Four noble beings

The four beings noble are practitioners having reached all a point raised in practice. They raise two questions: on the one hand they are opposed to the vision subitist present in other traditions, on the other hand they present a way different from that of the Bodhisattva.

Sotapanna

the sotapanna (Faded) is the practitioner, listener Bouddha, first of the noble beings .
the sotapanna will know nothing any more but seven births at the maximum. It will not reappear in one of the hells.

Même the first of the noble beings is considered to have carried out the Four noble truths. It eliminated the belief in ego, the doubt thus that the attachment with ritual and beliefs - is the three first of the Ten bonds.

Sakadagamin

Sakadagamin (Faded) says of a noble person who will reappear only with once (in the Samsara). It eliminated the three first of the Ten bonds and considerably weakened the two following.

Anagamin

The Anagamin (Faded) is that which does not return (in the Samsara). It completely eliminated the five first of the Ten bonds. However, it cannot be regarded as a arhat because it still suffers from ignorance. It will reach the awakening in this life-even , or with its death.

Arhat

In the Buddhism theravâda, arhat (term Sanskrit; in Faded: arahant, arhant , Chinese: lo-han 羅漢, Japanese rakan ) indicates the last level of wisdom. That which reached that point is a arhat . In Sanskrit, the term is the participle present of the verb arh- , “to deserve”. It is thus properly one “deserving”. A popular etymology wants to make of it a Mot made up of ari- , “enemy” and root han- , “to kill”. It would be then “(that which a) overcome the enemy”, i.e. here cupidity, anger and the illusions, ignorance. This etymology a posteriori is explained by a possible confusion with another term Sanskrit, arihan- , which is well composed of ari- and han- .

In the old Indian texts and the Buddhism theravâda, the state of arhant is the final goal of the Buddhist practice: the attack of the Nirvāna, which means the elimination of the afflictions, the end of the rebirths in the world of the suffering Saṃsāra and the accession with the state “where there remain nothing to learn”.

It is the fourth and last stage of the śrāvaka, the disciple of Buddhism theravâda. According to certain interpretations, there exists a difference between a arhat and a Buddha in what the arhat reached the Awakening following a teaching, whereas a Buddha reached it by itself.

In the texts of the Buddhism mahâyâna, the ideal of the arhat is forsaken with the profit of that of Bodhisattva considered as altruistic and more accessible to the laic ones. It is to some extent an intermediate state, stage on the way of the perfect awakening. The arhat hinayanist finds his equivalent on the level advance, realization in the Mahayaniste tradition in Bodhisattva.

The term arhat is also one of the ten epithets of the Bouddha and consequently in certain texts, it is used to indicate Bouddha itself.

Walpola Rahula
See Huineng and Shenhui as for the Gradualisme or Subistisme in the mahâyâna

References

Horned Philippe, encyclopedic Dictionary of Buddhism , Threshold.

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