The Factors Leading to Enlightenment - Five processes of reviewing


When the magga-víthi-cittas have fallen away, there are bhavanga-cittas arising and falling away, and then there are processes of cittas reviewing the enlightenment that was attained (paccavekkhana víthi). There are five different processes of reviewing, and during one process at a time the cittas review the magga-citta, the phala-citta, nibbana, the defilements that have been eradicated and the defilements that have not yet been eradicated. When the magga-víthi-cittas of the different stages of  enlightenment have fallen away, they must be followed by processes of reviewing. Thus, the ariyan does not have wrong understanding with regard to his stage of enlightenment. The sotapanna does not erroneously believe that he is a sakadagamí (once-returner, who has attained the second stage of enlightenment), and it is the same for the sakadagamí, the anagamí (non- returner, who has attained the third stage of enlightenment) and the arahat.
At the higher stages of enlightenment, following upon the stage of the sotapanna, there is in the process of enlightenment instead of change-of- lineage (gotrabhu)  “purification” (vodana). The reason is that the person who attains a higher stage of enlightenment is no longer an ordinary person.


Topic 237