(Masked Magician) You'll never work in this town again, Masked Magician, for telling everyone! You, too, voiceover guy and professional newscaster Mark Thompson!
Showing posts with label stage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stage. Show all posts
Friday, October 23, 2026
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Classical metal guitar soloist Tina Setkic
(MD Animations) Where is Yugoslavian French classical metal guitar prodigy Tina Setkic (YouTube's "Tina S"), student of French jazz-rocker Renaud Louis-Servais?
Heavy metal gone wrong: flops
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
The Ten Stages of Zen Enlightenment
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| The way to sudden awakening is abduction by ETs then gurgling on TV: Disclosure Day |
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The 10 Stages of Zen Enlightenment: A Map to Buddha-Nature
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| Ten to Zen Bulls |
- What does Zen consider "enlightenment"? There are two words used. The first is satori (from Japanese satoru, to know, to see, understand a gestalt) or "sudden realization." Any insight or epiphany might do. But there's another word, kenshō, that means suddenly seeing our "true face," our "nature," our intrinsic "Buddha-nature." Certainly, our "true nature," which is the true nature of all things, has three marks. Penetrating this is necessary to letting go of all clinging.
- None of these accords with what the historical Buddha taught as enlightenment (bodhi, "awakening"), but seeing "emptiness" (suññatā) -- how all things are impersonal -- is necessary for the first stage of awakening called "stream entry."
- The Ten Bulls or the "Ten Ox Herding Pictures" (Chinese shíniú 十牛, Japanese jūgyūzu 十牛図, Korean sipwoo 십우)
Created by 12th-century Chinese Chan Master Kuòān Shīyuǎn, these images explain the stages of enlightenment—from desperate seeking to the realization that the ox we’ve been chasing has been the "Buddha-nature" we already possess and have always possessed.
This isn’t just ancient art. It’s a mirror showing where we truly are on the path to awakening right now.
This video explores The 10 Stages of Zen Enlightenment: A Map to Buddha-Nature, decoding the Zen Buddhist path to awakening through Zen’s most iconic teaching story.
Learn how Kuòān Shīyuǎn’s Ten Ox-Herding Pictures became a timeless visual guide to mindfulness, meditation, and non-duality in Chinese Chan and Zen Buddhism.
DISCOVER
- The 10 ancient Zen stages explained step-by-step
- How 12th century Master Kuòān Shīyuǎn transformed Taoist symbols into Zen training tools
- The mystery behind the final picture—why enlightenment ends in a noisy marketplace
- How the Heart Sutra and Zen Master Dōgen’s teachings appear inside these images
- Why these ancient pictures still describe the modern search for meaning and peace
- [Hasbara propaganda works as 'Disclosure Day' invades globe with $93M worldwide opening
- Box Office: 'Disclosure Day' opening to $44 mil in U.S.
- 'Disclosure Day' nears $100 mil, 'Michael' eyes $950 mil]
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| Are ETs into Zen? (Disclosure Day) |
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
- 00:00 Intro – “You’ve lost something”
- 01:09 Chp 1 – The finger pointing at the moon
- 03:11 Chp 2 – When you first spot what you’ve lost
- 07:52 Chp 3 – The years of wrestling your own mind
- 12:06 Chp 4 – The death of everything you think you are
- 17:57 Chp 5 – Why enlightenment [Zen's version of the awakened state] looks like a drunk in the market
- 21:45 Chp 6 – The ox you’re already riding
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| Ox herding pictures, No. 7 (Ten Bulls) |
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📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Primary texts:
"Ten Ox-Herding Pictures" by Kuòān Shīyuǎn (Kakuan) - 12th century Chan Buddhism classic
"The Platform Sutra" - Teachings of Huìnéng, Sixth Patriarch
"The Diamond Sutra" (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra)
"The Heart Sutra" (Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya)
"Shōbōgenzō" by Dōgen Zenji - 13th century Zen master
"The Gateless Gate" (Wúménguān) - Classic Zen kōan collection featuring Zhàozhōu
Modern scholarship:
"Zen and Japanese Culture" by D.T. Suzuki
"The Three Pillars of Zen" by Philip Kapleau (commentary on ox-herding)
"Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin" translated by Norman Waddell
"The Zen Teaching of Rinzai" translated by Irmgard Schloegl
Historical Context:
Earlier buffalo-herding sets from Chinese Chan tradition
Evolution from earlier versions to Kakuan's refined ten-stage cycle
Song Dynasty Buddhist art and philosophy
- Buddha's Wisdom, Nov. 2, 2025; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Thursday, October 2, 2025
What if everything is conscious?
