Indriya - Five Spiritual Faculties

Five Spiritual Faculties

In the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka, indriya is frequently encountered in the context of the "five spiritual faculties" (Pali: pañc' indriyāni):

  1. faith or conviction or belief (saddhā)
  2. energy or persistence or perseverance (viriya)
  3. mindfulness or memory (sati)
  4. concentration or focus (samādhi)
  5. wisdom or understanding or comprehension (pañña).

Together, this set of five faculties is one of the seven sets of qualities lauded by the Buddha as conducive to Enlightenment.

SN 48.10 is one of several discourses that characterizes these spiritual faculties in the following manner:

  • Faith/Conviction is faith in the Buddha's awakening.
  • Energy/Persistence refers to exertion towards the Four Right Efforts.
  • Mindfulness refers to focusing on the four satipatthana.
  • Concentration refers to achieving the four jhanas.
  • Wisdom/Understanding refers to discerning the Four Noble Truths.

In SN 48.51, the Buddha declares that, of these five faculties, wisdom is the "chief" (agga).

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