Buddhist:Who are these people?

Question

"The eight persons praised by the wise,these four pairs are worthy of gifts,disciples of the Well-Gone One;gifts to them yield abundant fruit;in the Sangha is this precious jewel."

Answer 1

I am a Buddhist of the Theravada tradition and this verse is well known to me. Allow me if I may to bow in acknowledgement of your question for in asking it you yourself are showing that you are in fact a noble person, one of the eight wise, one of the first pairs, a stream enterer, allow me a smile for your insightful question for you are a seeker of knowledge a sign of such a one.

To the verse, it speaks of the eight persons praised by the wise. These are the four groups of disciples who follow the Dharma or Teaching who are worthy of gifts for they have foresworn all worldly possessions and are in need of support by those willing to give it for their sustenance. They are disciples of the Lord Buddha otherwise known in the Dharma as the "Well-Gone" One, called this as He has passed well beyond the Human Realm. Gifts to these disciples yield abundant fruit because the best gift to give these disciples is your undivided attention for it will bear fruit as you achieve Nirvana through your devotion to their message...the Dharma...or Teaching as they pass it to you. The Sangha is the Community where these disciples...the Teachers... are and it is this community which is considered as precious as a jewel for it is here where you will find the Lord Buddha's precious gift of the Dharma.

Of the 4 Pairs of Noble persons, you exhibit the characteristics of the first of them, the Stream Enterers, the second of the first Pair are the those who have attained fruition of stream entry. The first of the second pair are on the path to once more to return and the second of them are Once returners, they will be reborn once more. The first of the third pair on the path to never returning and the second of them are never to return, they will not be reborn to a lower Realm but may be reborn to a higher Realm. The fourth and last are Ahrant and will never be reborn to any Realm.

You are on the Path my friend and I bow to your wisdom.

Peace from a Buddhist in the continuing season of joy.

Answer 2

There is a psychological theme in the Buddha’s citing of inter-dependence and egocentric ignorance; through the use of meditation, the Buddha was able to come to enlightenment, or one who is awake, and the Four Noble Truths came to his mind: All life is suffering; suffering is caused by desire; there can be an end to desire; the way is in the Eightfold Path. The Buddha wandered and shared his teachings about the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths, and his followers became the first disciples. The disciples made three assertions: I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the dharma; I take refuge in the samgha. The meaning in dharma here is the Buddha’s teaching – the samgha is the order of monks. The order of the monks is the custodian of Buddha and dharma. The life of the monks followed strict rules to abide by, having tones of moral values and abstaining from luxuries. The goal of meditation is to attain Nirvana, but this is not about annihilation but of universalism – the breaking away from barriers that constrict us, such as attachments to desires and in doing so allows a person to become free. So you walk through karma in the Middle Way, by not making waves in it by the fuels of desire since this is cut off from oneself. An important feature of the Buddhist belief is that after the disciples attained enlightenment from the Buddhist teachings, they were considered to be fully liberated beings that will not suffer any further rebirths; this is not so in the Hindu tradition. So here we see another difference between the Hinduism and Buddhism; the breaking away of the caste, and there no longer is the sense of indefinite trials of rebirth. The Buddha epitomizes that there is a way to salvation, and all can work hard toward it.

Answer 3

No answer. Just want to say I liked this lot. Question treated seriously. Sage's answer was fine. Wallbangers link is excellent and can be linked straight into the Islamic site. JAK W also seems to have a good link but I haven't read it yet. What I've found reading about all these religions is that they start off pure and are quickly commandeered by people who reckon they know more and then start their own sect. Pretty soon no one knows what they believe.

Answer 4

The eight people are disciples on the path to enlightenment. There are four pairs, one pair for each stage of enlightenment. Each pair is comprised of one person who is on the path, and one who has achieved the path.

Answer 5

Are you talking about the Eight Immortals?

Answer 6

And what are they saying, Buddhist?? I'd like to know.

Answer 7

read here there are some brief detail about sangha
http://www.11meditation.co.nr/
and please comment something here or send me an e-mail for some advises