THE BODHYAṄGA

From A Concise History of Buddhism by Andrew Skilton:

(a) They begin with smṛti, or awareness, usually understood as awareness of the body, feelings, the mind and its thoughts, and finally of dharmas –these to be understood either as the objects of mind, or as the Dharma (Teaching) and the Reality it represents. 

(b) From general awareness one moves to awareness of one’s mental states in particular, through the investigation of mental factors, dharmavicaya, and the identification of those mental states which are positive and conducive to the spiritual life. 

(c) The third factor is vīrya, energy, both in the sense of the effort required to cultivate the positive mental states identified in the previous stage and the energy released by the resultant state of increasing clarity upon which one has entered. 

(d) The release and application of energy result in strong feelings of rapture (prīti), a delight and ecstasy which encompasses the entire psycho-physical organism. 

(e) The grosser elements of prīti subsiding, one experiences the more refined, purely mental praśrabdhi, a state of spiritual happiness in which awareness of one’s physical surroundings is minimized and one is absorbed in bliss. 

(f) The tendency towards absorption innate in the previous stage impels one naturally towards the superconscious states denoted by the term samādhi. These are the dhyānas, and represent states of total, unforced, and harmonious psychic integration. 

(g) The culmination of the Path is the state of upekṣā, equanimity. One is poised, free from wavering between psychological or spiritual opposites. It is a state of profound tranquillity and insight, and is synonymous with Enlightenment itself.