22 Stages on the Path

When the theories of Buddhism are accepted and understood, one practises them, and with practice comes realization. We create suffering for ourselves and others because of our craving and ignorance. As we walk the Noble Eightfold Path, craving is transformed into contentment and ignorance gives way to understanding. But this is a long and gradual process that must be patiently sustained throughout our life, and perhaps even through several lives.

Just as the great ocean slopes away gradually, tends downwards gradually without any abrupt precipice, even so, this Dhamma and discipline is a gradual doing, a gradual training, a gradual practice; there is no sudden penetration of knowledge.

Sometimes we become impatient for results in our practise, and this impatience does little more than stir up the very agitation and frustration that makes peace of mind so difficult. If we practise without anxiously looking ahead to see how far along the Path we still have to go, then a calm confidence that we are changing and growing day by day will sustain us on the journey. The Buddha often reminds us of this important truth.

The carpenter or his apprentice sees on his tool's handle the wearing away caused by his fingers and thumb, but not necessarily know that so much has been worn away today, so much yesterday and so much at another time. In the same way, one living devoted to the practice of meditation does not know that so much of the defilements has been worn away today, so much yesterday and so much at another time. He merely has the knowledge that they are being worn away.

Again in the Dhammapada the Buddha counsels us:

Do not think lightly of good, saying:
"It will not come to me."
A drop at a time is the water pot filled.
Likewise, little by little,
The wise one filled with good.

The transition from samsaric existence to the realization of Nirvana is a gradual one, and as we make this transition, we pass through four clearly defined stages. We will not examine these four stages.

The first stage we attain and pass through on the gradually upward journey to Nirvana is called Streaminning. Before reaching this stage, there is no guarantee that we will attain Nirvana, but as soon as one becomes a stream-Winner, Nirvana becomes inevitable, there is no falling back, and one can only move forward - hence the name Stream-Winning. It is like plunging into a great stream and being effortlessly carried along by the current.

The Buddha says that once one reaches this stage, one will attain Nirvana within seven lifetimes, and thus it is an achievement surpassing any wordly achievement. He says :

Better than sole sovereignty over the earth,
Better than rebirth in heaven,
Better even than lordship over all the worlds
Are the fruits of a Stream-Winner.

To become a Stream-Winner, one has to overcome the first three of the Ten Fetters : belief that the body is the self, doubt and clinging to morality and rules.

The first of these fetters, belief that the body is the self, holds us back because identifying with the body causes us to neglect the mind. The body is fussed over, pandered to while no effort is made to change the mind.

The second fetter, doubt, fills us with hesitation and wavering and saps us of the energy and confidence to walk the Path boldly.

The third fetter, clinging to morality and rules, deludes us into thinking that simply to be moral is enough, or into thinking that undergoing some outward ritual will change the inside. It leads to pettifoggery and an emphasis on the fetter rather the spirit.

1. Belief that (A) Stream-winner 1 to 3 the body destroyed is the self
2. Doubt
3. Clinging to (B) Once-Returner 1 to 3 morality‚) destroyed and rules 4 and 5 weakened
4. Sense-desire
5. Ill-will
6. Desire for (C) Non-Returner 1 to 5 the realm destroyed of form
7. Desire for formless realm
8. Pride (D) Noble One 1 to 10, destroyed
9. Restlessness
10. Ignorance

While overcoming these three fetters, one also has to develop the Four Limbs of Stream-Winning : unshakable faith in the Buddha, unshakable faith in the Dhamma, unshakable faith in the Sangha and unbroken virtue. While overcoming the first three Fetters clarifies our understanding, developing the Four Limbs of Stream-Winning strengthens our sense of certainty and purifies our behaviour, setting in motion spiritual energy that will lead us inevitably towards Nirvana. Again using the imagery of a stream, the Buddha says:

When the sky god pours down big drops of rain, that water flows down and fills the gullies, clefts and chasms and then fills the small pools, then the big pools, then the lakes; the filling of the lakes fills the streams, the streams fill the rivers, and the great rivers fill the ocean.

In the same way, for the noble disciple who has unwaring faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and who has virtue dear to the Noble Ones, these conditions flow onward and reach the further shore and lead to the destruction of the defilements.

When we understand the nature of faith, we can appreciate its importance, and how, when combines with virtue, it destroys the Fetters and makes Nirvana inevitable. In the theistic traditions, one is saved by faith because faith is proof of one's unquestioning loyalty to God, and God responds to that faith by saving one. Such faith is proof of absolute submission and allegiance to God, and is rewarded with salvation. In Buddhism, faith is seen very differently.

