Friday, May 31, 2019

BuddhaFest Los Angeles (May 31-June 2)



BuddhaFest LA embraces mindfulness and compassion through a unique mix of inspiring films, modern wisdom teachings, meditation, and live music. Individual events and an entire weekend of wisdom, inspiration, and community. Featuring:
  • Prof. Robert Thurman (tibethouse.us), Uma Thurman's dad
  • Accomplished practitioner Sylvia Boorstein (dharma.org)
  • Dawa Tarchin Phillips (Bodhi Path, Santa Barbara)
  • Tibetan Dr. Nida Chenagtsang
  • Norman Fischer (San Francisco Zen Center)
  • Music by Ms. Drukmo Gyal Dakini
  • Tribute to Zen Master Bernie Glassman (ZCLA)
  • Joan Halifax with the 14th Dalai Lama
    Zen Priestess Joan Halifax (upaya.org)
  • Accomplished practitioner Sharon Salzberg (sharonsalzberg.com)
  • Zen Priestess Pat O'Hara
  • Screening of Buddhist filmmaker Doris Dörrie's classic comedy Enlightenment Guaranteed (a very funny Zen comedy)
  • + MORE: BuddhaFest.org/schedule
BuddhaFest LA
It's more fun to attend with friendly meditators (Dharma Meditation Initiative)

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Science: The Emotional Lives of Animals

Among my many emotions are curiosity and RAGE at dumb humans with cameras.
  
Grief, Friendship, Gratitude, Wonder, and other things we Animals Experience
Eat pu...not animals. Go vegan for Earth's health!
Scientific research shows that many animals are very intelligent and have sensory and motor abilities that dwarf ours.

Dogs are able to detect diseases such as cancer and diabetes and warn humans of impending heart attacks and strokes.

Elephants, whales, hippos, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles.

And bats, dolphins, whales, frogs, and various rodents use high-frequency sounds to find food, communicate with others, and navigate.
 
When I get a moment alone, it's mammal time.
Many animals also display wide-ranging emotions, including joy, happiness, empathy, compassion, grief, and even resentment and embarrassment.

It’s not surprising that animals -- especially, but not only, mammals -- share many emotions with us because we also share brain structures, located in the limbic system, that are the seat of our emotions.

In many ways, human emotions are the gifts of our animal ancestors. Many animals display profound grief at the loss or absence of a relative or companion.

What karma leads to which rebirth? Be kind.
Sea lion mothers wail when watching their babies being eaten by killer whales. People have reported dolphins struggling to save a dead calf by pushing its body to the surface of the water.

Chimpanzees and elephants grieve the loss of family and friends, and gorillas hold wakes for the dead.

I once happened upon what seemed to be a magpie funeral service. A magpie had been hit by a car. Four of his flock mates stood around him silently and pecked gently at his body. One, then another, flew off and brought back pine needles and twigs and laid them by his body. They all stood vigil for a time, nodded their heads, and flew off.

California mountain lions, pumas, will kill.
I also watched a red fox bury her mate after a cougar had killed him. She gently laid dirt and twigs over his body, stopped, looked to make sure he was all covered, patted down the dirt and twigs with her forepaws, stood silently for a moment, then trotted off, tail down and ears laid back against her head.

After publishing my stories I got emails from people all over the world who had seen similar behavior in various birds and mammals. More

Why did whites prefer Native culture? (video)

List OMG, Jan. 23, 2018; Xochitl, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

Here are 10 "strange" cases of colonial European invader (euphemistically called "Pioneer") children living with Native Americans who refused to go back home. For daily upload, subscribe at ► goo.gl/PoeQCx, Facebook: goo.gl/QEjBxt Thanks to Myuuji for the background music.


(National Geographic) Canyon life for a Navajo beauty pageant winner

Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument is a place where many Navajo Native American families come to reconnect with their roots. The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the Web selected by National Geographic editors. They look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of exploration and storytelling to change the world.

