>

>> Seven rebirths?

>
> Yes, in Buddhist mythology of the Theravadin variety, there are 4
> levels of enlightenment. In Mahayana mythology, a different idea
> emerges, that of the Bodhisattva, who actually foregos enlightenment
> so that he or she will be reborn again and can help others awaken, and
> vows not to abandon them but return until everyone can awaken. While
> some people might take these things literally (and even bicker about
> which mythology is 'true' as if they were facts and not metaphors),
> it's pretty clear to me that they are both helpful guides for living
> the spiritual path in everyday life.
>
> Assuming you're from China, you're probably not familiar with
> Theravadin mythology, as Theravada is more prevalent in places like
> Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand, and not so much in China. Here's the
> basic story: [snip]

>
> The four stages of enlightenment in Theravada are:
>
> (1) stream-enterer;
> (2) once-returner;
> (3) non-returner;
> (4) arhat.
>
> If you also include those on the path to each of the above four,
> getting ready to advance to the next level, you end up with eight
> levels of spiritual people, the awakened arhat being the highest. The
> Buddha is simply the arhat who happens to be the founder of the
> religion. (In Mahayana, arhats are often put down and often seen as
> selfish, and below Bodhisattvas, and Buddha doesn't refer to the
> founder, but to a whole range of enlightened folks.) However, in
> Theravadin mythology, the arhat is at the top. Here's the breakdown:
>
> 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).
>
> 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.
>
> The stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist
> doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi or sammādiṭṭhi, "right view"), has complete
> confidence or Saddha in the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dhamma, and
> Sangha, and has good moral behaviour (Sila).
>
> 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 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> So does a fully enlightened Arahant continue to exist or cease to
> exist after bodily death? The Buddha instructed not to ask such
> silly, speculative, non-verifiable metaphysical questions or else one
> would probably go mad. Which may just explain why their are so many
> nutters in these groups, eh?