Nyanatiloka Buddhist Dictionary

"Immediately upon this adaptation-knowledge there arises the 'maturity-knowlege' (gotrabhú-ñána; s.gotrabhú) taking as object the Unconditioned, the standstill of existence, the absence of becoming, cessation,Nibbána, while at the same time transcending the rank (gotta = gotra: lineage), designation and plane of theworldling (puthujjana, q.v.), and entering the rank, designation and plane of the Noble Ones (ariya), beingthe first turning towards Nibbána as object, the first thinking of it, the first concentration on it, and thecondition for the path ... forming the culmination of insight, and never as such coming back again.''As the immediate continuation following upon that maturity knowledge (gotrabhú-ñána), there arises thefirst path-consciousness (Stream-entrance) forever destroying the first 3 of the 10 fetters of existence(samyojana, q.v.), and closing the entrance to the lower worlds. Immediately after this path-knowledge, therearise, as its result, 2 or 3 path-produced states of consciousness, the fruitional consciousness (phala-citta).Immediately after the sinking of this consciousness into the subconscious stream of existence, theretrospective knowledge (paccavekkhana-ñána, q.v.) arises, having the path-consciousness as its object"(Vis.M. XXI). For the 3 higher paths, s. ariya-puggala.Each of the 4 kinds of path-consciousness performs at the one and the same time 4 functions, namely: thefunction of full understanding (pariññá, q.v.) of suffering, the function of overcoming (pahána, q.v.) theorigin of suffering, the function of realizing (sacchikiriyá) the extinction of suffering, the function ofdeveloping (bhávaná, q.v.) the supermundane Noble Eightfold Path (magga, q.v.).See Path of Purification, by Buddhaghosa, tr. by Ñyanamoli (BPS); Path of Freedom, by Upatissa (BPS).vitakka: 'thought', 'thought-conception', is one of the 'secondary' (not constant) mental concomitants (s. Tab.II), and may be either karmically wholesome, unwholesome or neutral. - "There are 3 karmicallyunwholesome (akusala) thoughts: sensuous thought (káma-vitakka), hating thought (byápáda-v.), and cruelthought (vihimsa-v.). There are 3 karmically wholesome (kusala) thoughts: thought of renunciation(nekkhamma-v.), of hatelessness (avyápáda-v.), of not harming (avihimsá-v.) " The latter three constitute'right thought', the 2nd link of the 8-fold Path (s. magga 2).On the 'Removal of Distracting Thoughts' (vitakka-santhána), s. M. 20 (tr. in WHEEL 21).vitakka-vicára: 'thought-conception and discursive thinking', (or 'applied and sustained thought') are verbalfunctions (vací-sankhára: s. sankhára) of the mind, the so-called 'inner speech ('parole interieure'). They areconstituents of the 1st absorption (s. jhána), but absent in the higher absorptions.(1) "Thought-conception (vitakka) is the laying hold of a thought, giving it attention. Itscharacteristic consists in fixing the consciousness to the object.(2) "Discursive thinking (vicára) is the roaming about and moving to and fro of the mind.... Itmanifests itself as continued activity of mind" (Vis.M. IV).(1) is compared with the striking against a bell, (2) with its resounding; (1) with the seizing of a pot, (2) withwiping it. (Cf. Vis . IV.).vitality: jívitindriya; s. indriya, khandha (corporeality, mental formations), Tab. II.víthi = citta-víthi: 'process of consciousness'; s. viññánakicca.vivatta: 'absence of the cycle of existence' (vatta, q.v.), standstill of existence, is a name for Nibbána (s.nibbána). - (App.).vivatta-kappa: s. kappa.vivattanánupassaná: 'contemplation of the turning away', is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight (vipassaná,q.v.). - (App.).