The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners. Know of a great short film that should be part of our Showcase? Email sfs@natgeo.com to submit a video for consideration. See more from National Geographic's Short Film Showcase at documentary.com.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Mueller says he did NOT clear Trump (video)

CBS News; CNN; Jimmy Kimmel; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal Q., Wisdom Quarterly

House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler reacts to Mueller statement, says: "President Trump is LYING"!
(CBS News, May 29, 2019) House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said impeachment is "on the table." In response to special counsel Robert Mueller's statement Wednesday, the first time he has spoken publicly in two years when he began compiling his redacted Mueller Report, Nadler said it's clear: "President Trump is lying."



(Jimmy Kimmel) Analysis of Trump's recent erratic behavior

The Buddha explains KARMA

Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wikipedia edit, Wisdom Quarterly
"Minerva victorious over Ignorance" (Bartholomaus Spranger)

The Buddha was a karma-vadin.
What's "karma" in Buddhism? Karma is Sanskrit that literally means "action" or "doing" bound up with the intention or motive behind the doing.

Karma refers to deeds driven by intention (cetanā). And there are 20 "courses" of action.

An intentional deed (motivated by unskillful clinging, aversion, delusion or their skillful counterparts letting go, nonaversion, wisdom) leads to welcome and unwelcome results.

The 31 Planes of Existence
The underlying motive or intention behind an act is what determines the kind of results, such as rebirths in samsara, one will get.

Usually when people say, "This is my karma" (lit., This is my deed), they actually mean, "This is my karmic fruit." This is to confuse cause with results.

They often mean the "effects" or "results" of their deed (karma-phala) and the "maturation" or "ripening" (karma-vipaka) of it:

"The remote effects of karmic choices are referred to as the 'maturation' (vipāka) or 'fruit' (phala) of the karmic act" (Keown 2000, pp. 36-37). More

Let him live: Achilles with Goddess Athena, with a hurt heel (startpage/wiki)

Noah's Ark is plagiarized Sumerian story (video)

43alley, 10/29/13; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


How we know: Noah's Ark was plagiarized
What do two of the most popular stories in the world -- Star Wars and Noah's Ark -- have in common? Special guest narration by "Creationist Cat" (user/creation...). Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI: ancienttexts.org/library/m... The two Biblical flood stories of Noah, side by side: faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/cflo... The Epic of Atrahasis: faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Atra... The Sumerian flood epic (of Ziusudra) livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flo... (chart at the bottom of link). Noah cartoon footage: youtube.com... Gilgamesh cartoon footage (actually another Noah cartoon): youtube.com...
 
CORRECTIONS: 1) YouTuber Jason Evers Herbert rightfully points out that Sir Austen Henry Layard should have been mentioned as one of the Assyriologists who contributed to the discovery of the Gilgamesh Tablets. Sir Layard began the excavations at the site, but because digs of this nature take so long, he returned to England; his assistant, Hormundz Rasam (mentioned in the video), eventually discovered the tablets. Also worth mentioning is that George Smith is the man who first translated the tablets.

How to build free underground house with pool

Brave Wilderness Life, May 11, 2019; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Build the greatness underground house and mini underground pool
Here's how to do it. Begin in a place like rural Buddhist Thailand or Vietnam, where all the materials will be free and able to be gathered from the surrounding woods and jungle. Brave Wilderness Life (BWL) shows how live in the real wilderness is possible and comfortable when building the ancient way. Start with good clay soil. All BWL videos include the techniques and technology to build different kinds of homes and everything else. Furthermore, BWL shows how to survive in the forest and how to use primitive tools in doing so. Your support is BWL's motivation, so please help like, share, comment, suggest good ideas, and subscribe. Many blessings and best wishes! - Brave Wilderness Life

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Plants that count and communicate (TED Talk)

Dr. Greg Gage (TED, Nov. 1, 2017); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


Electrical experiments with plants that count and communicate
We're alive and conscious, humans!
Neuroscientist Greg Gage takes sophisticated equipment used to study the human brain out of college-level labs and brings them to middle- and high-school classrooms (and the TED stage).
 
Prepare to be amazed as he hooks up the Mimosa pudica, a plant whose leaves shut when touched, and the Venus flytrap -- that clamps to catch its prey -- to an EKG machine to show us how plants use electrical signals to convey information, prompt movement, and count.
 
Check out more TED Talks at ted.com. The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment, and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts, and more. Twitter.com/TEDTalks, facebook.com/TED.

