Five strengths

Five strengths (Skt. pañcabala; Tib. སྟོབས་ལྔ་, top nga; Wyl. stobs lnga) are the fifth group of practices in the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, practised on the final two stages of the path of joining. They are:

1. faith (Skt. śraddhā, Tib. དད་པ་, dad pa)
2. diligence (Skt. vīrya, Tib. བརྩོན་འགྲུས་, brtson 'grus)
3. mindfulness (Skt. smṛti, Tib. དྲན་པ་, dran pa)
4. concentration (Skt. samādhi, Tib. ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་, ting nge 'dzin)
5. wisdom (Skt. prajñā, Tib. ཤེས་རབ་, shes rab)

The Sutra of the Ten Bhumis says:

"The five strengths are the same as the above [i.e., the five powers], once they have become capable of overcoming their opposing factors."

In the Seven Points of Mind Training

In the lojong teaching of the Seven Points of Mind Training, the five strengths (stobs lnga) are:

1. impetus ('phen pa)
2. familiarization (goms pa)
3. wholesome seeds (dkar po'i sa bon)
4. revulsion (sun 'byin pa)
5. aspiration (smon lam)

Alternative Translations

• Five (spiritual) powers