A sort of prelevel before a bodhisattva reaches the first of the ten levels. It comprises the paths of accumulating and joining. Practitioners on these paths have not yet realized emptiness and cannot, therefore, practice the six transcendent perfections in a truly transcendental way. Their practice is more a question of willingness than of the genuine practice of a mature bodhisattva. [NS]

All practice prior to the attainment of the path of seeing, in which ultimate reality is perceived directly, is regarded as being of the nature of aspiration or interest. [TPQ, 2010]