Hi Alan,
Our life is an unbroken series of cittas succeeding one another. When we
experience visible object, sound and the other objects through the
appropriate doorways, there are cittas arising in processes, viithi-cittas.
When we are in deep sleep (not dreaming) and in between the processes there
are bhava"nga-cittas arising and falling away. They keep the continuity in
the life of an individual. Without citta we would not be alive. The
bhava"nga-cittas experience an object and this is the same as the first
citta in life, the rebirth-consciousness, as you read in the Visuddhimagga
quote.
When an object such as sound impinges on the earsense, hearing does not
arise immediately, the bhavanga-sota still goes on for a few moments and is
then broken off. The ear-door adverting-consciousness arises that adverts to
the sound, and this is followed by hearing, and other cittas in that
process. When the process is over there are bhava"ngacittas again and then
the sound is experienced by cittas of a mind-door process.
Nina.
op 15-09-2005 23:48 schreef Alan McClure op alanmcclure3@...:

> Question 2: What are the best interpretations of the two terms
> bhavanga-citta and bhavanga-sota?