Intellectually, faith is the acceptance of doctrine which cannot be immediately substantiated by direct experience. It is a willingness to wait with patience and trust until the gaps in the evidence can be filled in. When we first hear the Buddha's teachings, our experience tells us that many parts are true. The first and second Noble Truths, for example, are obvious to the thoughtful person.

As we practise the Noble Eightfold Path, our experience tells us that it does lead to a lessening of desires and an increase of happiness and contentment.

However, some teachings, like kamma, rebirth and the reality of Nirvana cannot as yet be verified, so we accept them on faith. And our faith is justified, it is a rational faith because our experience tells that the Buddha is right in some many areas. When faith is lacking, we are sceptical of the Dhamma, hesistant and not prepared to give it a try. Faith opens us to the opportunities that the Dhamma offers to all who are prepared to practise, it keeps us trying until results come, and it motivates us to practice until what is now merely a belief is transformed into understanding.

Nagajuna very beautifully describes the relationship between faith and understanding when he says:

One associates with the Dhamma out of faith,
But one knows truly out of understanding;
Understanding is the chief of the two,
But faith precedes.

But while faith is important, if it not tempered by openness and inquiry, it can lead to the gogged narrow-mindedness so characteristic of the theistic traditions.

On the other hand, the person with overdeveloped intellect and little faith generally takes a half-hearted and calculating approach to Dhamma. Wisdom prevents faith from developing into scepticism. Buddhaghosa says:

One strong in faith but weak in wisdom has uncritical and groundless confidence. One strong in wisdom but weak in faith errs on the side of cunning, and is as hard to cure as one whose sickness is caused by a medicine. When the two are balanced, one has confidence only where there are grounds for it.

Volitionally, faith is a strong and courageous act of will which concentrates all out energies on the ideal we can see ahead of us but not yet reach. Faith imparts a self-confidence, strength and fearlessness tha makes us see everything as of secondary importance to the Dhamma.

The monk Punna epitomized this courages faith well. After being taught the Dhamma, he decided to go and live amongst a tribe of people well-known for their violence, in order to impart the Dhamma to them. When the Buddha heard of Punna's intention, he asked him:

"In what district are you going to stay, Punna, now that you have been taught the Dhamma by me in brief?"

"There is a district called Sunaparanta. I will stay there."

"But Punna, the people of Sunaparanta are violent and rough. What will you do if they insult and abuse you?"

"I will say: `How good, how very good are the people of Sunaparanta in that they don't hit me with their fists.' "

"What if they hit you with their fists?"

"I will say: `How good, how very good are these people in that they don't throw clods of earth at me' "

"What if they hit you with clods of earth? "

"I will say: `How good, how very good are these people in that they don't hit me with sticks.' "

"What if they hit you with sticks ? "

"I will say: `How good, how very good are these people in that they don't stab me with a knife.' "

"What if they stab you with a knife? "
"I will say: `How good they are in that they don't kill me with that knife.' "

"What if they do kill you with that knife? "

"If the people of Sunaparanta kill me with a knife, I will say: `Some of the Lord's disciples, disgusted and ashamed with their body and life, took a knife to themselves. And here am I having come to the knife without having looked for it.' "

"Good, Punna, good. You will be able to live in that district among the people of Sunaparanta possessed as you are of this taming and calm."

We are told that as a result of Punna's stay amongst these violent people, some five hundred of them became enlightened.

The energizing and confidence-giving aspect of faith is well illustrated by Nagasena, who described it to King Milinda as having the characteristics of tranquility and leaping forward.

Then, King Milinda said: "Venerable Nagasena, what is the characteristic of faith? " "Faith, Sire, has tranquility and leaping forward as its characteristic."
"How is tranquility a characteristic of faith ?"
"When faith arises, it destroys the hindrances; when thought is without the hindrances, it is clear, pure and serene,."
"Give me a simile."

"A king, going among a highway together with his army of four parts - elephants, cavalry, chariots and infrantry - might cross a small stream, and the water disturbed by that army would become dirty, turbid and muddy. Then, the king might say:

`Bring water, good sirs; we will drink.' They might answer him, saying:

`Yes, Your Majesty,' and taking the king's water-cleansing gem, might put it in the water so that various water plants would disappear, the mud subside and the water become clear, pure and serene. Then they would offer the drinking water to the king, saying:

`Let His Majesty drink.' Thought is like the water, the people are like the earnest student of meditation, the defilements are like the water plants and the mud, and faith is like the water-cleansing gem.

