补产补濒补 as unshakeability with regard to idleness, the meaning of satibala as unshakeability with regard to heedlessness, the meaning of 蝉补尘腻诲丑颈-产补濒补 as unshakeability with regard to excitement, the meaning of 辫补帽帽腻产补濒补 as unshakeability with regard to ignorance.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
DN II, p. 120; MN. II, p. 12
[2]:
AN 4, p. 3-4
[4]:
Patis I, p. 17