Zom wrote:Sometimes I see a global tendency to place stream-enterers on the unreachable pedestal...
Metta,
Retro.
Zom wrote:Sometimes I see a global tendency to place stream-enterers on the unreachable pedestal...
Stream Entry is the most difficult of all levels of Ariyahood to achieve. After achieving Stream Entry, one will automatically become an Arahant in not more than Seven Lifetimes.Zom wrote: Sometimes I see a global tendency to place stream-enterers on the unreachable pedestal
I'm not talking about someone, let's say so,.. "outside of Buddhism" ,) - sure, there are billions of such people. But I'm talking about someone who came to Buddhism, especially Theravada Buddhism. I'm sure there is a huge ammount of sotapannas among all those who consider themselves "theravadins" in the world.A being can wander through uncountable lifetimes in many, many forms and on the occasions he/she has the rare opportunity of human rebirth, the being may not even be born in a time or a country where the Teachings are known.
If in the long, long rounds of Samsara, the being is fortunate to gain a human rebirth, plus access to the Teachings, health, and the kammic inheritance that will support their understanding – then they may achieve Stream Entry. Unless and until this happens, the flux of becoming (currently ‘Zom’) will simply be reborn over and over and over and over ad infinitum, unendingly.
So … while you have the rarest of fortunate lives, to be born in human form, to be born during a Buddhasasana, to have access to the Teachings, to be healthy and able to practise – go for it! Don’t be lazy. Who knows when, if ever, the chance will come again.