As the water plants disappear, the mud subsides, and the water becomes clear, pure and serene when the water-cleansing gem is put in - even so, the arising of faith destroys the hindrances, and thought without hindrances is clear, pure and serene."

"How, reverend sir, is leaping forward a characteristic of faith?

"As, Sire, the earnest student of meditation, on seeing that the minds of others are freed, leaps forward after the fruits of Stream-Winning, of Once-Returning, of Non-Returning or of Arahantship, and practises meditation for the attaintment of the unattained, for the mastery of the unmastered, for the realizationof the unrealized - even so is leaping forward a characteristic of faith."

175 Emotionally, faith is an attitude of serenity and joy which frees us from the agony of doubt and uncertainty. When faith is strong in the heart, we are buoyant and cheerful despite being aware of our imperfections, because we know we are heading in the right direction.

Few things awaken the emotional aspect of faith more than calling to mind the life and example of the Buddha, performing devotional practices like the Puja, or even contemplating the Buddha image.

Another thing that can evoke a strong, serene faith is a pilgrimage to the four Holy Places: Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightment, Sarnath, where he preached the Dhamma for the first time, and Kusinara, where he attained final Nirvana.

The hardship and sacrifice that is required for a pilgrimage, the powerful spiritual atmosphere present in the Holy Places, and the knowledge that one is following in the footsteps of millions of people who have gone before us makes a pilgrimage one of the most purifying and faith-evoking of all acts. Not surprisingly, the Buddha urged his disciples to visit the Holy Places at least once in their lives. He says:

There are four places which, when seen, arouse strong emotion.
What four?
"Here the Tathagata was born," is the first.
"Here the Tathagata attained complete englightment," is the second.
"Here the Tathagata set the Wheel of the Dhamma in motion," is the third.
"Here the Tathagata attained the final Nirvana," is the fourth.

The monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen full of faith should visit these places. And anyone who dies while making a pilgrimage to these shrines with a devoted heart will, after the breaking up of the body at death, be reborn in a heaven world.

Faith is important because it involves and harnesses our intellect, our will and our emotions in the quest for Nirvana. Faith alone will not lead to Nirvana, but when it is paired with unbroken virtue, it destroys the first three of he Fetters and makes the attainment of Nirvana certain. Faith is the seed from which the flower of freedom will spring.

176 The next stage one attains and passes through on the gradual upward journey is called One-Returning. This stage is attained when one has not only developed the Four Limbs of Steam-Winning which destroy the first three Fetters, but has also weakened the next two fetters, sense desire and ill-will. The Once-Returner will, as the name implies, only be reborn on earth once more, although he might be reborn several times in the heaven realm before attaining Nirvana. When sense desire is completely destroyed and ill-will gives way to love, the stage of Non-Returning is reached. Such a person when he dies will be reborn in the heaven realm, and from there will attain Nirvana without even being reborn on earth. When all the Ten Fetters are finally shaken off through the development of wisdom, one attains full enlightenment and is called an Arahat.

The word `arahat' literally means `noble one', an appropriate name for some who has reached the highest state of human spiritual achievement. The Arahat has destroyed all the defilements through deep and penetrating wisdom, and has brought all the spiritual qualities like compassion, detachment, honesty and wisdom to completion. The Arahat, on the death of the physical body, attains the eternal peace and joy of Nirvana. It is important to realize that, having become a Stream-Winner, one may pass through thethree remaining stages within a few years, a lifetime, a few lifetimes, or at the most within seven lifetimes.

What is the difference between a Buddha and an Arahat ? The main characteristics of a Buddha are the manifestation of perfect wisdom and perfect compassion. Perfect wisdom is a Buddha's realization of the Threefold Knowledge, the knowledge of former lives, the knowledge of the arising and passing away of beings, and the knowledge of the destruction of the defilements (See 210).

Perfect compassion motivates and permeates every aspect of a Buddha's behaviour. The Buddha disclosed the Dhamma he had discovered "out of love and compassion for the many", when he taught others he did so "out of compassion", he visited, comforted and healed the sick "out of compassion", and he tried to reconcile those who were at odds and each other "outof compassion". He himself says to us:

177 Whatever has had to be done by a teacher out of compassion for his disciples, seeking their welfare, I have done for you.

Matrceta eulogises the Buddha's great compassion in his beautiful poem, the Satapancasatka.

