Four levels of liberation

[KriyaYogi]

Hello everyone.  I have seen much discussion about four Buddhist levels of liberation on this forum.  I decided I should share my own personal perspective for consideration.  I have tried to observe the levels of various Masters to see what they discovered and what can be learned at each initiation. Kali approved me to share my view so I'm sharing.  Here is my personal roadmap:

0th initiation:  A person learns OOBE and enters new domains of awareness.  As they progress their skill improves until they enter higher cosmic realms including the realm of all, called 'Cosmic Conscousness'.  Cosmic Consciousness (8th Jhana)?

1st initiation: A "Stream-enterer" (Sotāpanna):
  This person has experienced 8th Jhana and merged with the stars.  He feels the stars have entered his body.  The stream of the stars are in his cells and he feels all is within him.  Grounding this can take 6 months or a year.

2nd initiation: A "Once-returner" (Sakadāgāmin):
This person regularly enters the non-material, usually at will each time laying or sitting.  At the end of this stage non-material can be entered with eyes open or standing up.

3rd initiation: A "Non-returner" (Anāgāmi):
  This person sees the kutastha/kasina with his eyes open at all times, the bright light tunnel of the non-material is more intense than the physical realm and constantly becons.  At any time he can sit down and enter the non-material by just letting go.  He can sometimes remain for days at a time in the non-material and he can leave the world for the forests without much consideration.   This state marks non-returner to me because it requires no effort to shift between the material and the non-material and neither realm feels more real to the mind.

4th initation: Arahat:
This person has no body awareness and never experiences the first 4 Jhana without effort.  The light of the 3rd eye has merged into his body (enlightenment) and he has very minimal body awareness.  He experiences the physical as a dream by lowering into the 4th Jhana (this world).  By meditating from his awareness he enters the lower Jhanas with effort from his world of the non-material.
 
My personal views,
-David

[Alexander]

Here is an older forum post you might find interesting, Dave

Buddhism teaches that one works toward liberation across many lives. One begins as an uninitiated layman, caught in the world's cycles of misery. As one learns the futility of this, however, one begins to turn inward, pursuing truth and higher reality. As one progresses, one passes through certain stages of development.

Stage                   Number of rebirths                      Overcome fetters

Streamwinner      Seven, human or higher                Identity view, doubt, ritual               
                                                                             attachment

Once-returner      Once more as a human                 Sensual desire, ill will (weakened)                       

Nonreturner         Once more in the pure abodes       Sensual desire, ill will (overcome)         

Arahant                None                                           Material-rebirth lust, immaterial-
                                                                              rebirth lust,
                                                                              conceit, restlessness, ignorance

These stages have always fascinated me, and I have pondered them in many different ways over the years, for example in their relation to destiny.

People who attain one of the above stages are called Noble Ones. The root Sanskrit word is arya, meaning another name for them would be the Aryans.

Buddhists emphasize the importance of meeting and interacting with these people in one's life - as whatever they are doing, they have made progress, so they have figured out at least a few things right. These Noble Individuals are certainly great sources of support and camaraderie on the very difficult quest to enlightenment.

The question then arises, how do we see these people when they enter our lives? How does one discern the Noble Ones?

This is a question I have pondered, and I believe the ability to see them is a spiritual gift. So, similar to how certain abilities in Christianity are called spiritual gifts, I would label the capacity to see the Noble Ones in the same way, as a kind of "blessing from above."

It is a difficult art, as it relies on intuitions from one's inner nature. And those intuitions - while certainly the source of the highest truths in mystics - can also be misleading, so discernment is critical to maintain.

Here are some of the schema I use when trying to assess people's progress in the spiritual life.

Streamwinners

These days this is the hardest one for me. I need to be very well acquainted with the person. Critical to me about streamwinners is:

1. They have a belief in "something more" than what can be seen or felt. This can be expressed in different ways. The person may have contradictory beliefs, but that does not compromise streamwinning.

2. Streamwinners are able to instill mystic knowledge with the importance it deserves.

3. Streamwinners can distinguish between mystic knowledge and ordinary knowledge.

I would say that those three elements are the most essential, and they all go hand in hand. The belief in something higher means they have become "seekers." What are they seeking exactly? They may not know, but they know something is out there worth acquiring - that Pearl of Great Price.

The fact that they "seek" means they are developing the faculty of discernment, which is crucial for one on the spiritual path. Discernment lets one sort between mystic knowledge - knowledge that grants one progress toward liberation - and regular knowledge. Once this faculty becomes sufficiently strong, the streamwinner begins to amass this spiritual knowledge within himself.

Once-returner

Two major human fetters - sensuality and ill will - have been weakened. This person can never take human affairs seriously in the way an ordinary person can. They have already discovered something very great, like a great cosmic joke, though they may not understand fully what they've found out that is so clever.

While a streamwinner is a "seeker" in the absolute sense, a once-returner is already a "finder" in the relative sense.

Another thing I look for in once-returners is a major personal transformation. In my experience, this event seems to be universal. But, the person may not necessarily invest this event with particular significance. He could see it as something unique to him, and not as a part of his spiritual growth. Often, once-returners go through a kind of spiritual crisis, and come out on the other side with a very different view of themselves and the world.

