Dr Ariyathushel Arahant

Applying scientific methods (i.e systematic review and meta-analysis) to gather an overview of the practices recommended by the Sangha community to follow Buddha’s path and experience enlightenment is useful for reviewing and revealing current understanding within the community and the practices.

Before revising these practices, it is helpful for those interested and seeking escape from suffering in a stable manner—whether from the Sangha community, scientists interested in exploring further, or both—to know that there are mainly two versions of Dhamma paths, as below;
1. Practices related to man-made version of Dhamma:
If someone describes nibbana as happening through conscious practices alone (meditation, mindfulness, focused breathing, jhanas, lifestyles), they are describing a version of man-made enlightenment or nibbana.
2.Practices related to universal Dhamma
If someone describes nibbana as happening at a random time, like a person born in a random place without knowing, that better describes Buddha’s version of enlightenment or nibbana.

Among many kind and compassionate acts, giving food is the kindest act for those who are starving and in need.
Among many kind and compassionate acts, giving appropriate medicine is the kindest act for those who are ill and need medicine.

Among many kind and compassionate acts, contributing to the basic Dhamma path is helpful for beginners of Dhamma, either as a monk, householder, or a meditator alike.
Among many kind and compassionate acts, opening the universally applicable noble path by revealing the noble view through which noble efforts and noble mindfulness come to be by someone who has experienced stream winner to arahantship is the kindest act for those who seek escape from suffering with stability.

By now you should know many ways in which you could let go of suffering in a temporary manner, such as meditation, walking, trekking, meeting with friends, going to parties, staying, living, or visiting monasteries and like. Mere acts or actions are not relevant to karma or nibbana but intentions are. However, if you seek a stable way out of suffering, it could be of benefit for you if you would try to understand what is what.
Discussion around the practices is merely to open the noble path but not to compare people as individuals.

One may follow whatever path and practice that one chooses. Then they live the life they have chosen and will experience various kinds of stress and suffering from sensory information. This can be explained using three words;
1. “Assāda” or pleasures coming from sensory information; if you take such experiences with delusion, that leads to a deluded view of self and the world. Suppose you become happy based on sensory information and delusion, whether as a monk, householder, meditator, etc.; when things related to self and the world change, you will likely suffer. By now, you should have tried various practices, including becoming a monk, a meditator, or a householder. Through such practices, if you know your suffering did not cease with stability, that should be sufficient evidence to let go of non-noble vision; becoming a monk, householder, or meditator is not relevant to experiencing nibbana within. Instead, letting go of mental fetters (i.e self-view, social practices, etc.) while taking refuge in the universally applicable Triple Gem is relevant. You may adopt an evidence-based practice.
2. “Adinava”, due to not understanding the mind’s construction with wisdom, leads to stress and suffering in the mind. In other words, the way one interprets and understands oneself, others, and the world, including one’s chosen lifestyle, reveals that it cannot produce stable satisfaction based on sensory information. If you understood this much based on your life experience, you may develop your vision or understanding further to refine intentions (karma and Dhamma) regardless of what you do or your usual daily activities.
3. Nissarana: If you can understand the meaninglessness of clinging to experience satisfaction or pleasure through self and the world created through common ways (or conventional understanding of self and the world coming from sensory information), that is how you can give up delusion based on your personal life experience regardless of what you do to enhance quality of mind and quality of life.

Ordinary Sanghas divide Dhamma to teach you the basics.
Noble Sanghas unite Dhamma by revealing how you can grow beyond the basics to enter the universal noble path.

Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏

What is visible is the world. What is invisible is nibbana. To reach it in your mental continuum, the universal nature of emptiness, you may discover truths within, and nobly train your mind.

