Seven factors of awakening

The seven factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga) are seven qualities of mind that, when fully developed, lead to awakening. They appear throughout the early suttas and are recited in many Theravada communities, sometimes for people who are ill, because the Buddha is said to have heard them recited when he himself was unwell.

The seven factors

1. Mindfulness (sati): clear awareness of what is happening.
2. Investigation of mental qualities (dhammavicaya): examining experience, discerning what is skilful and what is not.
3. Energy (viriya): wholehearted, persistent effort.
4. Joy or rapture (pīti): a bright, uplifted gladness.
5. Tranquillity (passaddhi): calm in body and mind.
6. Concentration (samādhi): a collected, unified mind.
7. Equanimity (upekkhā): balance that is not pulled one way or another.

How they arise in order

In the sutta on mindfulness of breathing, the Buddha explains that the factors grow out of one another. When mindfulness is steady, a person begins to investigate. Investigation brings energy. Energy gives rise to joy. A joyful mind becomes tranquil, a tranquil mind becomes concentrated, and a concentrated mind looks on with equanimity. Mindfulness runs through the whole sequence.

Balancing the mind

The factors can also be used to balance practice. Investigation, energy and joy are rousing qualities; they help when the mind is sluggish or dull. Tranquillity, concentration and equanimity are calming qualities; they help when the mind is restless or over-excited. Mindfulness is always useful, because it knows which is needed. A common simile compares this to tending a fire: you add fuel when it is low and hold back when it is blazing.

The opposite of the hindrances

The seven factors are often taught alongside the five hindrances. Where the hindrances cloud the mind, the factors of awakening clear and strengthen it. In the sutta on the four foundations of mindfulness, the meditator is told to notice whether each factor is present or absent, how it arises, and how it is brought to fulfilment.

Working with them

You do not need to master a list to begin. In meditation, you can simply notice which qualities are present. Is there interest? Is there some ease, some calm? If the mind is dull, you might sit more upright or take a few deeper breaths. If it is restless, you might ease off the effort and soften. Over time this kind of attention develops all seven factors together.