Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

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to develop itself into prominence so as to appear at the sensedoor.
So one bhavaïga-citta must pass from the time of contact of
the sense-object with the sense-door to the time the object appears
at the door. This citta is called atità-bhavaïga (past life-continuum).
When the sense object is of great intensity (mahantàrammaõa),
2 or 3 bhavaïga-cittas must pass by from the time of
contact of the sense-object with the sense-door to the time the
object appears at the door. These 2 or 3 bhavaïga-cittas are also
called atità-bhavaïga.
Thus we have 3 kinds of bhavaïga-cittas:
1 Atàtà-bhavaïga
those bhavaïga-cittas which pass by from the time the
sense-object strikes the sense-door to the time the object
appears at the door.
2 Bhavaïga-calàna
vibrating bhavaïga which arises when the sense object
appears at the door.
3 Bhavaïgupaccheda
arresting bhavaïga that follows the bhavaïga-calàna. After
this, the bhavaïga-stream is cut off and vãthi-citta starts
arising.
Cakkhu-dvàra Vãthis
(Cognitive Series at the Eye-door)
1 The Occurrence of Atimahantà-rammaõa Vãthi
When a visible object of very great intensity strikes the eyedoor,
atimahantà-rammaõa vãthi arises. The cognitive series may
be represented by the following symbols: