The unwavering attention on the gladness (the enjoyment of the pleasant sensation) generates the pīti, which is both the gateway to and the primary component of the first jhāna. Ten the suttas describe the qualities of the first jhāna, “which is accompanied by thinking and examining and is filled with the rapture and happiness born of seclusion.” These four qualities are often identified as factors of the first jhāna. The later commentaries assert that there are five factors, but the suttas only mention the four qualities, which are thinking and examining, rapture and happiness.