What if absolutely everything is CONSCIOUS?
- 00:00:00 - The fundamental mystery of consciousness
- 00:01:48 - What is consciousness? (and why it’s hard to define)
- 00:03:38 - The problem of detecting consciousness
- 00:05:30 - The illusion of conscious control
- 00:07:26 - The future of consciousness science
Is consciousness everything?
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| All-seeing Great Brahma has multiple faces. |
Asangoham made a video on the Brahma Sutras talking about Hinduism that touches on this point, everything originating from Brahma (the "Supremo") who out of boredom created Maya (the illusory world around us), who immediately wanted to play (lila) a game, a divine drama, a diversion.
First, create the universe then get lost in it, forgetting yourself, then play hide-and-seek to find yourself. It's an old New Age belief. It seems to be what Alan Watts believes.
If Everything is conscious then we can know everything by tapping into Source and connecting, merging, uniting with it. It's like tuning into a frequency, as a radio does.
If you’re feeling brave, sit and look — and I mean really look — at a plant on your windowsill as it bends toward the light.
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| Why are they growing, Son? - Looking for Sun! |
Sure, you can look it up and find out there’s a thing called phototropism, which involves cells in a plant elongating to chase the sun. But that’s not really much of an answer. The question is, Why does the plant do that?
Is its movement just a mechanistic response with no feeling [or reflexive awareness] behind it? Or does the plant want that delicious, warm light? To many kids, it’s obvious: The plant wants the light!
Yet as adults, at least in the West, we’re supposed to be embarrassed by that kind of language. Modern science warns us against anthropomorphizing [treating nonhuman things as if they're human] — and not just when it comes to plants.
Until a few decades ago, scientists also insisted on viewing animals as mechanistic bundles of instinct (even though any pet owner would find that absurd).
They’ve gradually changed their minds about mammals, birds, and certain brainy species like octopuses, while continuing to believe that species with simpler nervous systems (or no nervous system at all) are not intelligent. They’re not even conscious. What if absolutely everything is conscious? (msn.com)
- News/world: Enigmatic ancient architecture discovered cut into rocky landscape (ar-AA1qNq8y)
- What if absolutely EVERYTHING is CONSCIOUS?
- Spiritual Quest, Jan. 30, 2025; Beth Upton; Asangoham, YouTube via MSN.com, 9/19/24; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Friday, August 29, 2025
Gathering of the Juggalos: Ohio 2025
- (Auntie Boy) Gathering of the Juggalos 2025, best festival?
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| We got ourselves a Family: Insane Clown Posse |
It was founded by Jumpsteady, Insane Clown Posse (the two-man white rap group Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler), and their label in the Year 2000.
- Is there ANYTHING redeeming about this insane festival of mayhem, madness, and what seems like a lot of meth? Yes: It's explained in the Epilogue
A Black man's fest experience
(Duke Dennis) Duke Dennis does the disastrous stretch of Ohio fields
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| Insane Clown Posse Festival |
Over its first eleven events (2000–2010), the festival drew a total attendance upward of 100,000 fans [3]. More
Monday, April 28, 2025
Country Stagecoach '25: What happened?
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| The LGBTQIA+ Country Brigade: Gay cowboys breakthrough at Stagecoach by booze guzzlin' |
WHAT HAPPENED?
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| VIDEO: Lizzo joins DJ Paris Hilton at Stagecoach 2025 (uproxx.com) |
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| Rich cowgirl Paris "Hot L" Hilton (Palm Beach) |
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| Jelly, Bunnie Xo, CMT Awards |
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| Howdy, I'm here to meet and mingle! |
Jelly Roll, that's too much sun! Sunblock, son! - Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) "My Ex's Best Friend"
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| PHOTOGALLERY: Palm Beach Post |
Diplo’s Honkytonk Drake Milligan Drew Parker Dylan Gossett Dylan Scott Flatland Cavalry George Birge Goo Goo Dolls Jelly Roll John Morgan Kashus Culpepper Koe Wetzel Lana Del Rey Lanie Gardner Louie TheSinger Luke Combs Maddox Batson Mae Estes Midland Myles Kennedy Nelly (25 Years of Country Grammar) Nikki Lane Niko Moon Noeline Hofmann Sammy Hagar Scotty McCreery Shaboozey Sierra Ferrell Sturgill Simpson Tanner Usrey The Bacon Brothers The Castellows The Wilder Blue Tiera Kennedy Tigerlily Gold Tommy James & The Shondells T-Pain Tracy Lawrence Treaty Oak Revival Tucker Wetmore Vincent Mason Waylon Wyatt Whiskey Myers Zach Bryan (PLUS lots of secret special guests). It was bouncin':
Country music is now pro-gay?
