The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four degrees of approach to full enlightenment as an Arahant which a person can attain in this life. The four stages are Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahant. A silhouette of a Buddha statue at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ... A garden featuring depictions of various arhats (Hsi Lai Temple, California) An arhat (also arahat or arahant; Chinese: 阿羅漢, aluohan; Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa; Jp. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sotapatti. ... The Sakadagami is a partially-enlighened person, who has cut off the first three chains with which the ordinary mind is bound, and significantly weakened the 4th and 5th. ... In Hindu and Buddhist theology as it pertains to reincarnation, an anagami (or anaagaamii) is a non-returner; after death, he will not be reborn back into the human world, and will instead appear in one of the Brahma worlds called the Pure Abodes. ... A garden featuring depictions of various arhats (Hsi Lai Temple, California) An arhat (also arahat or arahant; Chinese: 阿羅漢, aluohan; Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa; Jp. ...

The teaching of the four stages of enlightenment is a central element of the early Buddhist schools, including the surviving Theravada school of Buddhism (current in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar). Divisions among the early Buddhist schools came about due to doctrinal or practical differences in the views of the Buddhist Sangha following the death of the Buddha. ... Theravada (Pāli: theravāda; Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda; literally, the Way of the Elders) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population[1]) and most of continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand). ...

The ordinary person

An ordinary person, or puthujjana (Pali; Sanskrit: pṛthagjana) is trapped in the endless changes of saṃsāra. Doing good or evil as influenced by his desires and aversions, he is born in higher or lower states of being (heavens or hells) according to his actions. As he has little control over his mind and behavior, his destiny is haphazard and subject to great suffering. The ordinary person has never seen (experienced) the ultimate truth of Dhamma, and therefore has no way of finding an end to his predicament. Pali (IAST: ) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Saṃsāra, the Sanskrit and Pāli term for continous movement or continuous flowing refers in Buddhism to the concept of a cycle of birth (jāti) and consequent decay and death (jarāmaraṇa), in which all beings in the universe participate and which can only be escaped... The word dharma (Sanskrit; धर्म in the Devanagari script) or dhamma (Pali) is used in most or all philosophies and religions of Indian origin, Dharmic faiths, namely Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. ...

The Noble persons

One who begins sincere training on the Buddhist path (known as Sekhas in Pali or those in training) and experiences the truth to the extent of cutting of a number of the ten mental fetters (Pali: saṃyojana), becomes an ariyapuggala (Sanskrit: āryapudgala); a "noble person" who is sure of enlightenment as an Arahant in the near future (within seven lives). Their specific destiny is governed by the degree of attainment reached. The Dharma wheel, often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path (Pāli: Ariyo aá¹­á¹­haá¹…giko maggo; Sanskrit: Ä€rya ṣṭāṅga mārgaḥ; Chinese: 八正道, Bāzhèngdào; Japanese: 八正道, Hasshōdō, Thai: อริยมรรคแปด, Ariya Mugg Paad, Mongolian qutuÉ£tan-u naiman gesigün-ü mör) is, in... In Buddhism, a mental fetter or chain or bond (Pāli: samyojana, saÅ‹yojana, saññojana) shackles a person to samsara, the cycle of endless suffering. ... A garden featuring depictions of various arhats (Hsi Lai Temple, California) An arhat (also arahat or arahant; Chinese: 阿羅漢, aluohan; Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa; Jp. ...

The Sangha of the Tathagata's disciples (Arya Sangha), i.e. the four [groups of noble disciples] when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as persons. The four groups of noble disciples (Buddhist Sekhas) when taken as pairs are those who have attained:

• I

(1)the path to stream-entry; (2)the fruition of stream-entry;

• II

(3)the path to once-returning ; (4)the fruition of once-returning;

• III

(5)the path to non-returning ; (6)the fruition of non-returning;

• IV

(7) the path to arahantship ; (8)the fruition of arahantship.

Taking each attainment singly gives eight "individuals."

Stream-enterer

Main article: Sotapanna

The first stage is that of Sotāpanna (Pali; Sanskrit: Srotaāpanna), literally meaning "one who enters (āpadyate) the stream (sotas), with the stream being the Noble Eightfold Path regarded as the highest Dharma. The stream-enterer is also said to have "opened the eye of the Dharma" (dhammacakkhu, Sanskrit: dharmacakṣus). In Buddhism, a sotapanna (Pali, Sanskrit: srotapanna) (or sotapatti), a stream-enterer or stream-winner, is a partially-enlightened person, who has eradicated the first three fetters of the mind, that prevent freedom. ... In Buddhism, a sotapanna (Pali, Sanskrit: srotapanna) (or sotapatti), a stream-enterer or stream-winner, is a partially-enlightened person, who has eradicated the first three fetters of the mind, that prevent freedom. ... Pali (IAST: ) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... The Dharma wheel, often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path (Pāli: Ariyo aá¹­á¹­haá¹…giko maggo; Sanskrit: Ä€rya ṣṭāṅga mārgaḥ; Chinese: 八正道, Bāzhèngdào; Japanese: 八正道, Hasshōdō, Thai: อริยมรรคแปด, Ariya Mugg Paad, Mongolian qutuÉ£tan-u naiman gesigün-ü mör) is, in...

