Moneyya-Bhante:
Brightness is described as most of the other Vipassanupakkilesa (Subdefilements of insight) as a normal and necessary phenomenon, but at a certain stage it becomes sub defilement if the yogi clings to it and interpret it wrongly.
Exactly. It is a defilement of vipassana. However, Pa Auk Sayadaw explains it as the necessary factor whenever one enters phalasamāpatti:
“The element of Nibbāna is so excellent, that a phenomenon more shining, a phenomenon more radiating, a phenomenon more pure, clear(er) phenomenon does not exist in the world. Nibbāna is the most radiating-shining phenomenon. Thus (the Commentary) explains. /But it does not explain it so. See this portion transcribed and translated to English here. (Ashin Saraṇa)/ So, in Nibbāna, regarding the presence of the color of light, quite a lot of the modern meditation masters do not want to agree. Why they don’t want to agree? There is a reason. What reason? After meditating very hard, (they) get so tired, that even while sitting (they) fall asleep. When they fall asleep, (they) do not dream. Bhavaṅga (moments of unconscious life-continuum) happen in succession, and because (the moments) of bhavaṅga happened, (they) abruptly awake from the bhavaṅga and (it) is like waking up from being asleep. So, there he (the meditation master) is sleeping, hence (he) doesn’t encounter any light.”
Moneyya-Bhante:
“When he has understood the round of kamma and the round of kamma result in this way, having discerned the mentality and materiality he abandons the three kind of doubts about past future and present death and rebirth, this is the full Understanding of the known”.
It is true that the bodhisatta Gotama first saw his past lives, then the conditional nature of kamma-vipāka in past & present lives of other beings, and then only He became a Buddha. However, we do not hear about this ever whenever someone becomes a Stream-Enterer or a Once-Returner. Only Anagami and Arahants get these psychic powers (and some of them don’t get them anyway).
Moneyya-Bhante:
“And just as one should see the generation of the materiality, in the same way the generation of the immaterial (i. e mentality) should be seen. That is the 81 mundane consciousnessess(…) That same as life continuum as well, starting from consciousness next to rebirth linking, and as death consciousness as the termination of the life span.(…) This is how the occurence of the immaterial should be seen in the 6 doors.”
Thank you, this is very helpful. I remember, however, that this process can be known to this level only by the Buddha. We get that information in Majjhima Nikāya 12. Mahāsīhanāda Sutta Commentary, explained further in detail by the relevant Sub-Commentary:
“Evaṃ santepi tesaṃ vāro paññāyatīti tesaṃ bhikkhūnaṃ ‘‘ayaṃ paṭhamaṃ pucchati, ayaṃ dutiya’’ntiādinā pucchanavāro tādisassa paññavato paññāyati sukhumassa antarassa labbhanato. Buddhānaṃ pana vāroti īdise ṭhāne buddhānaṃ desanāvāro aññesaṃ napaññāyanato buddhānaṃyeva paññāyati. Idāni tameva paññāyanataṃ yuttito dassento ‘‘vidatthicaturaṅgulachāya’’ntiādimāha. Accharāsaṅghāṭamatte khaṇe aneka-koṭisahassa-cittapavattisambhavato ‘‘vidatthicaturaṅgulachāyaṃ atikkamanato puretaraṃyeva bhagavā…pe… kathetī’’ti vatvā tato lahutarāpi satthu desanāpavatti atthevāti dassento ‘‘tiṭṭhantu vā tāva ete’’tiādimāha.” (MNṬ 12. Mahāsīhanādasuttavaṇṇanā, MM MNṬ 2.39)
It talks about time and the Buddha’s perception of time, which others cannot perceive. There is specifically mentioned the several thousands of ten-millions (several tens of billions) of moments that happen within a snap of fingers and that only the Buddha can perceive them. (As soon as our project for MNA starts to get rolling, we will surely soon get to translate Sub-Commentaries like this word-by-word as well.)
So, the idea of Visuddhimagga that a meditator (who is not a Buddha) can see the citta-vīthi is not acceptable. Only the Buddha can see citta-vīthi. It is also the reason why meditators are supposed to see the 4 aggregates of mind arising simultaneously and not in order, because only the Buddha can see them arising in order. I think Ledi Sayadaw was also very outspoken about the impossible dream to see all moments of mind, but we discussed this elsewhere here in the Clasical Theravada forum.