Event details
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| Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll headline 2025 Stagecoach Festival | Whiskey Riff |
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| PHOTOS: Too many girls: Stagecoach 2025 (Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun via Palm Beach Post) |
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| Watch live: stagecoachfestival.com |
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| Lana Del Rey (aka Lizzy Grant) |
All your country music favorites are there: Lana "Cowgirl" Del Rey, who's going country on her next release just as the bandwagon is going strong.
There are also these heavy hitting country stars: Jelly "Potato" Roll, T-"Bronco" Pain (doing a cover of country classic Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"), DJ Paris "Rawhide" Hilton, Mumford "General Store" and Sons, "Creeps" Creed, Ol' Nelly, Shaboozey, and a few surprises. Like, maybe, Axel "Cornfed" Rose will show up to wow the crowd of Stetsons and Naugahyde cowboy booties.
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| Cowgirl Beyonce 'n accused child molester Jay-Z |
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| Let's get Beyond Meat to cruelty-free food |
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| Lil Nas X glamming it up in Glastonbury |
STAGECOACH 2025 IS SOLD OUT! Tune in to the official livestream on Amazon Music starting April 25 at 4:00 pm PT. And never mind the rain or cold of the winter wonderland that is Southern California's high desert: Stagecoach
- Stagecoach Festival 2025; I. Rony, Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Xochitl (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
How to know if you're enlightened
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Think about it. An enlightened* person not knowing she's enlightened is not that bad, but an unenlightened person thinking he is, that's not good. That's wrong view that could lead to trouble.
- *Enlightened: Aryan, the Noble Ones, those along any of the any of the stages of awakening, meaning the various kinds of stream enterers, once returners, non-returners, and the fully enlightened arhats, which some could argue are the only real "enlightened" (bodhi) ones.
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| By practice, an ordinary human can reach it. |
Do they have an inferiority complex, a superiority complex, or do they see themselves as EQUAL to others? Go back to the key sentence. They don't compare themselves to others and, therefore, they are neither nor the other. This was mind-blowing to see because, well surely from their point of view, the "nice" thing would be to think themselves equal to us, the lowly uninstructed (and therefore ignorant) worldlings.
- "Ignorant" sounds bad, but it just means we don't know yet, so it includes everyone. Even God (Brahma, Jehovah/YHWH/Yahweh, Allah, Asherah, Astarte, El, Elohim, Demiurge, Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc.) is not omniscient, but there are two kinds of buddhas who may be, the samma-sam-buddha and the pacceka-buddha, the "supremely enlightened" and the "silent (nonteaching) enlightened." The Buddha was the first kind, and it is said that he could lay claim to being omniscient not in the sense that he knew everything all the but in the sense that he could know anything he put his mind to. (Things are not fixed, so did he really know what was going to happen or only what was most likely to happen?)
And this brings us to the next point, which is equally view-shattering: Do regular fully enlightened arhats know everything? I mean, it says "fully" right in their title, and if they have no ignorance, they must have full knowledge. No, they do not, far from it.
Not only can arhats likely not explain Buddhism, they may not know much of anything else (academic subjects, life lessons, trivia). They just happen to know the most important things, that which the Buddha was wise enough to winnow out and focus on. All the other things might be nice, but they are not essential for waking up.
