Furthermore, a mendicant who is a trainee reflects: ‘Is there any other ascetic or brahmin elsewhere whose teaching is as true, as real, as accurate as that of the Buddha?’ They understand: ‘There is no other ascetic or brahmin elsewhere whose teaching is as true, as real, as accurate as that of the Buddha.’ This too is a way that a mendicant who is a trainee can understand that they are a trainee.
Furthermore, a mendicant who is a trainee understands the five faculties: faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom. And although they don’t have direct meditative experience of their destination, apex, fruit, and culmination, they do see them with penetrating wisdom. This too is a way that a mendicant who is a trainee can understand that they are a trainee.
And what is the way that a mendicant who is an adept can understand that they are an adept? It’s when a mendicant who is an adept understands the five faculties: faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom. They have direct meditative experience of their destination, apex, fruit, and culmination, and they see them with penetrating wisdom. This is a way that a mendicant who is an adept can understand that they are an adept.