The Simile of the Raft (sutra)

Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (trans.), Alagaddupama Sutra: The Snake [and Raft] Simile (MN 22); Dhr. Seven, Ellie Askew, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
I must make it to the further shore of safety using my own body to get there!
.
13. "I shall show you, meditators, Buddhism's (the Buddha's Teaching's) similarity to a raft: It has the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of clinging to.

"Listen, meditators, and heed well what is said." — "Yes, venerable sir," replied the monastics. And the Blessed One said:

"Suppose, meditators, there were a person journeying on a road and that person sees a vast expanse of water of which this shore is dangerous and fearful, while the other shore is safe and free of fear. But there is no boat for crossing over, nor is there a bridge for going over from this side to that.

"So the person thinks: 'This is a vast expanse of water, and this shore is dangerous and fearful, while the other shore is safe and free of fear. However, there is no boat here for crossing over, nor a bridge for going over from this side to that. Suppose I were to gather branches, reeds, sticks, and foliage to bind them into a raft.'

"Now that person collects branches, reeds, sticks, and foliage and binds them into a raft. Carried by that raft, laboring with one's own hands and feet, that person safely crosses over to the further shore.

"Having crossed over and arrived at the further shore, that person thinks: 'Indeed, this raft has been very helpful! Carried by it, laboring with my own hands and feet, I made it safely across to this further shore. Should I not lift this raft atop my head or put it on my shoulders and go wherever I like?'

"What do you think, O meditators? Will this person acting thus do what ought to be done with a raft?" — "No, venerable sir!" — "How then, meditators, would one be doing what ought to be done with a raft?

"Here, meditators, having made it across and arrived at the furher shore, the person thinks: 'Indeed, this raft has been very helpful! Carried by it, laboring with my own hands and feet, I made it safely across to this further shore.

"Therefore, should I not strand it on dry land or let it float away into the water, and then go as I please?' By acting thus, meditators, would that person do what ought to be done with a raft.

"In the same way, meditators, have I shown to you Buddhism's (this Teaching's) similarity to a raft: It has the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of clinging to.

14. "You, O meditators, who understand Buddhism's similarity to a raft should let go even of Dharmas (good teachings),* how much more of non-Dharmas (false teachings)!

Commentary to this sutra
 
*COMMENTARY: "The Teachings" (Dharmas) are serenity (samatha) and insight (vipassana). The Buddha, indeed, enjoins us to abandon craving and clinging (chanda-raga) concerning serenity and insight. Where, then, has he enjoined the abandonment of craving and clinging in the case of serenity? He did so in the following saying:

"Therefore, Udayi, do I teach the abandoning even of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. Do you see , Udayi, any fetter, fine or coarse, that I did not tell you to let go of and discard?" (MN 66).

And in the case of insight (vipassana), the abandoning was enjoined by the Buddha as follows: "And to that view thus purified and cleansed, you should not be attached, should not be enamored of it, should not treasure it."

But here, in this present text, he enjoined the abandoning of craving and attachment concerning both (serenity and insight), by saying: "You should let go even of Dharmas [good teachings], how much more of non-Dharmas [false teachings]!"

The meaning is this: "I teach, O meditators, the abandoning of craving and clinging even for such peaceful and sublime states (as serenity and insight). How much more so in regard to that ignoble, low, contemptible, coarse, and impure thing in which this foolish person Arittha does not see any harm, saying that craving and clinging (desire and attachment) for the five sense-objects is not necessarily an obstruction!

"But you, O meditators, unlike that Arittha, should not fling mud and refuse into my dispensation [Teaching, Dharma]!" In this way, the Blessed One again rebuked Arittha by this admonition.

Eden: How to use Energy Medicine (video)

Donna Eden (mindvalley.com); Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Discover four powerful practical ways to bring energy medicine into everyday life
We know that everything is energy. But how do we apply this to our lives? Join us in this Mindvalley Masterclass for an eye opening demonstration where everyone will witness firsthand how energy actually runs our reality. Walk away with at least four different energy medicine techniques. Watch

Suicide or not-suicide? (video)

Billie Pirate Eilish, "Bury a Friend"; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Q., Wisdom Quarterly


How could it get any worse than now?
Suicide is killing. Killing is bad karma. For one who suffers (enough to want suicide), there will be more suffering as a result of bad karma (unskillful deeds motivated by aversion). One is likely, due to past karma, to be immediately reborn in the downfall (apaya) -- as a hungry ghost, animal, asura (anti-gods, titans), or hellion.