- In Goenka's book, there's a wonderful parable called "Swimology." It goes something like this: One day, as the ship is about to leave safe harbor for the open seas, the young captain on his maiden voyage takes on an older able-bodied sailor who looks like he's been at sea all his life. The ship soon runs into trouble and gets lost. The captain consults the old sailor for help reading the map. But that salty seadog snaps back: "I don't know mapology!" The captain says, "You travel the sea but can't read a map? You wasted a quarter of your life!" In the hot sun, the men run out of water and start complaining. The captain asks the old sailor to fix the cistern, but he snaps back: "I don't know hydrology." The captain says, "You live on a ship depending on water, but you never learned plumbing? You wasted two quarters of your life!" Before long, they're completely lost, going in circles, running out of supplies. The captain orders him to grab a sextant to help navigate by the stars. The old sailor snaps back: "I don't know astrology!" The captain says, "You live under starry skies, and you can't read them for guidance? You wasted three quarters of your life!" At daybreak they spot land, but the captain being in a rush hits the rocks. The ship is wrecked and taking on water. The old sailor runs to the wheel to ask the captain, "Did you study swimology?" "What's that?" asks the captain. The old sailor yells for everyone to jump overboard and abandon ship. The ignorant old sailor, who never had an academic education, did study one thing and knew enough to save himself. He snapped back at the captain: "This ship is going down! Everyone who can swim can make it safely to shore. Those who can't are going to drown. You learned all those fancy ologies but skipped the most crucial lesson for a life at sea -- to be able to make to safety! You wasted your whole life!"
- So here we are, lost in Samsara (the Ocean of Life and Death), bobbing up and down about to drown, wasting our time swirling in confusion, asking so many questions about this, that, and the other, but never focusing on the most essential, the Dhamma (what the Buddha taught concerning the Seven Requisites of Enlightenment for salvation, for utter liberation or moksha). Like the captain, we're Smart Alecs with degrees in all kinds of ologies except the most valuable kind: Dharma Studies.
- [By the way, WHO can become enlightened? Any human or deva of average intelligence, no special quality necessary excepts, perhaps, having the karmic good fortune of coming into contact with the Buddha's Doctrine and Discipline (Dhamma-Vinaya). Sincerity is essential, and my teacher speculates that paramis (kusala-karma) are important, which he defines as "anything good done in the past with the idea of reaching enlightenment (bodhi) or nirvana (nibbana)."]
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| Arr eu shur? Ai'm thee gretest g'nius. |
- Yes, Einstein?
- Yez, vell, vee kno thut E=mc2...
- Ugh, actually, Albie, you left out ether (e) which accounts for your imprecision. So I want you to get back to the drawing board, confer to Nikola Tesla (he's in Dimension 7, Quadrant 5) and you should be able to see the error of your ways and get back to Earth to clean up the mess.
- Yes, Hawking?
- I-am-the-longest-lived-survivor-of-ALS-and...
- That's not what you had, Steve, and your idea that...
- Yes, Witten, why are you interrupting? Your view of string theory is all in knots, but here's how to resolve the equations...
I guess it's a silly thought, and it's completely wrong. What an enlightened person comes to know, overcoming all ignorance on these four things, can be summarized in the Four Enlightened (Noble) Truths:
- what disappointment is,
- its cause,
- its full resolution, and
- the path to that end.
For example, many monks in the Thai Forest Tradition are said to have gained realization, but are they able to explain it or effectively teach it to others to the point that that person experiences the liberating truth? That's very rare.
Ajahn Chah was able to, but are his accomplished students? Maybe Ajahn Brahm or Ajahn Sumedho. Why aren't they all famous with large retinues of noble disciples. The great Ajahn Jumnien personally knows more than most beings, but can he communicate it effectively?
The great Pa Auk Sayadaw, the Burmese meditation master, is rare among all Buddhist monastics in that he is both a scholar and an adept practitioner. He can teach it.
He is nevertheless limited by his students' limitations. He cannot impart it, nor can he read minds or flex the magical iddhi powers that might help him teach. He can advise, guide, reproach, encourage but he is without the iddhi powers to do more.
The Buddha had iddhi powers at his disposal. And using them he could not, as it were, get a horse to drink water though it had been led right to the refreshing stream.
- In the simplest terms, since we have defined "enlightened" (bodhi) to mean "having reached any of the stages of enlightenment, one need only concern oneself with the first stage: get there, and everything will be all right within seven lives. Of course, reaching it, there's no reason to stop. Keep striving, or start striving now that you are 100% sure what the Buddha taught is real and works.
- For simplicity let's say there are four such stages, though the Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga) lists the other kinds of stream enterers -- and an additional two kinds of preenlightened folks, the saddhānusārī and dhammānusārī (confidence-devotee rooted in faith and Dharma-devotee rooted in wisdom). What are the characteristics of the person who has undergone that stage (knowing-and-seeing described in two parts as path-and-fruit)?
