7 Kinds of Purity
Seven Kinds of Purity (M. I. 149-50; also, the entire text of the Visuddhimagga. At D. III. 289, two more kinds of purity are added at the end: paññā-visuddhi and vimutti-visuddhi. The commentaries explain that these two refer to arahattaphala-paññā and arahattaphala-vimutti, respectively (DA. III. 1062).) Moral Conduct:
- Purity of moral conduct (sīla-visuddhi) = pure conduct in accord with a person’s personal circumstances → Concentration:
- Purity of mind (citta-visuddhi) = ‘access concentration’ and higher forms of concentration → Wisdom:
- Purity of views (diṭṭhi-visuddhi) = knowledge of mind & body →
- Purity of knowledge leading to the end of doubt (kaṅkhāvitaraṇavisuddhi) = an understanding of Dependent Origination →
- Purity of knowledge regarding Path and not-path (maggāmaggañāṇadassana-visuddhi) = encountering and going beyond the ‘defilements of in-sight’ (vipassanūpakilesa) →
- Purity of knowledge of the way of practice (paṭipadāñāṇadassanavisuddhi) = ‘insight knowledge’ (vipassanā-ñāṇa) →
- Purity of knowledge and vision (ñāṇadassana-visuddhi) = Path knowledge (magga-ñāṇa). {523}