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts (Gabor Mate)
What steps of training lead out of endless rebirth, conditioned existing, and constantly re-arising now here, now there? If one were really sick and tired of it all, one would strive for enlightenment and liberation, awakening and freedom. Nirvana (the end of suffering) is the solution, not rebirth, not death, not suicide.

What will the Realm of Hungry Ghosts be like for suicidal sorts? If legends are to be believed, the shape shifting beings in this invisible world (outside the range of our vision) are like Tim Burton films -- for example, The Nightmare Before Christmas -- or this possessed Billie Eilish music video "Bury a Friend."

Hey, American Fatso, look at this (video)

Fault Lines, Al Jazeera English, 11/19/10; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Fast food, Fat profits: Obesity in America
Oh no, I am always craving junk food!
Obesity in America has reached a crisis point. Two out of every three (2/3) Americans are overweight. One out of every three (1/3) is obese. One in three (1/3) is expected to have diabetes by 2050.

Minorities have been even more profoundly affected: African-Americans have a 50 percent higher prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics 25 percent higher compared to whites. How did the situation get so out of hand?

On this episode of Fault Lines, Josh Rushing explores the world of cheap fast food for Americans living on the margins. What opportunities do people have to eat healthy? Who is responsible for "food deserts" and processed foods in American schools? Fault Lines finds food revolutions taking place and speaks with the people who are fighting back.
 
People featured in this film: Marion Nestle, Marlene Schwartz, John Bode, Nelson Eusebio, J. Justin Wilson, Dr. Olajide Williams, Lauren Von Der Pool, Julie Paradis, Cathal Armstrong, Ed Bruske. Twitter.com/AJFaultLines, Facebook.com/AJFaultLines, Instagram.com/AJFaultLines. See all episodes of Fault Lines: youtube.com/show/faultlines. Meet the Fault Lines Team: http://aje.me/ZhfAbH.

How to let go of fear and karma (video)

Dolores Cannon (Starseed Films, 2/25/12); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly


How to Let go of Fear and Release Karma: Three Magic Words
Dolores Cannon talks about how to let go of fear and release karma [past deeds bound up with their present and future results] an interview for the movie 3 Magic Words (3magicwordsmovie.com).
Dolores Cannon is a past life regression hypnotherapist and psychic researcher, who records "lost" knowledge. She has been involved with hypnosis for 40 years and past-life therapy and regression work for 30 years. She developed a unique technique, which has enabled her to gain...taking clients into the deepest level of trance -- into a kind of "universal consciousness." During this state, she gleans information from them about the...

Gender Bending Agenda? (video)


The Gender Bender Agenda 
Eric Dubay sitting in Buddhist Thailand
In the world today, there is an agenda well underway that is purposely subverting and transforming the family unit, creating sexual confusion and normalizing gender dysphoria while promoting and celebrating mental illness.

As will be shown, this Gender Bending Agenda has existed covertly for decades and in fact centuries, but recently due to its successes is now becoming more overt, obvious, and ostentatious to the point that celebrities such as Charlize Theron are openly, physically, and pharmaceutically [chemically] transgendering their children as young as 7 years old.

All over North America drag queens are setting up library story hours to passively push transgenderism on children, and through new school "cyber-bullying" initiatives, LGBTQ's with their army of outrage and pronouns are becoming part of elementary curricula.

Monday, May 27, 2019

Be a part of a growing peace movement

Take Action (veteransforpeace.org); Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Be a part of a growing peace movement
 
Veterans for Peace (VFP) is a global organization of military veterans and their allies -- all dedicated to building an American culture of peace using our unique experiences as veterans and civilians. The goal is to educate the country on the real costs of war in hopes of one day ending war for good.  We recognize that we have an obligation to heal the wounds of war, among veterans and citizens, and the wounds that our war-making has caused around the world.  This peace network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide. Join the movement: More

Summer: Happy Anti-War Memorial Day



World War II: Memorial Day Tribute
Storytellers, May 28, 2018
Since it is Memorial Day, let us stay focused on video essays: The Pacific, Saving Private Ryan,  and Band of Brothers.
  