You were kind without being asked,
You were loving without reason,
You were a friend to the stranger
And a kinsman to those without kin.
Good deeds you praise,
Bad deeds you blame,
But towards those who act thus,
You are free from any `for' or `against'.

Although you preferred the delights of solitude,
Compassion led you to spend your time
Among the crowd.

Like a mighty dragon
Drawn from its lake by a spell,
Compassion led you from forest to town
For the sake of those to be taught.
You admonish the stubborn, restrain the hasty,
And straighten the crooked.
You encourage the slow and harness the tamed.
Truly, you are the unsurpassed guide of men.
The hostile evoke your warmth,
The immoral receive your help,
The fierce find you tender.
How wonderful is your noble heart .
With mind detached,

You quietly work for the welfare of the world.
How awesome is the Buddha-nature of the Buddha.
You ate poor food, sometimes you went hungry.
You walked rough paths and slept on the ground
Trampled hard by the hooves of the cattle.
You are the Lord,
But you never lord it over others.
All may use you as a servant
To obtain the help they need.

178 You help those who wish you ill
More than most men help those who wish them well.
To an enemy intent on ill,
You a friend intent on good.
To one who gleefully seeks faults,
You respond by seeking virtues.

An Arahat is no different from a Buddha; he or she has attained the Threefold Knowledge and expresses the same compassion. The difference is this: a Buddha realizes the Truth without the help of another, while an Arahat realizes theTruth after having heard or read the teachings of a Buddha. Once, the Buddha asked his disciples about the nature of thedifference between himself and a disciple who had attainedenlightenment, and he answered:

"The Tathagata, the Arahat, the fully enlightened Buddha is he who causes the Way not arisen before to arise, who brings about the Way not previously brought about, who proclaims the Way not previously proclaimed, who is a knower of the Way, who understands the Way, who is skilled in the Way.

And the disciples are those who follow after him. This is the difference, the distinction, the division, between the Tathagata, the Arahat, the fully enlightened Buddha and a monk who as freed himself through wisdom.

The Buddha is like a pioneer who cuts a path through the jungle and discovers a beautiful fertile valley. The Arahats are like those who follow the path cut by the pioneerand settle down to live in the same fertile valley.

A Buddha and an Arahat both follow the same Path and they both arrive at the same destination Nirvana. The difference is that a Buddha rediscovers and arrives at Nirvana first,while an Arahat does so as a result of a Buddha's pioneering work.

However, there is an important difference as well. To discover Nirvana and the Path leading to it completely alone and unaided, a Buddha must develop endurance, determination, wisdom and love to a degree not needed by an Arahat. And thus wecould say that an Arahat has all the qualities and realization of a Buddha, but a Buddha has them to a much higher degree. He is, as it were, the first among equals. The Buddha says:

179 "It is like a hen with eight, ten or a dozen eggs which she has sat on properly, warmth properly and hatched properly. Is the chick which first pierces through the shell with claw and beak and safely emerges called the eldest chick of the youngest? "

"Being the first, he is called the eldest."

"Even so, having pierced through the shell of ignorance for the sake of beings living in ignorance, egg-born, enclosed, I am the first in the world, utterly enlightened with the unsurpassed enlightnment. I am the eldest in the world, the highest."

At the time of the Buddha, many terms were used todescribe one who has attained Nirvana-‚ (Awakened One), (the One Thus Come; alternatively, the One Thus Gone), ‚ (Noble One, (the silent one), (the Highest One), (the Knower) - and these terms were used interchangeably for either the Buddha or one of his enlightened disciples.

Gradually the terms Buddha and Tathagata were reserved exclusively for the Buddha, to distinguish him from his enlightened disciples, who were called Arahats. However, in the centuries after the Buddha's final Nirvana, people gradually began to feel the difference pioneer and follower. They came to believe that the Buddha had attained a higher, more complete type of Nirvana that the one attained by the Arahat.

Those who had this mistaken belief felt, quite understandably, that it was better to become a Buddha than to attain the second-rate state of Arahatship. Those who understood the teachings properly insisted that the realization of a Buddha and an Arahat were the same. But the others kept on insisting that they were different. And fantastic legends that were increasingly being grafted onto the Buddha's life only highlighted these supposed differences.

Eventually, a split came. One group, believe that they were taking the path to full enlightenment, began to call themselves the Mahayan, the Great or Superior Way, and they called those who they believed were taking path of second-rate enlightenment the Hinayana, the Small or Inferior Way.

In later centuries more and more difference emerged between the two groups arose from the inability to realize that there is only one state of Nirvana and that one is either enlightened or one is not.