Conventional ways are limited, measurable, and often focus on decorating the outside like clothing (white cloths, cultured clothing, robes) and alike. If you want to escape suffering with stability through Buddha’s path to enlightenment, you must know the difference between the two.
Conventions are useful only when you surpass them with wisdom. Buddha taught invisible, in-depth, subtle universal Dhamma.
In Buddha’s universally applicable Dhamma, dress and hairstyles are not relevant. Buddhas do not appear to tell you to wear certain clothes or maintain your hair in a certain way; that would be basic and immature. Instead, Buddha taught to wear whatever you like and what is feasible for you. Develop wisdom to surpass what you wear and likewise develop invisible nibbana within. That explains why almost n**e or barely dressed Patachara attained stream entry or sotapanna. An acrobat attained arahantship while wearing an acrobat dress. A minister attained arahantship while wearing party or elegant wear. A Brahmin couple attained arahantship while wearing home wear. Nibbana happens at an unexpected time; no conscious effort is needed; it happens through nature.

“Uggasena attained arahatship while he was still performing his feats on top of a long bamboo pole.”
-Dhp 397

You may develop your practice on the noble path step by step. Where do you start?
Understand that typically, people cannot start engaging in acts they do not like; that is human nature. Although sometimes one can be forced to do certain things, one is likely to suffer through forced choices, especially because suffering tends to come even from chosen acts. Thus, initially, a person should take on a practice they like. Whether a dhutanga monk, forest monk, or householder, a person should have some liking for what they choose. Then they live the life they have chosen and will experience various kinds of stress and suffering from sensory information.
Afterwards, they need to understand the meaninglessness of clinging to what they have chosen and how dissatisfaction stems from it. Thus, in whatever way you seek maximum happiness, when that thing does not bring maximum satisfaction, you may let go of clinging to it to through wise understanding of life experience. This can be explained using three words;
1. “Assāda” or pleasures coming from sensory information; if you take such experiences with delusion, that leads to a deluded view of self and the world. Suppose you become happy based on sensory information and delusion, whether as a monk, householder, meditator, etc., when things related to self and the world change, you will likely suffer. By now, you should have tried various practices, including becoming a monk, a meditator, or a householder. Through such practices, if you know your suffering did not cease with stability, that should be sufficient evidence to let go of non noble vision; becoming a monk, householder, or meditator is not relevant to experiencing nibbana within. Instead, letting go of mental fetters (i.e self-view, social practices etc.) while taking refuge in the universally applicable Triple Gem is relevant. You may adopt an evidence-based practice.
2. “Adinava”, due to not understanding the mind’s construction with wisdom, leads to stress and suffering in the mind. In other words, the way one interprets and understands self, others, and the world, including one’s chosen lifestyle, reveals that it cannot produce stable satisfaction based on sensory information. If you understood this much based on your life experience, you may develop your vision or understanding further to refine intentions (karma and Dhamma) regardless of what you do or your usual daily activities.
3. Nissarana: If you can understand the meaninglessness of clinging to experience satisfaction or pleasure through self and the world created through common ways (or conventional understanding of self and the world coming from sensory information), that is how you can give up delusion based on their personal life experience regardless of what what you do to enhance quality of mind and quality of life.

Over centuries, ordinary Sanghas have done well, they have been well versed with basic Dhamma, and there is no need to explain the basics of how to become a monk, householder, and alike, as these are well established. What is missing in Sangha communities is experience of nibbana across stages. Now the universally applicable noble path is revealed to you and how you can link the basics to the noble path.

Ordinary Sanghas divide Dhamma to teach you the basics.
Noble Sanghas unite Dhamma by revealing how you can grow beyond the basics to enter the universal noble path.

Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏

The noble practice requires you to discover the middle path within you. Middle way means deciding what’s wholesome (not hurting yourself or others) and letting go of unwholesome. This can be shown as below;
Regarding self-view or worldly experiences related to self: worrying over things that are gone is unwise. At the same time, ignoring things that happened when there are lessons to learn, things to plan as action points for the present or future, is unwise. Thus, one needs to take action to resolve issues to the best of one's ability, focus on what can impact an outcome while keeping worries aside, as worries don't necessarily contribute to the outcome but exhaust you.
Regarding social practices, comparing people is unwholesome. Instead, treating all as precious in mind is a way to let go of delusion in social practices.

