The Four Stages in the Context of the Liberating Experience of the Buddha and the Early Buddhist Disciples

This chapter investigates the association of the theory of four stages in the contexts of the liberation experience of the Buddha and the early disciples as reflected in the Pāli canonical literature and Pāli commentarial literature. It argues that insofar as the Pāli canonical literature is concerned, the theory of the four stages is not associated with the liberating experiences of the Buddha and the early disciples, which implies the late origins of the theory. This argument follows a two-pronged approach. First is the use of textual analysis of the liberating path associated with the Buddha as recorded in the Pāli Nikāyas, then liberating experiences of early disciples as recorded in the Pāli Nikāyas, particularly the Theragāthā and the Therīgāthā (descriptions of how early monks and nuns went through the process of liberation). Second, it surveys a hypothetical case history, i.e. the standard path that the Buddha prescribed for practitioners to follow as recorded in the Pāli Nikāyas. It further argues that, in the Pāli commentarial literature, in order to authenticate the theory of four stages to liberation, attempts were made to relate the four stages to the liberating experience of the Buddha and the early disciples.