- The stream enterer is the first person to be safe in this interminable sojourn, this samsara, this Wheel of Life and Death, for this person has for the first time in all these aeons put a limit on suffering (dukkha). Other beings may go on suffering for as far as the mind can see, but such a noble one now has to endure no more than seven rebirths. And all of these rebirths will be on the human plane or higher, never lower. This is one of the wonders of enlightenment.
- Now, indeed, what could go wrong? Nothing that happens can matter much because one is sure to get out. For example, say we were all serving life sentences and one of us got a reprieve, a pardon, and held a letter for the warden that had to be heeded. That person is already free in theory and now need only wrap it up and go from our h*ll hole or choose to stay longer to help others, or putter about, or fulfill karmic obligations and promises or waste away on trivialities like more sensual enjoyments for their own sake (though how this is done if one knows better is hard to fathom).
- One wrong view many hold, which seems to be a part of Theravada (Pali canon) lore, is that a stream enterer can do no moral wrong. This is completely mistaken. There are certainly at least five things one cannot do, but everything else, it's possible. (Those five cannot be done because they would entail an immediate result in the very next rebirth on a subhuman plane, which now one is no longer liable to fall into). For evidence that such exalted beings can behave badly, be immoral, do wrong, be bad, commit an offense, one need only read the Ratana Sutta ("Jewel Sutra"). Though one engages in whatever misconduct, one will nevertheless not fall into worlds more miserable than this, nor will one reappear anywhere more than seven more times.
- Furthermore, of course stream enterers can have lapses if even arhats might violate Monastic Disciplinary Code rules, which are listed indicating which rules those are that even an arhat might slip up on.
- Of course, it must be that this does not sound good to most people -- who are people (human or deva) because they are beset by greed (lust, attraction, clinging), hatred (aversion, fear), and delusion (wrong view, ignorance) -- because we want to go on, have more rebirths (ignorant of the countless number that have already transpired and the countless yet to come as we engage in karma and those deeds work themselves out).
- When one knows-and-sees, directly has knowledge-and-vision of some past lives and how this life and this present suffering came to be (which is the knowledge that arises from the practice of Dependent Origination, which most people do not know is a practice rather than a theory), one will be able to let go.
- Moksha or liberation is possible by letting go, but letting go is only really possible as a result of knowing-and-seeing. So it is not willpower or brute force or strong determination (a triumph of will) that does it. It is practice (bhavana, kammatthana, sadhana) that brings about knowledge and vision. For instance, say you had a warm bowl of rice in the dark and would not part with it for the world, not to give away not even to share with anyone. And someone told you to throw it away. You would think them mad. Throw away this thing I'm about to devour and have so much greed/attraction for that I don't even want to share a grain of it with anyone else? You cling to the rice bowl. And again the person advises, admonishes, and asks you to let go and toss it. Do you? Could you? Do you possess the faith (saddha) to take that person's word for it and do it? Probably not. So what is it going to take that person to have to do since words won't work? What now if that person were to get you to turn on the light or bring a candle or step out of the dark and look into the bowl? And say that in doing so, you were to perceive what was really there all along -- maggots not rice grains? How hard would it be to let go now, how hard to throw away, toss, discard, abandon? Not hard at all, right? It takes no willpower, no force, no faith even. What does it take? Knowing-and-seeing, direct perception for oneself so that one need never rely on another for what is true and what is not.
- How does that tie in? We have lust. Who or what do we lust after? Beautiful objects. Why are they "beautiful"? It is exactly because we do not see their true nature but just their appearance. Skin is beautiful, complexion, hair, scent, softness... How deeply do we need to look into it to see what's really there? Worms, blood, flesh, gore, guts, partly digested food, mucus, urine, oil, feces... Ahhh! How fast can you let go?
- One cannot do it fast enough -- and with no willpower, no force, no sense of loss, no triumph of will, not even any faith. Faith can be a great thing but, ultimately, it is not the necessary and sufficient thing. It is excellent for starters, but we need to know and see for ourselves. That is what the Buddha promises. That is the path to enlightenment.