Nonreturner

These people are very rare in the world. But I would say this is the class I am most comfortable with identifying. They are very interesting people, because they have a great amount of gravity beneath the surface.

A nonreturner has totally effaced the human fetters. This means he will not return to the human realm again. That is very profound.

Arahant

The supreme state of man spiritually. I look for the dark night of the soul, profound emotional and intellectual refinement, and the religious experience. These are extraordinary men, and in a given century there may only be a few. They will be revealed to you if you achieve a suitable level of attainment and search for them. Note they will almost certainly not be public figures.

Here’s another description of the four stages (Gurdjieff)

In ordinary life we meet only these three categories of man. Each one of us and everyone we know is either no. 1, no. 2, or no. 3. There are higher categories of man, but men are not born already belonging to these higher categories. They are all born no. 1, no. 2, and no. 3, and can reach higher categories only through schools.

Man no. 4 is not born as such. He is a product of school culture. He differs from man no. 1, no. 2, and no. 3, by his knowledge of himself, by his understanding of his position, and, as it is expressed technically, by his having acquired a permanent center of gravity. This last means that the idea of acquiring unity, consciousness, permanent 'I,' and will—that is, the idea of his development—has already become for him more important than his other interests.

It must be added to the characteristics of man no. 4, that his functions and centers are more balanced, in a way in which they could not be balanced without work on himself, according to school principles and methods.

Man no. 5 is a man who has acquired unity and self-consciousness. He is different from ordinary man, because in him, one of the higher centers already works, and he has many functions and powers that ordinary man—that is, man no. 1, 2, and 3—does not possess.

Man no. 6 is a man who has acquired objective consciousness. Another higher center works in him. He possesses many more new faculties and powers, beyond the understanding of an ordinary man.

Man no. 7 is a man who has attained all that a man can attain. He has a permanent 'I' and free will. He can control all the states of consciousness in himself and he already cannot lose anything he has acquired. According to another description, he is immortal within the limits of the solar system. (The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution)

Were you able to find the analogue? He is explaining it in terms very foreign to Buddhism, but we can see the parallels.

Man 4 = streamwinner

Man 5 = once-returner

Man 6 = nonreturner

Man 7 = arahant

And here is a third articulation of it

“I will tell you about the Aryans, or noble persons,” he said. “These are the ‘heroically-minded,’ those who are set on escape from the world.

“There are four kinds of noble person,” he said. “The streamwinner, the once-returner, the nonreturner, and the arahant. Each is at a different stage of the journey.

“A streamwinner, the first Aryan, possesses ‘right view,’ has a certitude about the way out of samsara, and does not put any worth into external things. A streamwinner is a collector of otherworldly knowledge, and works to possess a ‘whole’ of this knowledge within himself.

“A once-returner, the second Aryan, has passed through the first transformation. He possesses an astral body, and has weakened the fetters that bind him to the world.

“A nonreturner, the third Aryan, has no fetters that bind him to the world. When he leaves this life he will be reborn as a deva.

“An arahant, the fourth Aryan, has passed through the second transformation. He does not think in terms of ‘I am this,’ or ‘I am this.’”

(In this last one you would equate the “transformations” with the spiritual crisis, the two “descents into hell”)

Finally, here is a table of historical figures and their attainment

Arahants

Christ, Siddhartha, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, St. Denis, Jhanananda, Mohammed, Ramana Maharshi, John the beloved apostle

Nonreturners

Kabir, Gurdjieff, St. Francis, Catherine of Siena, Rumi, John Climacus, Patanjali, Dante, Evelyn Underhill, King Solomon, Nicolas Flamel, Henry Suso, the Dalai Lama

Once-returners

Walt Whitman, Carl Jung, Carl Sagan, Gary Weber, Friedrich von Hugel, Lao Tzu, Pythagoras, John the Baptist, Bob Monroe, Merlin, Rabbi Simon (author of the Zohar), Yogananda

[Tad]

Hey David,

You have an interesting perspective on levels of enlightment. Very different classification than anything Ive seen before. I personally subscribe to what Alexander posted, which is based on Pali Canon. I wonder why you believe that stream entrer needs to get as high as 8th jhana.

[Inedible]

It's a good point. A Stream Enterer doesn't need to have attained Jhana at all. Same with a Once Returner. The Non-Returner is the first level requiring Jhana. Even an Arhat doesn't have to go past the 4th Jhana. If you ask the Dry Insight people, they say Jhana is entirely optional and that the level before it where the Five Hindrances are suppressed is enough to go all the way. The Stream is the 8-Fold Path. The Suttas describe the 4 things required to be a Stream Enterer. The first 3 are perfect faith in the Triple Gem. The 4th requirement relates to virtuous conduct.

[Alexander]

It's a good point. A Stream Enterer doesn't need to have attained Jhana at all. Same with a Once Returner. The Non-Returner is the first level requiring Jhana. Even an Arhat doesn't have to go past the 4th Jhana. If you ask the Dry Insight people, they say Jhana is entirely optional and that the level before it where the Five Hindrances are suppressed is enough to go all the way. The Stream is the 8-Fold Path. The Suttas describe the 4 things required to be a Stream Enterer. The first 3 are perfect faith in the Triple Gem. The 4th requirement relates to virtuous conduct.

