I once asked Sayadaw Kumarabhivamsa how do they know if the “peaceful state” is really Nibbāna or not when yogis say they attain it. He told me that they watch the yogi for 2 years and do different things and tests with them. He said that in general, those who have pariyatti experience (dhammacariya degree or alaṅkāra degree, etc) usually have it when they say they have it (meaning they pass all the test from 2 years etc.).
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Bhikkhus, I do not say that final knowledge is achieved all at once. On the contrary, final knowledge is achieved by gradual training, by gradual practice, by gradual progress.
“And how is final knowledge achieved by gradual training, gradual practice, gradual progress? Here one who has faith in a teacher visits him; when he visits him, he pays respect to him; when he pays respect to him, he gives ear; one who gives ear hears the Dhamma; having heard the Dhamma, he memorises it; he examines the meaning of the teachings he has memorised; when he examines their meaning, he gains a reflective acceptance of those teachings; when he has gained a reflective acceptance of those teachings, zeal springs up in him; when zeal has sprung up, he applies his will; having applied his will, he scrutinises; having scrutinised, he strives; resolutely striving, he realises with the body the supreme truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom.
“There has not been that faith, bhikkhus, and there has not been that visiting, and there has not been that paying of respect, and there has not been that giving ear, and there has not been that hearing of the Dhamma, and there has not been that memorising of the Dhamma, and there has not been that examination of the meaning, and there has not been that reflective acceptance of the teachings, and there has not been that zeal, and there has not been that application of will, and there has not been that scrutiny, and there has not been that striving. Bhikkhus, you have lost your way; bhikkhus, you have been practising the wrong way. Just how far, bhikkhus, have these misguided men strayed from this Doctrine and Discipline?
“Bhikkhus, there is a four-phrased statement, and when it is recited a wise man would quickly understand it. I shall recite it to you, bhikkhus. Try to understand it.”
“Venerable sir, who are we that we should understand the Dhamma?”
“Bhikkhus, even with a teacher who is concerned with material things, an heir to material things, attached to material things, such haggling by his disciples would not be proper: ‘If we get this, we will do it; if we don’t get this, we won’t do it’; so what should be said when the teacher is the Tathāgata, who is utterly detached from material things?
“Bhikkhus, for a faithful disciple who is intent on fathoming the Teacher’s Dispensation, it is natural that he conduct himself thus: ‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple; the Blessed One knows, I do not know.
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What are the conditions for stream entry: the factors of stream-entry are associating with true persons (i,e. Buddha or his disciples), listening to the true teaching, wise attention, and practicing in accordance with the teaching.
What many people tend to think is that if they have listened to/studied the Dhamma then they can skip directly to ‘practice’.
We need to remember though that there is no self anywhere, that any moment is conditioned. Listening to the teachings, wise attention are also conditioned. If we are impatient we may not realize that conditions for wise attention are gradually developing. If sati sampajana at the level of Practice in Accordance with the Dhamma (dhammānudhammappaṭipatti) occurs it can’t be because ‘we’ try to make it happen: it arises when conditions are fulfilled.