Skip to main content

what percentage of arahants had psychic powers?

An interesting topic of discussion from Dhammawheel

https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=34084&p=510229#p510306


SN 8.7

http://lucid24.org/sn/sn08/sn08-v01/toc-addon/index.html

“No ce kira me, bhante, bhagavā kiƱci garahati kāyikaṃ vā vācasikaṃ vā.
“Since it seems I have done nothing worthy of the Blessed One’s criticism,
Imesaṃ pana, bhante, bhagavā paƱcannaṃ bhikkhusatānaṃ na kiƱci garahati kāyikaṃ vā vācasikaṃ vā”ti.
is there anything these five hundred monks have done by way of body or speech that you would criticize?”
“Imesampi khvāhaṃ, sāriputta, paƱcannaṃ bhikkhusatānaṃ na kiƱci garahāmi kāyikaṃ vā vācasikaṃ vā.
“There is nothing, Sāriputta, that these five hundred monks have done by way of body or speech that I would criticize.
ImesaƱhi, sāriputta, paƱcannaṃ bhikkhusatānaṃ saį¹­į¹­hi bhikkhÅ« tevijjā, saį¹­į¹­hi bhikkhÅ« chaįø·abhiƱƱā, saį¹­į¹­hi bhikkhÅ« ubhatobhāgavimuttā, atha itare paƱƱāvimuttā”ti.
For of these five hundred monks, sixty have the three knowledges, sixty have the six direct knowledges, sixty are freed both ways, and the rest are freed by wisdom.”

so at an early time when the sangha numbered 500 monks, a little more than 10% (60/500) had full arsenal of psychic powers (levitation, cloning, the difficult psychic powers).

having 3 knowledges, means besides arahantship, the other 2 knowledges are having the divine eye that sees past lives, and sees where various beings are reborn, among other powers related to divine eye. So this would mean over 20% of the sangha had some competence with various psychic powers.

being freed "both ways", ubhatobhāgavimuttā, 
 (see MN 70) refers to having arupa samadhi attainments as the 'peaceful liberations'.

being freed by wisdom means one has 4 jhanas, but no arupa samadhi expertise, and no psychic powers at all.




45. Ubhatobhāgavimuttasutta
45. Freed Both Ways
“‘Ubhatobhāgavimutto, ubhatobhāgavimutto’ti, āvuso, vuccati.
“Reverend, they speak of a person called ‘freed both ways’.
Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso, ubhatobhāgavimutto vutto bhagavatā”ti?
What is the one freed both ways that the Buddha spoke of?”
“Idhāvuso, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi … pe … paį¹­hamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
“First, take a monk who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures … enters and remains in the first jhāna.
Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṃ tathā tathā naṃ kāyena phusitvā viharati, paññāya ca naṃ pajānāti.
They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way. And they understand that with wisdom.
Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, ubhatobhāgavimutto vutto bhagavatā pariyāyena … pe ….
To this extent the Buddha spoke of the one freed both ways in a qualified sense. …
Puna caparaṃ, āvuso, bhikkhu sabbaso nevasaƱƱānāsaƱƱāyatanaṃ samatikkamma saƱƱāvedayitanirodhaṃ upasampajja viharati, paƱƱāya cassa disvā āsavā parikkhīṇā honti.
Furthermore, take a monk who, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with wisdom, their defilements come to an end.
Yathā yathā ca tadāyatanaṃ tathā tathā naṃ kāyena phusitvā viharati, paññāya ca naṃ pajānāti.
They meditate directly experiencing that dimension in every way. And they understand that with wisdom.
Ettāvatāpi kho, āvuso, ubhatobhāgavimutto vutto bhagavatā nippariyāyenā”ti.
To this extent the Buddha spoke of the one freed both ways in a definitive sense.”



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lucid24.org: What's new?

Link to lucid24.org home page :    4šŸ‘‘☸   Remember, you may have to click the refresh button on your web browser navigation bar at to get updated website. 2026 1-30 Overhauled the DN, MN, SN menu pages - Supreme navigation January 30, 2026 2025 12-16 2025-12 December: Major update on look and feel of Lucid24.org 2024 9-17 Lots of new stuff in the last 2 and a half years.  Too many to list. Main one justifying new blog entry, is redesign of home page. Before, it was designed to please me, super dense with everything in one master control panel. I've redesigned it to be friendly to newbies and everyone really. Clear structure, more use of space.  At someone's request, I added a lucid24.org google site search at top of home page. 2022 4-14 Major update to lucid24.org, easy navigation of suttas, quicklink: the ramifications 4-2 new feature lucid24.org sutta quick link 3-28 A new translation of SN 38.16, and first jhāna is a lot easier than you think šŸ”—šŸ“notes relat...

My thoughts on Dalai Lama kissing boy, and the solution

HHDL = His holiness, the Dalai Lama I've collected good references here, including the actual video, and snippets from forums discussions containing valid critcism and explanations of cultural context, and most importantly, what the rules of the actual vinaya that buddhist monks are supposed to follow: 1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue At the time of this writing, HHDL is about 88 years old. He has an exemplary record devoting his life to compassionate service to all living beings,  as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. In this age of 'me too',  everyone with a cell phone with high resolution cameras, and the ability to quickly publicize any indiscretion or sexual crime, we've seen sexual predators in positions of power being exposed and convicted. Leaders of large corporations,  governments, professional sports, doctors, leaders in all religions. Tibetan Buddhism has an especially poor track record with corrupt sexual predators. https://thewal...

Explanation from B. Thanissaro regarding Ajahn Mun biography section where he has conversations with (living) Buddhas

Ajahn Mun Bio, account of conversation with Buddhas excerpt from p.172 Venerable ƃcariya Mun Bhýridatta Thera: A Spiritual Biography by ƃcariya MahĆ£ Boowa Ñãõasampanno.   http://www.forestdhamma.org/ebooks/english/pdf/Acariya_Mun__A_Spiritual_Biography.pdf On the nights subsequent to ƃcariya Mun’s attainment of vimutti, a number of Buddhas, accompanied by their Arahant disciples, came to congratulate him on his vimuttidhamma. One night, a certain Buddha, accompanied by tens of thousands of Arahant disciples, came to visit; the next night, he was visited by another Buddha who was accompanied by hundreds of thousands of Arahant disciples. Each night a different Buddha came to express his appreciation, accompanied by a different number of Arahant disciples. ƃcariya Mun stated that the number of accompanying Arahant disciples varied according to each Buddha’s relative accumulation of merit – a factor that differed from one Buddha to the next. Many critics cite that passa...