It is natural to first remember those who are closest to us. Many of us have been personally touched by war. But we must also extend that mourning.

We must remember the combat veterans, civilian ["collateral damage"] victims, and their families, who are all equally human beings. Honoring and remembering some deaths while ignoring others not only perpetuates war, it also ignores the moral injuries of war, which is now recognized as a significant cause of veteran suicide.

This Memorial Day, VFP is reminding the public that the human cost of war is more than human soldiers. It is also the people who are caught in the crossfire. Each year VFP members participate in a wide range of activities in cities and towns all across the nation to observe Memorial Day.
 
In Washington, D.C., VFP will display the Swords to Plowshares Belltower from May 25-27 to remember ALL people murdered and killed in war. On Memorial Day morning VFP will host a ceremony at the Belltower at 9:00 AM then solemnly proceed by foot to the Vietnam Memorial to deliver open "Letters to the Vietnam Wall" at 10:30 AM as part of the Vietnam Full Disclosure Campaign. More

John Wick stars in "Little Buddha" (film)

Keanu Reeves as the Buddha in Little Buddha; Jen, Crystal Q., Wisdom Quarterly
Little Buddha is a classic of North American Buddhism, as Bhutanese lamas find a American kid who is a tulku, a reborn lama. Based on true events.
 
"John Wick" (Keanu Reeves) is a psycho killer glorified in American cinema. Poor Keanu, what a dummy, he used to make thought-provoking films (Little Buddha, The Matrix). 

John Wick is an American neo-noir action thriller film series directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. It stars Keanu Reeves and others. It is an installment in the John Wick film series.

This revenge story focuses on Wick searching for the men who broke into his home, stole his vintage car, and killed his puppy [all to co-opt audiences into rooting for killing], which serves as a memento of his recently deceased wife. It is a kill fest, an orgy of violence, which parents feed their kids with a low enough rating so they never hear or -- gawd forbid -- see sex on screen.
  • https://www.scpr.org/programs/filmweek/2018/07/20/63380/mpaa-says-eighth-grade-is-too-much-for-eighth-grad/

Magic is REAL! (video)

Shin Lim, Jonathan Burns (Penn & Teller Fool Us); Ashley Wells, S.Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly


Magic with Cheese by Jonathan Burns
Jonathan Burns attempts to fool professional stage magicians Penn and Teller by playing with his food using magic and wind chimes. Penn & Teller Fool Us, S4 E2, originally aired July 20, 2017. Flexiblecomedy.com, facebook.



Shin Lim [uses spirits to move cards]
(Shin Lim, July 14, 2015) Learn about the full act here: shinlimmagic.com.... "We didn't even know how you vanished the motherf*n marker" exclaims Penn Jillette. "The Dream Act" is available now with music by Hans Zimmer, "Time," and Zach Hemsey, "Mind Heist." Follow on instagram, facebook, twitter, and to book him, contact: bookshinlim@gmail.com.

Liquid Ignorance and Native Genocide (video)

The Guardian, 9/29/17; Xochitl, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(The Guardian) How did all these damn Injuns get on our land? Addict them to get the hell off!

Genocide by Liquid Ignorance
Party like a colonial invader. Whoo!
Alcohol is the enemy. The one who gives it to you is, too. Whiteclay, Nebraska is a tiny unincorporated town that sits on the border with South Dakota. Until its closure by state officials, its four liquor stores sold more than 4 million cans of beer a year, almost entirely to members of Lakota Sioux tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the sale of alcohol is banned. The Guardian (UK) spent time on the federal reservation to understand the impact of alcohol on its residents -- as well as the activists and Lakota tribe members determined to keep the town closed. Video at theguardian.com/us-news...

Seven Types of People in the World (sutra)

Udakupama Sutra: "The Water Simile" (AN 7.15), Ven. Thanissaro/Geoffrey DeGraff (orig. trans.); Dhr. Seven, Sayalay Aloka, Bhante (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Seven friends are like these seven special types (dreamstime.com)
 
The Buddha taught: "Meditators, there are seven types of individuals found existing in the world. What are these seven?