A stream-enterer is guaranteed enlightenment after no more than seven successive rebirths, and possibly in fewer. The stream-enterer can also be sure that he or she will not be reborn in any of the unhappy states or rebirths (that is, as an animal, a preta, or a being in hell). He can only be reborn as a human being, or in a heaven. A hungry ghost is a kind of ghost associated with hunger common to many religions. ... Naraka (Sanskrit) or Niraya (Pāli) (Ch: 地獄 Dì Yù, Jp: Jigoku, Tib: ) is the name given to one of the worlds of greatest suffering in Buddhist cosmology. ...

The stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi or sammādiṭṭhi, "right view"), has complete confidence in the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and has good moral behaviour (Sila). Symbol of the triratna, as seen in the Sanchi stupa, 1st century BCE. The Three Jewels, also rendered as Three Treasures, Three Refuges or Triple Gem are the three things that Buddhists give themselves to, and in return look toward for guidance, in the process known as taking refuge. ... Media:Example. ... Sangha (संघ saṃgha) is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as association or assembly or community. It is commonly used in several senses to refer to Buddhist or Jain groups. ... In Sanskrit, śīla is a term in Indian-derived systems such as Hinduism and Buddhism which is usually rendered into English as behavioral discipline, morality, or ethics (Tibetan tshul khrims). ...

Once-returner

Main article: Sakadagami

The second stage is that of the Sakadāgāmī (Sanskrit: Sakṛdāgāmin), literally meaning "one who once (sakṛt) comes (āgacchati)". The once-returner will only be born one more time in the human world, where he will attain enlightenment as an Arahant. The Sakadagami is a partially-enlighened person, who has cut off the first three chains with which the ordinary mind is bound, and significantly weakened the 4th and 5th. ...

Non-returner

Main article: Anagami

The third stage is that of the Anāgāmī (Sanskrit: Anāgāmin), literally meaning "one who does not (an-) come (āgacchati)". The non-returner does not come back into human existence, or any lower world, after death. Instead, he is reborn in one of the worlds of the Rūpadhātu called the Śuddhāvāsa worlds, or "Pure Abodes", where he will attain Nirvāṇa; some of them are reborn a second time in a higher world of the Pure Abodes, but in no case are born into a lower state. In Hindu and Buddhist theology as it pertains to reincarnation, an anagami (or anaagaamii) is a non-returner; after death, he will not be reborn back into the human world, and will instead appear in one of the Brahma worlds called the Pure Abodes. ... Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person (as conventionally regarded), upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas) which make up that person, becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new group of skandhas which may again be conventionally considered... Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. ... Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. ... This article is about the Buddhist concept. ...

An Anāgāmī has abandoned the five lower fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth. An Anāgāmī is thus partially enlightened, and on the way to perfect and complete Enlightenment. Saṃsāra, the Sanskrit and Pāli term for continous movement or continuous flowing refers in Buddhism to the concept of a cycle of birth (jāti) and consequent decay and death (jarāmaraṇa), in which all beings in the universe participate and which can only be escaped... Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P...

Arhat

Main article: Arhat

The fourth stage is that of Arahant, a fully enlightened human being who has abandoned all fetters, and who upon decease (Sanskrit: Parinirvāṇa, Pāli: Parinibbāna) will not be reborn in any world, having wholly abandoned saṃsāra. A Chinese Luohan statue from the Liao Dynasty in Hebei Province, China In the sramanic traditions of ancient India (most notably those of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha) arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) signified a spiritual practitioner who had—to use an expression common in the tipitaka—laid down the burden... A garden featuring depictions of various arhats (Hsi Lai Temple, California) An arhat (also arahat or arahant; Chinese: 阿羅漢, aluohan; Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa; Jp. ... The death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara 2-3rd century. ... Saṃsāra, the Sanskrit and Pāli term for continous movement or continuous flowing refers in Buddhism to the concept of a cycle of birth (jāti) and consequent decay and death (jarāmaraṇa), in which all beings in the universe participate and which can only be escaped...