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What is rapture from this quote?
Jeffrey
Veteran
in Philosophy
Somebody posted this awesome snapshot of liberation:
My question is what is rapture? I only know the blondie song from the early 80
s
"And what is the supporting condition for suffering? 'Birth' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for faith? 'Suffering' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for joy? 'Faith' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for rapture? 'Joy' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for tranquillity? 'Rapture' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for happiness? 'Tranquillity' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for concentration? 'Happiness' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for the knowledge and vision of things as they really are? 'Concentration' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for disenchantment? 'The knowledge and vision of things as they really are' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for dispassion? 'Disenchantment' should be the reply.
"And what is the supporting condition for emancipation? 'Dispassion' should be the reply.
My question is what is rapture? I only know the blondie song from the early 80
s
0
Comments
Or imagine the happiest moment of your life and how that feels in the face.
But in my quote happiness is a separate experience from rapture. It mentions both.
Sounds like rapture is more like giving thanks to the whole universe??
I think rapture is that moment when you and the universe meld together. That you feel connected to everything.
I strive for that everyday. Maybe one day I'll get there.
In metta,
Raven
"Joy is the supporting condition for rapture": Though for certain individuals serene faith in the objects of refuge and a clear conscience are sufficient to transform joy into rapture, such cases are the exception rather than the rule. Generally, in order for the emotional tone of the spiritual life to be lifted to that pitch of intensity suggested by the term "rapture" (piti) a further commitment to the training is necessary. This commitment takes the form of deliberate application to the practice of meditation. Methods of meditation contributing to the attainment of liberation are classified into two systems — serenity meditation (samathabhavana) and insight meditation (vipassanabhavana). Serenity meditation aims at the creation of a state of calm concentration by unifying the mind in focus on a single object. Insight meditation aims at insight into the nature of phenomena by directly contemplating the bodily and mental processes as they occur on the successive moments of experience. Though there is a system which employs mindfulness as a direct means to the awakening of insight, in the usual pattern serenity is cultivated first as a preliminary measure, since the unification and purification of consciousness effected by concentration facilitate correct penetration of the nature of things through contemplative insight. This is the sequence utilized by the present sutta, the stages from "rapture" through "concentration" covering the systematic development of serenity, the two following stages the development of insight.
Serenity meditation is cultivated on the basis of a single object selected from a standard set of objects reserved exclusively for the development of concentration. These objects, traditionally numbered at forty, include the colored and elemental circles called kasinas, the cemetery contemplations, the recollections of the three refuge objects, meditation on the sublime abodes of love and compassion, mindfulness of breathing, etc. After taking up one of these objects as his field of work, the yogin strives to unify his mind by fixing his attention on his object to the exclusion of all sense data, concepts, thoughts, memories, projections, fantasies, and associative thinking. His aim is to make his mind one-pointed, and this forbids at once its dispersal among a multiplicity of concerns. Success in the practice depends on the harmonization of the mental faculties in the work of concentration. Through mindfulness (sati) the yogin bears the object in his field of awareness and prevents it from slipping away; through discernment (sampajañña) he maintains a cautious watch upon the mind, noting its tendencies to stray and swiftly correcting them; and through energy (viriya) he strives to dispel the impediments to mental unification, and to maintain his awareness at a pitch which is simultaneously taut but relaxed.
The impediments to meditation are classified into a group of five factors called the "five hindrances" (pañcanivarana). These are sensual desire, ill-will, stiffness and torpor, restlessness and regret, and doubt. The Buddha calls these five hindrances "corruptions of the mind" and "weakeners of wisdom." He says they are conducive to pain, blindness, and ignorance, and compares them respectively to a debt, a disease, imprisonment, slavery, and the dangers of a desert journey. Their removal by unremitting exertion is the first task facing the meditator. As he proceeds in his practice, striving with patience and diligence, there come suddenly momentary breaks in the course of his efforts when the hindrances fall away, the flow of inner verbalization stops, and the mind abides one-pointedly on the object. The achievement of this momentary concentration, brief as it is, gives immense satisfaction. It is a powerful experience unleashing spurts of mental energy which flood up to the surface of consciousness and inundate the mind with waves of joyous refreshment. It brings an elating thrill bordering on ecstasy, crowning the yogin's previous endeavors and inspiring further effort.
This experience marks the arising of rapture. The distinguishing feature of rapture is a strong interest and delight directed to the object of attention. Its function is to give refreshment to the body and mind. It can assume both wholesome and unwholesome forms, depending on whether it is motivated by attachment or detachment with respect to its object, but on occasions of meditative consciousness it is always wholesome. The commentaries distinguish five degrees of rapture which make their appearance in the successive stages of mental unification.[18] "Minor rapture," the lowest on the scale, is said to be able to raise the hairs of the body. "Momentary rapture," the next degree of development, rushes through the body with an intensity likened to streaks of lightning flashing forth in the sky at different moments. "Showering rapture," the third degree, breaks over the body again and again with considerable force, like the waves on the seashore breaking upon the beach. "Uplifting rapture" is so-called because it is credited with the ability to cause the body to levitate, and the Visuddhimagga cites several cases where this literally occurs. And "pervading rapture," the highest on the scale, is said to completely fill the whole body as a huge inundation fills a rock cavern. Since the commentary to our sutta defines joy (pamojja), the prior link in our sequence, as weak rapture, we may assume this to signify the delightful interest preceding the deliberate development of meditation, that is, in the stages when faith in the Dhamma was just acquired and the purification of moral discipline commenced. The five degrees of rapture presented here would then pertain exclusively to the rapture found in meditative consciousness. And since the last degree of rapture only gains ascendancy with the attainment of full absorption, which does not come until later, it seems that the degrees of rapture which are distinctive of the present stage of progress are the four beginning with minor rapture and reaching their peak with uplifting rapture.
From here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html
And this.
[First jhana]
"There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
"[First jhana]
"There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal."
kudos to you for the rapturing of our liberated minds upon reading these words!
grow your love by loving growth
There are some similarities here with the 7 factors of enlightenment and with the 4 tetrads of the Anapanasati Sutta.