[1] This "progress of insight" (Visuddhiñana-katha) is outlined in various traditional Theravada Buddhist commentary texts such as the Patisambhidamagga, the Vimuttimagga and the Visuddhimagga.
The Vimuttimagga (Path to liberation, 解脫道論) is an early meditation manual by the arahant Upatissa preserved only in a sixth-century Chinese translation.
The stages of insight outlined by the Vimuttimagga are:[2] A similar presentation of these stages can be found in the Patisambhidamagga (dated between the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE), an Abhidhamma work included in the fifth Nikāya of the Pāli Canon.
The first three stages are the same and the last two are "fear & disadvantage" (bhaya & ādīnava) and "wish for deliverance & equanimity towards formations" (muñcitukamyatā & saṅkhārupekkhā).
[8] The Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra presents 'the process of the direct insight into the four truths' as follows:[9] Darśana mārga (15 moments)(見道十五心) Bhāvanā-mārga (The 16th moment)(修道第十六心) The Abhidharma-kosa of Vasubandhu (4th or 5th century CE) lists the knowledges attained on the path of liberation according to the Sarvastivadin abhidharma:[10]