phala
Fruition
[ PHU-la ]
Seeing it in life
Phala-citta follows magga as its immediate result, taking nibbāna as object, and can recur as fruition attainment.
In short
The resultant cittas of the four paths.
The analysis
Phala-citta follows magga as its immediate result within the same cognitive process, taking nibbāna as its object exactly as the preceding path-moment did. Unlike ordinary vipāka, which can ripen much later, phala follows magga without any gap — and unlike ordinary vipāka, phala-citta can also be deliberately re-entered afterward as an attainment (phala-samāpatti).
Where it sits
Phala completes the magga-phala pair at each of the four stages, and its capacity to be re-entered later gives advanced practitioners a way to abide in the fruit of a given stage's attainment.
No everyday analogue is offered — like magga, this is a specifically doctrinal, supramundane event outside the register of ordinary experience.
Commonly mistaken for
Identical in nature to magga. Phala is resultant while magga is the decisive moment itself — related but functionally distinct.
A one-time-only experience. Phala-samāpatti can be deliberately re-entered repeatedly after the initial path-moment.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha IX.
Related terms