Jeff made a good chart of this somewhere, I believe it is on the main site if you search for it. I think he also labeled the spiritual crises on it (and where they go between each jhana).

If I remember jhana 1 is self-arising joy. I believe this comes after the first descent into hell finishes. So it would correlate with a once-returner.

Jhana 2 is the still mind. So this is cultivated by the once-returners and nonreturners.

Late still mind induces the dark night of the soul (second descent into hell).

Jhana 3 would develop during the dark night of the soul. And jhana 4 would correlate with arahants.

Edit: here is my change of the jhanas. It is different from Buddhism https://alexanderlorincz.com/index.php/articles/the-four-jhanas-redefined

[Jhanananda]

It's a good point. A Stream Enterer doesn't need to have attained Jhana at all. Same with a Once Returner. The Non-Returner is the first level requiring Jhana. Even an Arhat doesn't have to go past the 4th Jhana. If you ask the Dry Insight people, they say Jhana is entirely optional and that the level before it where the Five Hindrances are suppressed is enough to go all the way. The Stream is the 8-Fold Path. The Suttas describe the 4 things required to be a Stream Enterer. The first 3 are perfect faith in the Triple Gem. The 4th requirement relates to virtuous conduct.

The premise of mainstream Therevadan Buddhism that jhana is optional is counter to the suttas. Throughout the suttas samma-samadhi, which is the term for the 8th fold is defined in terms of the 4 jhanas, thus Therevadan Buddhism advocates for a 7 fold path, not an 8 fold path, thus Therevadan Buddhism is not technically Buddhism.

Here is a link to my  discourse on jhana as it is defined in the suttas. What is Jhána?

[Inedible]

It would be nice to have all 9 levels of Jhana. I have struggled for a long time to get the 1st Jhana. It doesn't help that there are so many different ways of teaching Jhana and many teachers have reasons why everyone else is wrong. If I had found one solid approach with a clear map and signs to look for I might already be there.

[Alexander]

It would be nice to have all [8] levels of Jhana. I have struggled for a long time to get the 1st Jhana. It doesn't help that there are so many different ways of teaching Jhana and many teachers have reasons why everyone else is wrong. If I had found one solid approach with a clear map and signs to look for I might already be there.

Correct

The number one thing is the “discernment of teachers.” Who is true and who is false? Without discernment, you will never find your way through the confused morass of ideas which exists in the world

Gurdjieff presented the idea of the “magnetic center.” What he meant by this is that each experience of trauma - each experience that disillusions us with the world - should accumulate and form a kind of “center of gravity” within us. This “serious” part of ourselves then lets us see the falsehood and hollowness of all the people around us, and lets us identify those who are sincere and who are seeking the answers to the questions of “old age, disease, and death”

If you want to attain the first jhana, you must pass through the first descent into hell

To pass through this transformation, you need to orient yourself properly so you are fully committed to the spiritual path

It should be the focus of all your interests, all your goals

You should have nothing take precedent over it

Keep studying and cultivating your intellect
And as Jeff would say “the process unfolds naturally”

[Jhanananda]

It would be nice to have all 9 levels of Jhana. I have struggled for a long time to get the 1st Jhana. It doesn't help that there are so many different ways of teaching Jhana and many teachers have reasons why everyone else is wrong. If I had found one solid approach with a clear map and signs to look for I might already be there.

Thank you, Alexander. Inedible, you are likely to find yourself better served by reading the suttas, than listening to popular Buddhist teachers who might have a deeply flawed interpretation of the dhamma. You might want to start with understanding how the Buddha dhamma has traditionally been mis-translated and mis-interpreted by reading the articles at this web page: A Critical Analysis of Buddhism, Challenges to the Translation of the Pali Canon, And Some Nikayan Buddhist Concepts, Beliefs and Practices.

[KriyaYogi]

Tad, on the Buddhist path of Samadhi a Stream Enter has witnessed 8 Jhana states in my opinion, and from my experience.  This is drawn from experiences of my teachers and their descriptions of experiences in their youth when they entered 1st initiation.  They described entering Galaxies and merging with the one and feeling everyone in their bodies in their teenage years or twenties.

Yogananda Has given a description of my view on 1st initiation here in his poem 'Samadhi':
https://www.paramhansayogananda.com/samadhi/

Hope this helps elucidate my personal perspective.  Thanks for listening.

-David

[Tad]

David,
From Pali Canon perspective, stream is moee about developing the vision of the path, mostly in the framework of 4NTs. So 1st jhana is fully sufficient to support penetration of this attainment. Some Buddhist teachers even say they that stream entry does not require any jhana like Inedinle posted. But consesus is some experience of 1st jhana. This makes me think that what Yogananda is talking is a different kind of attainment.

[KriyaYogi]

I don't want to discourage anyone though, each step is good that you make, in in the direction of source/infinity higher consciousness.  It's just my experience of interacting with my teachers. First Jhana is fantastic, keep it up! :-)

-David