The Four Stages of Enlightenment

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A lecture summarizing the four stages of enlightenment as taught in Theravada Buddhism.

The 10 Fetters:
1. Self-Illusion
The conviction of the existence of self-identity and individuality (sakkayaditthi).
2. Skepticism
3. Attachment to Rites and Rituals
The conviction that rites, rituals, and outward actions by themselves lead to enlightenment (sīlabbata-parāmāsa; sila/virtue, bbata/felony, paramasa/adherence/attachment)
4. Lust and Desire
5. Anger (ill-will)
6. Greed (corporeal/material)
7. Attachment (incorporeal i.e. jhana meditation, form and formless meditations, nirvana)
8. Conceit (sense of self)
9. Restlessness (automatic, mechanical thoughts caused by defects/skandhas)
10. Ignorance

1. Sotāpanna (sota; stream, apanna; enterer)
• fetters 1-3 are broken
• the full conviction of self-identity vanishes; there are no residual egoic tendencies enforcing the belief and concept of the individual self
• there is the realization that liberation is soley achieved by means of comprehension (abandonment of attachment to rituals; sīlabbata-parāmāsa)
• doubt regarding the dhamma disappears because the truth can be perceived
• can maintain the household life
• reactions of anger or desire can still emerge if provoked, but they are less frequent and mild. one is not absolutely free of defects but is headed for ultimate enlightenment (could happen in the next 10 minutes or after another life or so)
• the jhanas may or may not be easily accessible but is not an indicator of enlightenment

2. Sakadāgāmin (once-returner)
• fetters 1-5 are greatly reduced; anger and desire/lust are further weakened, but it is still possible to experience them if provoked (won't happen spontaneously out of habitual thinking)
• one life may remain in order to attain the last stage of enlightenment
• even in this stage, the jhanas may not always be easy to access

3. Anāgāmi (non-returner)
• complete enlightenment is attained in the same life
• can still remain in the household life
• highly exalted; anger, desire, lust, do not exist in the psyche, so they do not arise when provoked
• fetters 1-5 are mostly unbounded, but not completely
• the jhanas and samadhi can be easily accessed and there is more inclination to continue experiencing these mental states
• the mind still has some restlessness, so it is not completely still. it continues to produce some movement and wandering
• there is a trace of conceit (sense of self) even though the initial comprehension, the misconception of self-hood is eliminated in the first stage. the misconception of the self as well as related defects may still exist to a subtle or trace degree. this will evaporate in the last stage.

4. Arahant
• no future rebirths in any realm are needed
• the 5 fetters vanish; restlessness, conceit, ignorance, disappear on an instant
• jhana and samadhi can sometimes be the natural, ongoing state of the consciousness. the arupa meditations, which are not specifically jhanic, are not mandatory for arahanship

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