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HandWiki. Arhat. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36781 (accessed on 25 September 2026).
HandWiki. Arhat. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36781. Accessed September 25, 2026.
HandWiki. "Arhat" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36781 (accessed September 25, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, November 28). Arhat. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36781
HandWiki. "Arhat." Encyclopedia. Web. 28 November, 2022.
Arhat
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In Buddhism, an arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana. Mahayana Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood. The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schools of Buddhism and different regions. A range of views on the attainment of arhats existed in the early Buddhist schools. The Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda, and Caitika schools all regarded arhats as imperfect in their attainments compared to buddhas. Mahayana Buddhist teachings urge followers to take up the path of a bodhisattva, and to not fall back to the level of arhats and śrāvakas. The arhats, or at least the senior arhats, came to be widely regarded by Theravada buddhists as "moving beyond the state of personal freedom to join the Bodhisattva enterprise in their own way". Mahayana Buddhism regarded a group of Eighteen Arhats (with names and personalities) as awaiting the return of the Buddha as Maitreya, while other groupings of 6, 8, 16, 100, and 500 also appear in tradition and Buddhist art, especially in East Asia called luohan or lohan. They may be seen as the Buddhist equivalents of the Christian saint, apostles or early disciples and leaders of the faith.

faith buddhism arhat

References

  1. Whitney, D. W. Roots, Verb-forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language
  2. Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary
  3. RV 1.4.47, 2.5.51
  4. Richard Gombrich, 2009, What the Buddha Thought, Equinox: London, pp. 57–58.
  5. Richard Kieckhefer, George D. Bond. "Sainthood: Its Manifestations in World Religions" 1988. pp. 159-160.
  6. Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 446
  7. Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 218.
  8. Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 44
  9. Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 48.
  10. Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 277
  11. Kalupahana, David. Buddhist Thought and Ritual. 2001. p. 109
  12. Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press 1995, p. 227: Before focusing on key passages on the tathagata, it is first necessary to clarify which persons the word refers to. The Buddha often used it when talking of himself as an enlightened being, rather than as the individual Gotama. In general, "tathagata" is used specifically of the Buddha, the one who discovers and proclaims the path to nibbana (A.II.8–9, S.III.65-6), with the "tathagata, Arahat, perfectly and completely enlighteneed one" being contrasted with a "disciple of the tathagata" (D.II.142). Nevertheless, "tathagata" is sometimes used of any Arahat. S.V.327, for example, discusses the "dwelling of a learner" and that of a tathagata, and explains the second by describing the qualities of an Arahat. At M.I.139–140 and 486-7, moreover, there is a switching between talk of a "tathagata" and of "a monk whose mind is freed thus", as if they were simple equivalents. Tathagata literally means "thus-gone" or "thus-come", probably meaning one who is "attained-to-truth" or "whose-nature-is-from-truth".
  13. Bhikkhu Bodhi. "Transcendental Dependent Arising". Access to Insight. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090330082958/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
  14. "Yahoo! Groups". https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Buddhawaslike/message/17. 
  15. "Yahoo! Groups". https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Buddhawaslike. 
  16. Ānanda's teaching on achieving arhantship can be found in AN 4.170. Translations for this sutta can be found in Bodhi (2005) pp. 268–9, 439, and Thanissaro (1998).
  17. Bodhi (2005), p. 268, translates this fourth way as: "a monk's mind is seized by agitation about the teaching." Thanissaro (1998) gives a seemingly contrary interpretation of: "a monk's mind has its restlessness concerning the Dhamma [Comm: the corruptions of insight] well under control." Thus, it appears possible to interpret the excitation (Pali: uddhacca, see Rhys Davids & Stede, 1921–25) as either something that the future arahant uses to impel their pursuit of the path or something that the future arahant controls in order to pursue the path. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:3582.pali
  18. Keown and Prebish (2007), Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism, p. 36: "When the great Theravada commentator, Buddhaghosa, wrote the Visuddhimagga delineating the nature of the gradual path to enlightenment, he placed the arahant at the completion of that path. The arahant stands as a transcendent figure in Theravada, one who has followed to its end the way of Dharma set out by the Buddha."
  19. Williams, Paul. Buddhism. Vol. 3: The origins and nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Routledge. 2004. p. 119
  20. Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. Sarup & Son. 2008. p. 192
  21. Sheng Yen. Orthodox Chinese Buddhism. North Atlantic Books. 2007. p. 149.
  22. Sheng Yen. Orthodox Chinese Buddhism. North Atlantic Books. 2007. p. 163.
  23. Williams, Paul. Buddhism. Vol. 3: The origins and nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Routledge. 2004. p. 120
  24. Powers, John. A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Snow Lion Publications. 2008. p. 36.
  25. Leidy, Denise. The Art of Buddhism: An Introduction to Its History and Meaning. Shambhala. 2009. p. 196
  26. Susan Bush and Ilsio-yen Shih (1985). Early Chinese Texts on Painting. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London. p. 314. 
  27. Williams, Paul. Buddhism. Vol. 3: The origins and nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Routledge. 2004. p. 50
  28. 《異部宗輪論述記》:謂佛雖在僧中所攝,然別施佛果大,非僧(果大)。於窣堵波興供養業獲廣大果。佛與二乘解脫雖一,而聖道異。無諸外道能得五通。阿羅漢身皆是無漏。餘義多同大眾部執。
  29. Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism: "When the great Theravada commentator, Buddhaghosa, wrote the Visuddhimagga delineating the nature of the gradual path to enlightenment, he placed the arahant at the completion of that path. The arahant stands as a transcendent figure in Theravada, one who has followed to its end the way of Dharma set out by the Buddha."[31]
  30. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas
  31. Bhikkhu Bodhi: "The Buddha is the first of the arahants, while those who reach the goal by following his path also become arahants. In the verse of homage to the Buddha, it is said: "Iti pi so Bhagavā Arahaṃ... — The Blessed One is an arahant..." Shortly after his enlightenment, while walking to Benares to meet the five monks, a wanderer stopped the Buddha and asked who he was. The Buddha replied: "I am the arahant in the world, I am the supreme teacher" (MN 26/I 171). So the Buddha first of all declares himself to be an arahant."[32]
  32. "From the perspective of the Nikāyas, the ultimate goal – the goal in strict doctrinal terms – is nirvāṇa, and the goal in human terms is arahantship, the state of a person who has attained nirvāṇa in this present life."[32]
  33. Williams, Paul. Buddhism. Vol. 3: The origins and nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Routledge. 2004. pp. 119-120
  34. prebish & Keown 2004, p. 88.
  35. "羅漢 - English translation – Linguee" (in en). https://www.linguee.com/japanese-english/translation/%E7%BE%85%E6%BC%A2.html. 
  36. Visser, Marinus Willem de (1923) (in en). The Arhats in China and Japan. Oesterheld & Company. https://books.google.com/books?id=krBZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=arhat+lohan+rakan+translation&source=bl&ots=QfsPNsP0kj&sig=ACfU3U0Q1SxC0sVBOZxU-FQFcyeRy2GvPg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM8u2g2_vjAhXL7Z4KHdDABbkQ6AEwEXoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  37. "Sixteen Arhats at Shengyin Temple-- the 15th: Ajita Arhat | Guanxiu" (in en). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37478205_Sixteen_Arhats_at_Shengyin_Temple--_the_15th_Ajita_Arhat. 
  38. Cozort, Daniel. Unique Tenets of the Middle Way Consequence School. Snow Lion Publications. 1998. p. 259.
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