Page 94 - Because I know, I can let go

The Buddha also said that in any Dhamma and vinaya, if there’s no eightfold path that
Dhamma and vinaya won’t possess the first, second, third, or fourth samanas. A samana is
one who’s peaceful because free from evil, from defilement, and implies a noble individual.

‘Noble’ and ‘samana’ then have one and the same meaning. Both the noble person and
the samana are far removed from defilement, thus from their enemies. Hence, the first
kind of samana is the first kind of noble person, the second is the the second kind of noble
one, and so on through the third and fourth. The Sotāpana is the first kind of samana, the
Sakidāgāmin is the second kind, the Anāgāmin is the third, and the Arahant is the fourth.

In the Buddha’s time one who attained the Dhamma was a ‘noble one.’ Many householders
were anāgāmin, as for those who were sotāpana, well, there’s no need to talk about them,

the Buddha said that it wasn’t a hundred, it was much more. There were many able to
attain the Dhamma, but why were people able to attain it? Because they were interested
in practising, hence their lives flourished.

94 Because I Know...