Pratyekabuddhas generally arise during a time where the Dhamma isn’t evident, and they don’t decide to teach. However, even the Enlightenment of a Pratyekabuddha or even an Arhat doesn’t compare to that of the Supreme Perfect Enlightenment of a Buddha. How to get there is the entire Path of Buddhism, and what Shakyamuni Buddha has laid out for us. 
I decided early on that going from being an ordinary man to being a Buddha is a kind of growing up like growing up from being a baby to being an adult. in other words it’s a transformation of an entire character structure. our theories of how we become enlightened is more like pulling all the post it notes out of a complex novel and putting all those little notes together into a essay.
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i agree there is the possibility of pacekka buddhas - that is consistent with what’s in the suttas. my comment was limited to stream enterers only.
this is no possibility that an individual could be a stream enterer and not know about buddhism.
that is completely at odds with the definition of stream entry the buddha provided in the pali suttas.
I completely disagree with your point of view. Whether a person attains Sotāpanna depends on their understanding of the Four Noble Truths. This understanding may or may not be related to whether a person follows or knows about Buddhism. After all, Buddhism is not a religion; it is the truth. And as the truth, anyone can understand it regardless of their religion.
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If one truly understands the 4 Noble truths, they will become a devoted Buddhist. They might avoid societies, monastics which have wrong views, but would be glad for monastics who has right views. They might be contributing to the Dhamma work a lot. They might even become lay teachers themselves. In this context, we exclude monastics since you want to focus on people who could be “outside” of Buddhism.
A stream winner has no possibility of being of another faith. They would convert should they started off from another faith, but most likely before stream entry, they already converted. They have unshakeable confidence in Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha. They can discern the many fake stream winner attainers out there who openly proclaimed out of overestimation. But likely they would prefer to focus on their own practise and support monastics with right views.
according to the buddha, the four noble truths will only be taught by a buddha.
in the suttas, stream entry is defined by absolute faith in the buddha, the dhamma taught by that buddha, and the noble sangha who have attained from that dhamma. there is no stream entry without a buddha who has taught the dhamma.
Once again, I completely disagree with you. The Four Noble Truths can be conveyed by anyone who has comprehended them. The Buddha was just the first person to do so.
A person may know a lot about Buddhism but not see the truth. An ‘outsider’ of another religion may understand these things very clearly. I think this depends on the inherent nature of each individual.
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I think this is not correct. The reason is very simple: the flow of the Dharma can be transmitted through many non-official channels.
Or as my comment above also mentioned, a person’s understanding of the truth does not depend on their religion.
Anyway, I do not want to cause any further unnecessary debate, so I will end all discussions here.
Depends on how you define religion.
I see that if a person truly has the 4 Noble truths (stream winner), they are automatically Buddhists. No need to be in the external forms of Buddhist society etc. But it’s extremely unlikely that they can get it from external religions or even secular sources which is not Buddhism. 4 Noble truths has noble 8fold path as part of it. And right view is part of the noble 8fold path. Right view basically defines the dhamma and Buddhism is the container of the dhamma. Whatever religions which doesn’t agree with Buddhism, is because they have some views which we Buddhists regard as wrong view. Anyone with wrong view cannot attain liberation.
Granted some views are not relevant so much like how much one trust science, but other views like physicalism, God belief, nature of parinibbāna, rebirth vs reincarnation etc, does make an impact on the path.
I would really caution against those who say that people outside of the Buddha’s dhamma can attain liberation independent of learning the dhamma which can be traced back to the Buddha.
This compassion, I believe, should be taken with a grain of salt. The Buddha does not extol the creation of new life, which is what is being done here, over and over and over, for the sake of what? You could say it is a selfless effort but it does aid in the preservation of a “selfish” cultural institution. You could say that an even more selfless effort is working on the fruition of the ultimate right here right now and show concisely the way it’s done and what it means, without speculation regarding how it was done then and what it meant then, but many believe this is not possible even though the Buddha said it is quite so. Attachment is quite hard to see, and it is fiercely defended. But we must see that and tread with care in the path towards self-sufficiency. We can’t always depend on undependable interpretations from undependable guides (only in terms of the ability to show that which is intended to be instilled: detachment.) A proper turn of the wheel requires total abandon, even of the teachings; a sort of abandon which is seldom seen in the world at large.
We’re scared. We shouldn’t be.
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Life has meaning, even in the Saha World. The extinguished and attained ones can walk through it without fear, in order to guide others to Nibbana and Enlightenment. Don’t be afraid to live, because the fear of life can bring you to not realize your true potential. I am not saying that is how you are taking it, but the possibilities are quite powerful for the life of someone dedicated to others, dedicated like the Buddha, and the Buddha does in fact highly extol the new life of those who will be or are Enlightened, for this is the purpose of it all, not a quick entrance into Nibbana.
Huh? Would this come from a prophetic view of enlightened beings? That can’t be it. Quickness is encouraged. We are constantly told not to waste time! Lead by example. By means of the Buddha we must assume ourselves more capable, not less.
“Transmigration is long for fools
…
When freedom from death is there to be found
why would you drink the five bitter poisons?”
This is why compassion of this kind becomes problematic. You might believe you’re doing it for the sake of others, but by not ending “your” suffering you are not showing that suffering can end. You’re just replicating words and the possibility of more suffering.
Practice makes perfect.
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you’re welcome to your own beliefs.
i’d just note that what you suggest is inconsistent with what the buddha says about stream entry in the pali suttas and what he says about the attainment on the path of a buddha’s teachings.
the only way what you are suggesting could approach a measure of truth within the pali suttas is if you are speaking of a pacekka buddha - a privately enlightened being who attains vision of the dhamma by themselves but is unable to teach others the way to enlightenment. all the same, i don’t believe pacekka buddhas go through the stages of enlightenment such as stream entry.
I think the purpose of a Pratyekabuddha can be extinguishment, or a Higher Enlightenment than simply not sharing the Dhamma (and not having the characteristics of doing so [?]). I think being a Pratyekabuddha can be a stepping stone, and they are certainly Amazing for the partial Enlightenment that they have attained.
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