An arhat (also arahat or arahant; Chinese: 阿羅漢, aluohan; Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa; Jp. arakan) is a highly realized Buddhist practitoner. It literally means "foe destroyer".
The term arhat is, strictly speaking, a synonym for Buddha and it is listed in some texts as one of the ten epithets of a Buddha. However, in English, the term arhat is conventionally used to refer only to a Sravaka-Buddha, one of the three types of Buddha, whereas the term Buddha is most commonly used to refer only to Supreme Buddhas such as Siddhartha Gautama. Thus, by their conventional uses, one could readily find the concept of arhat contrasted with the concept of Buddha.
In early Indian texts, the stage of arhat is described as the final goal of Buddhist practice -- the attainment of complete and unexcelled nirvāna. Others consider it to be the fourth and highest stage of the śrāvaka path, Sravaka-Buddhahood.
The concept of arhat may be compared with that of bodhisattva.
External links
Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (http://www.acmuller.net/cgi-bin/search-ddb4.pl?Terms=阿羅漢) (log in with userID "guest")
In early Indian texts such as the Pali Canon, the stage of arhat is described as the final goal of Buddhist practice -- the attainment of complete and unexcelled NirvÄna.
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