In the SN48.15, unfortunately only available in English here, one finds a relationship between the level of development of the five spiritual faculties and ten different levels - or shades - of spiritual development:
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At the peak we see arahantship attained through full development of faith, energy / endeavour, presence / mindfulness, stillnes / concentration, wisdom / insight.
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Below it the first shades of awakening are the four ways of release: release in the interval (between lifetimes), release ‘at landing’ (at a next lifetime), release without much trouble, and release with some trouble.
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Further below, other shades of awakening are the fruition of i) those who land at a pure abode (i.e. a no-returner), ii) those who are to return only once, iiI) those who have won or entered the stream (of the path).
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At the bottom we have the not so hopeless cases of Dhamma and Faith followers - what maybe we could somehow call candidates for stream-entry.
Below the full list as in the sutta:
"Monks, there are these five spiritual faculties.
What five?
The controlling power of faith,
the controlling power of energy/endeavour,
the controlling power of mindfulness/presence,
the controlling power of concentration/stillness,
the controlling power of insight/wisdom.
These, monks, are the five spiritual faculties.
By the completion and fulfilment, monks, of these five spiritual faculties one is Arahant.
By having them in a less degree, one obtains release midway / in the interval (antarāparinibbāyī).
By having them in a less degree, he attains release at landing (upahaccaparinibbāyī).
By having them in a less degree, he attains release without much trouble (asaṅkhāraparinibbāyī).
By having them in a less degree, he attains release with some trouble (sasaṅkhāraparinibbāyī).
By having them in a less degree, he is ‘one who goes up stream,’ one who goes to the Pure Abodes (akaniṭṭhagāmī).
By having them in a less degree, he is a once-returner (sakadāgāmī).
By having them in a less degree, he is a stream-winner (sotāpanno).
By having them in a less degree, he is a Dhamma-follower (dhammānusārī).
By having them in a less degree, he is a faith follower (saddhānusārī).'"
The objective of this topic/thread is thus to explore further how are the different shades or grades of spiritual development presented in the EBTs.
To kick-start the conversation, I ask:
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Does anyone know if such similar list is found anywhere in the Chinese Agamas or other parallels to the Pali Suttas?
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Is there any further explanation to what each of these states found in the Suttas are?