“...in the way of teaching I’ve proclaimed (Buddha has proclaimed), diligent while there is still time; they won’t fall under the sway of Death.”
-Veṇḍusutta, SN 2.12

The path to nibbana involves training to let go of both clinging and ignoring to follow the middle way. Clinging to mindfulness, one has to let go. Clinging to breath, one has to let go. Clinging to anything, one has to let go.
Ignorance leads to continuous suffering.

When seeking entry to the noble path, you may be cautious. Sometimes spiritual friends knowingly or unknowingly take refuge in a look-alike Triple Gem in reverse order. So they first take refuge in the Sangha, meaning anyone who fits their mental image of the Sangha by appearance, clothing, or hairstyles and alike. Then, they seek refuge in practices they recommend as Dhamma. Finally, some of them see Buddha as a statue or historical figure. In this way, some ordinary friends among the Sangha follow the Sangha, prioritising the Sangha over Buddha and Buddha’s Dhamma, which prevents the noble path from ignoring the truth that only Buddhas can reveal to the universe. Thus, to follow the noble path, a person requires following the path and practice to nibbana carried within the Triple Gem. That is to say, when you give priority to Buddha or Dhamma, what becomes is the noble path; thus, whoever reveals the noble path is what is useful for you to let go of suffering with stability, particularly because you already know many ways to let go of suffering or reduce stress on a temporary basis; going for walks, going for parties, going for pilgrimage, meeting with friends, doing yoga, meditation, etc.

The noble path has to develop across stages. In general, since childhood, one takes many things as special: celebrations, graduation, parents, teachers, friends, doctors, monks and so on. When you experience Sotapanna or Stream Entry, you maintain more or less the same value given to the above, knowing they don't last forever (impermanent), but make the best of worldly life by applying wisdom; things that create worldly experiences through social relationships and roles. Thereafter, when you experience the Anagami state, you let go of sense desire (likes and dislikes, pleasing and displeasing worldly experiences through senses grounded in delusion) based on wisdom. In doing so, you let go of taking the things above as special, including yourself; pleasant and unpleasant things coming from eyes, ears, nose , skin, and alike, and as you let go of value to worldly experience within, you let go of value given to other parties; parents, friends and family, associates, teachers, not because you dont care for them, or you ignore them but because one comes to understand that everything in the world is meaningless as they are mere projection. Thus, you don't change what you do, meaning you contribute to all, but in your mind, you don't make a big deal of these worldly things, including the conventional way of understanding self, others and the world in the middle way (not an extreme way).

Mere acts or actions are not relevant to karma or nibbana but intentions are. Thus, you may apply wisdom to let go of fetters while doing usual activities to enter the universally applicable noble path, while recalling the universal Buddha, universal Dhamma, and universal Sangha.

Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏

If you are happy to engage in wholesome intentions and intentional actions that do not harm yourself or others, you must move beyond standard social practices. The world has sufficient resources and respect to share with everyone, but these are rarely shared with all. Social norms often privilege some while excluding others. Initially, you may enter the wholesome noble path based on the happiness and delight you experience through wholesome intentions that surpass standard social practices.
If someone were to claim that the noble path is based on sila, they are describing the conventional path suitable exclusively for a certain category of people but not the in-depth Dhamma or universally applicable Dhamma path. Not understanding Buddha’s in-depth Dhamma, those who seek Buddha’s Dhamma go in the dark, experiencing continuous suffering. Instead, by understanding the universal path, one can walk the Buddha’s noble path.

“Some ordinary people who were confused about dhamma and had little faith and confidence said, “Some of these Sakyan spiritual practitioners are practising asceticism and living with the aim of self-effacement. But the practitioner Gotama is extravagant and has chosen a life of indulgence.”
But the noble people, and wise ordinary people who had faith and confidence, complained and criticised Devadatta, “How can Devadatta pursue schism in the Sangha of the Buddha? How can he break its universal order?”
-Saṅghabheda, Bu Ss 10

