Noble Truth is Not Impossible to Know The Noble Ones Are Plenty

There are not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more male Ordained Practitioners, my disciples, who by realizing for themselves with direct knowledge (experience) here and now enter upon and reside in the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints.

There are not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more female Ordained Practitioners, my disciples, who by realizing for themselves with direct knowledge (experience) here and now enter upon and reside in the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints.

There are not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more male Household Practitioners, my disciples, clothed in white leading lives of celibacy who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, will reappear spontaneously in the heavenly realm and there attain Final Nibbāna (Final Enlightenment) without ever returning from that world.

There are not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more male Household Practitioners, my disciples, clothed in white enjoying sensual pleasures, who carry out my instruction, respond to my advice, have gone beyond doubt, become free from confusion, gained courage, and become independent of others in the Teacher’s Teachings.

There are not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more female Household Practitioners, my disciples, clothed in white leading lives of celibacy who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, will reappear spontaneously in the heavenly realm and there attain Final Nibbāna (Final Enlightenment) without ever returning from that world.

There are not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more female Household Practitioners, my disciples, clothed in white enjoying sensual pleasures, who carry out my instruction, respond to my advice, have gone beyond doubt, become free of confusion, gained courage, and become independent of others in the Teacher’s Teachings.

(Reference: MN 73)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how the Practitioners who are practicing his Teachings closely and experiencing results are plentiful and numerous.

Being questioned by Vaccha, The Buddha provides answers that The Community of Practitioners who are learning with him are accomplishing results through developing their life practice.

The Buddha describes “not only one hundred, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but far more” male and female Ordained Practitioners “who by realizing for themselves with direct knowledge (experience) here and now enter upon and reside in the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints”.

This is The Buddha explaining that male and female Ordained Practitioners who are deeply learning, reflecting, and practicing his Teachings are attaining Enlightenment.

This is an important Teaching to understand because there is a myth in some parts of the world that claim females are unable to attain Enlightenment. This is not true as a male and female mind functions in exactly the same way and they are faced with the same challenges, thus, the same solutions from The Buddha’s Teachings will resolve them producing Enlightenment.

Here you can see in “The Words of The Buddha” that he is describing female Practitioners who have attained Enlightenment, therefore, you can understand that women are 100% capable of attaining Enlightenment just like a man. If anyone should share otherwise, you can conclude that person has misunderstood The Teachings of The Buddha.

The Buddha is also explaining in this Teaching that there are numerous male and female Household Practitioners who have accomplished significant attainments through learning, reflecting, and practicing his Teachings. He explains that male and female Household Practitioners have attained the third Stage of Enlightenment through “destruction of the five lower fetters” which would make them a Non-Returner. They would be reborn into the heavenly realm and attain Enlightenment from there without ever returning to another rebirth.

Household Practitioners attained Enlightenment during the lifetime of The Buddha and can attain Enlightenment today. But, this specific Teaching is not explaining that instead, he is focusing on the topics of discussion shared here answering specific questions from Vaccha. I would share that Household Practitioners have a much better opportunity to attain Enlightenment today than during the lifetime of The Buddha.

During the lifetime of The Buddha, Household Practitioners were involved in a significant amount of work and effort just to sustain life. Food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical care was not as readily and easily accessible for Household Practitioners as it is today. Household Practitioners spent an enormous amount of time just to sustain their life through farming and other tasks to acquire the necessities to sustain life. Today, the necessities to sustain life are more readily available with the opportunity for Household Practitioners to focus on learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings rather than spending enormous amounts of time to acquire the necessities of life.

Today, some Household Practitioners have so much time available to them that we tend to fill up our extra time with unbeneficial activities that are meaningless and unproductive. If we move away from these unbeneficial activities and instead, focus on learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings to include study of texts, learning in classes, seeking personal guidance with Teachers, watching videos, listening to podcasts, and other activities on The Path to Enlightenment such as meditation, Household Practitioners will find they have significant amounts of time that they can devote to developing their life practice towards the attainment of Enlightenment. Household Practitioners have a much better opportunity to attain Enlightenment today than during the lifetime of Gotama Buddha. The Path to Enlightenment requires determination, dedication, and diligence. If you are willing to do the work, you will experience results.

Lastly, Gotama Buddha explains that there are numerous male and female Household Practitioners “who carry out my instruction, respond to my advice, have gone beyond doubt, become free from difficulties gained courage, and become independent of others in the Teacher’s Teachings”.

This means that they have seen enough of the truth of The Buddha’s Teachings that they know he is sharing The Path to Enlightenment and have confidence in The Teachings. They have left from other Teacher’s and chose to join him to learn, reflect, and practice his Teachings.