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**vesiasmepay** · 12-04-2011, 03:07 PM

The Pali suttas say that a layperson can achieve the first and second stages of enlightenment (sotapanna and sakadagami) -- so it's not as though progress is impossible even though one hasn't ordained.

Bhikkhu Bodhi states that a layperson was able to achieve the first 3 stages in ''The Jhanas and the Lay Disciple according to the Pali Suttas"

many of the Buddha's followers who attained the first three stages of awakening, from stream-entry through non-returning, were lay people. The only stage that the Canon depicts as the near-exclusive domain of monks and nuns is arahantship. This clue is more important than might appear at first glance, for a close examination of texts describing the personal qualities and lifestyles of noble lay disciples might bring to light just the material we need to unravel the knots tied into this perplexing issue.

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha267.htm

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12-04-2011, 03:07 PM	#5
vesiasmepay Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 479 Senior Member	The Pali suttas say that a layperson can achieve the first and second stages of enlightenment (sotapanna and sakadagami) -- so it's not as though progress is impossible even though one hasn't ordained. Bhikkhu Bodhi states that a layperson was able to achieve the first 3 stages in ''The Jhanas and the Lay Disciple according to the Pali Suttas" many of the Buddha's followers who attained the first three stages of awakening, from stream-entry through non-returning, were lay people. The only stage that the Canon depicts as the near-exclusive domain of monks and nuns is arahantship. This clue is more important than might appear at first glance, for a close examination of texts describing the personal qualities and lifestyles of noble lay disciples might bring to light just the material we need to unravel the knots tied into this perplexing issue. http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha267.htm .
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