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**Unlopssesuj** · 05-31-2011, 07:08 PM

One thing I have encountered is that some monks of that time seemed to expect that an arhat should be infallible or omnicient. I wondered if the subsequent "disappointment" was the impetus for the down grading of this attainment vis a vis that of a Boddhisattva?

Some random examples that I have heard in my time as a monk: Can an arahant smoke? Can an arahant walk into the hall patting a dog and forget to wipe his feet? Can an arahant cry during a Dhamma talk? Can an arahant announce his attainment – on TV? Can an arahant suffer from Alzheimer’s? Can an arahant express support for a prime ministerial candidate who turns out to be grossly corrupt? And not least – can an arahant have wet dreams? These arise in exactly the kind of real-life context that is depicted in the Mahāvibhāṣā’s story of Mahādeva, and I think it is extremely likely that this represents the kind of context within which these questions arose and became controversial. &

Mahāvihāravāsin commentary, even while insisting on the unimpeachablility of the arahant, is developing the conceptual framework that would eventuate in a significant erosion of the arahant’s status. The ultimate outcome of this process would be the belief, normative in modern Theravāda, that an arahant might not attain jhana. From here:
http://sites.google.com/site/sectsan...6thefivetheses

Has anyone encountered this before?

05-31-2011, 07:08 PM	#2
Unlopssesuj Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 499 Senior Member	One thing I have encountered is that some monks of that time seemed to expect that an arhat should be infallible or omnicient. I wondered if the subsequent "disappointment" was the impetus for the down grading of this attainment vis a vis that of a Boddhisattva? Some random examples that I have heard in my time as a monk: Can an arahant smoke? Can an arahant walk into the hall patting a dog and forget to wipe his feet? Can an arahant cry during a Dhamma talk? Can an arahant announce his attainment – on TV? Can an arahant suffer from Alzheimer’s? Can an arahant express support for a prime ministerial candidate who turns out to be grossly corrupt? And not least – can an arahant have wet dreams? These arise in exactly the kind of real-life context that is depicted in the Mahāvibhāṣā’s story of Mahādeva, and I think it is extremely likely that this represents the kind of context within which these questions arose and became controversial. & Mahāvihāravāsin commentary, even while insisting on the unimpeachablility of the arahant, is developing the conceptual framework that would eventuate in a significant erosion of the arahant’s status. The ultimate outcome of this process would be the belief, normative in modern Theravāda, that an arahant might not attain jhana. From here: http://sites.google.com/site/sectsan...6thefivetheses Has anyone encountered this before?
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