- With the attainment of stream entry, these mental defilements go away:
- With the attainment of stream entry, one will instantly gain unshakeable faith in three things: the Teacher, the Teaching, and those successfully Taught (Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha). Why? It is because now one knows for sure that they were all three right.
- Through the path of stream entry (stream-winning, sotāpatti-magga) one "becomes" free (whereas by realizing the fruition, one "is" free) from the first three fetters (samyojana) that bind beings to existence in the Sensual Sphere, namely:
- (1) personality-view (sakkāya-ditthi; see ditthi),
- (2) skeptical doubt (vicikicchā),
- (3) attachment to mere rules and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāsa; see clinging upādāna).
The seven groups (sets) of noble disciples are as follows:
- (1) the faith-devotee (saddhānusārī),
- (2) the faith-liberated one (saddhāvimutta),
- (3) the body-witness (kāya-sakkhī),
- (4) the both-ways-liberated one (ubhato-bhāga-vimutta),
- (5) the Dhamma-devotee (dhammānusārī),
- (6) the vision-attainer (ditthippatta),
- (7) the wisdom-liberated one (paññā-vimutta).
What is the significance of these groupings? I've asked Bhikkhu Bodhi and other scholar-monks only to hear that there are limited references in the Pali canon. They offer hope because it is said by some (mentioned in Ven. Bodhi's endnotes to his Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikaya) translation) that such beings as 1 and 5 will not pass away until becoming stream enterers. Why this is said or what the proper understanding is remains to be seen. (Dhamma-viyama is a strange and fascinating subject).
- What if a better list of the "noble ones" can be argued for: (1) saddhānusārī (the faith-devotee who will not pass until attainment), dhammānusārī (the Dharma-devotee who will not pass until attainment), (3) the stream enterer (who is now destined to no more than seven rebirths), (4) the once-returner (who will return to this world at most one more time but will be reborn in the Pure Abodes and make final attainments there), (5) the non-returner (who will no longer be reborn on the human plane but in the Pure Abodes until final attainments), (6) the arhat with remainder (still in human form, experiencing the results of past karma, making no new karma only kriya), (7) the arhat without remainder (no longer in form of any kind, no longer experiencing any karmic results, utterly freed from delusion, having entered final-nirvana). (The suggestion that the "change of lineage" or gotrabhu is another "noble one" makes no sense since all of the noble ones are this. The reason there are four stages yet "eight individuals" is because they are distinguished between path (magga) moment and fruition (phala) moment, which by orthodox tradition is explained as meaning one nanosecond of difference as one mind-moment (citta) supplants the previous one and one goes from gaining the path and experiencing the moment or change of lineage inherent in gaining the path-moment. It is not a satisfying explanation for such a big distinction as to list Eight Individuals among the "Noble or Enlightened Ones."
So until Ven. Analayo (who exhaustively defined Mindfulness in Early Buddhism, Journal of Buddhist Studies, Vol. XI, 2013) makes a dissertation of it, the Buddhist Dictionary entry Ariya ("Noble Ones") by Ven. Nyanatiloka will have to do. The Apadana Commentary gives a little explanation.
So to answer the question, "How to know if I'm enlightened?" it's as easy as 1-2-3 (which is not to say it's easy to reach, because it is extremely rare, but easy enough to know for yourself):
- Do I have perfect, unshakeable faith (confidence, conviction) in the Triple Gem or "Three Jewels" (Buddha, Dhamma, and Noble Sangha, the Teacher, Teaching, and the successfully Taught), because I have glimpsed nirvana and seen what they had seen (when we were all set free by the Truth)?
- Am I no longer inclined, and does it no longer make sense, to compare self to others (seeing as how one has understood it is all impersonal and there is no self, no ego, no soul to cling to but there is, and one has directly seen, that all things arise based on Dependent Origination with the sole exception of nirvana, which is the only thing that is not a "thing," not a constituent composite, not a conditioned phenomenon, and is therefore called the "unconditioned element" or the asankhata dhatu)?
- And have I irreversibly put an end to three of the defilements/hindrances: personality-view, skeptical doubt, and clinging to mere rites and rituals as if they could ever bring about enlightenment.
- NOTE: As for morality and monastic rules (vinaya), there are different lists of what we might generally call "defilements," such as: āsava, kilesa, nivarana, samyojana, and very generally the Three Roots or Three Poisons. They are all overcome by an arhat. More
- Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; story by S.N. Goenka (dhamma.org); Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines
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