“Some ordinary people, including ordinary monks, complained and criticised him, “….He’s claiming to become an Arahant, have a superhuman ability!” They told the Buddha.
“Friends, Arahant Sobhita has this ability, and that was just one birth. Arahant Sobhita spoke truthfully. There’s no offence for him.”
-Uttarimanussadhamma, Bu Pj 4

“The ordinary bhikkhus, not knowing that the brahmin couple had already become arahats, asked the Buddha where they were reborn. To them the Buddha answered:
"Those who have become arahats are not reborn anywhere; they have realised Nibbana."
-Dhp 225

“At that, several Sakyans came together complaining, grumbling, and objecting, “Oh lord, how incredible, how amazing! Who can’t become a stream-enterer these days? For the Buddha even declared Sarakāni to be a stream-enterer after he passed away. Sarakāni was too weak for the training; he used to drink liquor.”
-Paṭhamasaraṇānisakkasutta, SN 55.24

Final ruling
‘If an ordinary person including a monk pursues schism in a united Sangha conducive to schism, you may correct him like this: “Don’t pursue schism in the united Sangha, united Dhamma path. Stay with the Sangha, for a united Dhamma path and united Sangha—in concord, in harmony, having a joint recitation—is at ease.” If that person or monk continues as before, one should press him up to three times to make him stop. If he then stops, all is well. If he does not stop, he commits an offence entailing suspension from the community.”
-Saṅghabheda, Bu Ss 10

“Nandiya, the person in whom the factors of stream entry are altogether & in every way lacking I call an outsider, one who stands in the faction of the run-of-the-mill. “
-Nandiya Sutta (SN 55:40)

Those who divide Dhamma are ordinary Sanghas.
Those who unite Dhamma are noble Sanghas.

During the Buddha’s time, many ordinary monks, nuns, and householders struggled to understand nibbana, and this remains true today. Not understanding universal Dhamma, people who think they follow the Buddha path do not follow it. By understanding the noble view of Dhamma, those who seek to escape suffering can escape it. This is an invitation to reveal the universally applicable noble practice to spiritual friends genuinely seeking the Buddha’s enlightenment, whether in monasteries or at home, to explore and experience the universal Dhamma within for themselves. In daily practice, you may engage in letting go of self-view and social practices by applying wisdom while recollecting the universal Buddha, universal Dhamma, and universal Sangha in your stream of thoughts while doing usual activities, within daily life.

Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏

To renounce suffering and enhance quality of life, you may let go of attachment to rules, vows and precepts (Sīlabbata-parāmāsa) and develop the noble right view of Dhamma instead of merely relying on conscious rule-keeping. This can be explained as follows:

Living in a house and then moving to a monastery, and vice versa, constitutes a change of residence. If you take one way and refuse or do not take another, that’s still constructing the world in your mind. Instead, if you let things be as they are but understand such things beyond what they are as seen through the mind’s construction and social construction with wisdom to enter the emptiness of nature by renouncing giving too much value or importance to such things. If you retain one way and keep another, that’s still retaining the world or retaining delusion. Instead, if you give up all the ways you understand things in your mind (view) by cutting delusion, that’s how you enter the noble path.

Through mindful breathing, if you construct (construction is an action) an understanding of your breathing in mind, that’s still the construction of self.

Through social practices, rituals, and rules, if you construct an understanding of yourself as a man, woman, monk, household, and so on, that’s the construction of self.

Then, how can you give up everything on the Buddha’s noble path? You give up all by not giving too much value to the mind’s constructions and social constructs by applying wisdom.
So for now, as a training exercise, can you keep aside your projection and mental image of who you think you are for a couple of minutes? So keep aside the mental image you have of yourself as a monk, a household, a man, a woman, and likewise for a few minutes, and stop giving too much value to what you think you are, and see what happens. You will find that the mind’s construction disappears and becomes empty. In doing so, you are not losing or gaining self; you are merely attempting to understand that your mind's construction is empty, that nothing happens to you physically, and that you may pause the exercise and continue to spend your day and live your life as usual.