"In one case, an individual sinks down once and stays sunk. In a second case, an individual, on coming to the surface, sinks down again. In a third case, an individual, on coming to the surface, stays on the surface. In a fourth case, an individual, on coming to the surface, opens one's eyes and looks around. In a fifth case, an individual, on coming to the surface, heads across. In a sixth case, an individual, on coming to the surface, gains a foothold. In a seventh case, an individual, on coming to the surface, crosses over, reaches the further shore, stands on high ground, a Brahmin.

1. "And how does one sink down once and stay sunk? In this case an individual is endowed with exclusively dark, unskillful characteristics. That is how an individual sinks down once and stays sunk.
 
2. "And how does one, on coming to the surface, sink down again? In this case an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Confidence ["faith"] in skillful qualities is beneficial, conscientiousness is beneficial, concern is beneficial, persistence is beneficial, wisdom (insight) with regard to skillful qualities is beneficial.'

"But one's confidence neither persists nor grows; it simply wanes away. One conscientiousness, concern, persistence, wisdom neither persist nor grow; they simply wane away. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, sinks down again.

3. "And how does one, on coming to the surface, stay there? In this case an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Confidence in skillful qualities is beneficial, conscientiousness is beneficial, concern [ottappa, concern over the results of karma/actions willed, carried out, and accrued] is beneficial, persistence is beneficial, wisdom with regard to skillful qualities is beneficial.'

"One's confidence does not wane; instead, it develops and persists. One's conscientiousness, concern, persistence, wisdom do not wane; instead, they develop and persist. That is how an individual, on coming to the surface, stays on the surface.


4. "And how does one, on coming to the surface, open one's eyes and look around? In this case an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Confidence in skillful qualities is beneficial, conscientiousness is beneficial, concern is beneficial, persistence is beneficial, wisdom with regard to skillful qualities is beneficial.'
 
"With the eradication of [the first] three fetters [in the list of ten], one becomes a stream-winner [the first stage of enlightenment], steadfast, no longer liable to being reborn in any of the [four] woeful states, now destined for enlightenment. That is how an individual, on coming to the surface, opens one's eyes and looks around.

5. "And how does one, on coming to the surface, head across? In this case an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Confidence in skillful qualities is beneficial, conscientiousness is beneficial, concern is beneficial, persistence is beneficial, wisdom with regard to skillful qualities is beneficial.'

"With the total eradication of [the first] three fetters, and with the weakening of [the first three cankers] passion, aversion, and delusion [or greed, hatred, and ignorance], one becomes a once-returner,* who -- on returning [being reborn] only once more in this world -- will make an end of all suffering [i.e., gain full enlightenment and attain nirvana]. That is how an individual, on coming to the surface, heads across.
  • [*The various stages of enlightenment, listed as four distinct attainments (divided into four paths and four fruits) in most places, but actually consisting of seven stages, as explained in the Path to Freedom or Vimutti Magga, a commentarial text thought to have been written by Buddhaghosa as he composed his magnum opus the Path of Purification or Visuddhi Magga.]
6. "And how does one, on coming to the surface, gain a foothold? In this case an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Confidence in skillful qualities is beneficial, conscientiousness is beneficial, concern is beneficial, persistence is beneficial, wisdom with regard to skillful qualities is beneficial.'

"With the total eradication of the five lower fetters, one is due to be reborn [in the Pure Abodes], there to experience full enlightenment and nirvana, never again to return from that world. That is how an individual, on coming to the surface, gains a foothold.

7. "And how does one, on coming to the surface, cross over, reach the further shore [nirvana], stand on high ground, a Brahmin? In this case an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Confidence in skillful qualities is beneficial, conscientiousness is beneficial, concern is beneficial, persistence is beneficial, wisdom with regard to skillful qualities is beneficial.'

"With the eradication of the mental defilements, one enters and remains in the defilement-free liberation born of wisdom, having directly known and seen them for oneself here and now. That is how an individual, on coming to the surface, crosses over, reaches the further shore, stands on high ground, a Brahmin.

"These are the seven types of individuals found existing in the world."