Wearing one dress code and then wearing another dress changes the dress code. Understanding is not in a dress but in a person’s mind. In general, anyone can understand what they wear, but can you transcend what you wear so that you wear what is needed without giving too much value to the mind’s construction of dress, self, and the world, including social practices? If you happen to answer yourself, "yes," you have the potential to develop an invisible noble path that becomes understandable through noble wisdom. If not, you may still need to develop Paramis over samsara to understand those bits.

"'...The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.' Thus it has been said. In reference to what was it said?
"Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect."
-Nibbedhika Sutta, AN 6.63

Walking, meditating, chanting, reading dhamma books, and teaching dhamma are actions. Actions alone are not directly relevant to the Buddha’s Dhamma, but intentions are. Thus, what are intentions?
Understanding self, others and the world with delusion is what is common, what is ordinary, what is binding to the mind’s construction of self and the world. Intention or understanding with underlying tendencies (or a family of thoughts with an underlying tendency to delusion), creates ongoing existence for the self, or samsara.
Intention that is purified from delusion; thoughts without underlying tendency do not create or destroy (energy is not created or destroyed), but are free from such in the middle way.

To renounce, you may give up ordinary ways, delusion in your mind’s construction, and social constructions by applying wisdom. This is one way in which you could let go of self-view, social practices, rituals, and precepts that bother the self and restrict the self to rules, to become free on the universally applicable noble path for all human beings.
The basics are;
Those who divide Dhamma are ordinary Sanghas.
Those who unite Dhamma are noble Sanghas.

Buddhas, through the three ‘bodhis' (Supreme Buddha, Private Buddha, Arahants), don’t appear in this world to ask or remind you to meditate, because meditation is common in many spiritual paths, and even without any spiritual path, anyone can meditate.

Buddhas, through the three types of Bodhi (Sammasambuddhas, Paccekabuddhas, Savakabuddhas or Supreme Buddha, Private Buddha, Arahants), don’t appear in this world to ask or remind you merely to walk, meditate, chant, or read ancient books, as these are actions commonly done by anyone.

Buddhas, through the three types of Bodhi don’t appear in this world to ask or remind you to be kind, compassionate, and mindful of what you do, as being kind, compassionate, and mindful can be easily said by anyone, even without following any spiritual path. That is not to say not to be kind, compassionate, but to say being kind, compassionate can make you get attached to the world. Anything that makes you attached can keep you in samsara. Thus, you need to understand something beyond merely being kind, compassionate, or mindful to cease in mind and touch emptiness in the universe, and that can be achieved through applying wisdom to reduce giving too much value to mind construction and social construction (while being kind, compassionate, mindful of activities, fulfilling responsibilities, and not hurting yourself or another by applying wisdom).
Then if you were to question, what do Buddhas, through the three types of Bodhi (Sammasambuddhas, Paccekabuddhas, Savakabuddhas), appear in the world, or what do they share?
To tell and remind you how you can let go of attachment to your mind’s construction of self, others, and the world, including precepts and social practices, by cutting the root cause, delusion, to let go of suffering and to enhance quality of living, as well as enhance quality of the afterlife for those who have the mind’s underlying tendencies for continuation in samsara.

“…And what are name and form? Feeling, perception, intention, contact, and understanding”.
-Paṭiccasamuppādasutta, SN 12.1
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Cutting off delusion cuts off delusion for greed and hate. This is where Buddha’s path becomes universal. As a beginner, you construct a practice as a monk, as a meditator, a household, and so on. Thereafter, you need to grow and renounce the mind’s construction of the very same thing that you constructed, transforming it into something more stable as a Sotapanna. This way, Dhamma across stages allows you to progress.

Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏

There are no divisions or different training paths for people to experience Buddha’s nibbana. Thus, Buddha’s Dhamma is called universal Dhamma.

There are no different training paths for the dhutanga monk, the forest monk, the city monk, the village monk, the household, and so on in the Buddha’s universal Dhamma. This is because Buddha’s true version of Dhamma has a universal path.

There is no difference between a monk and a household with regard to their potential to experience nibbana, as long as they have underlying tendencies toward delusion, and delusion to their likes (greed), and dislikes(hate); they are bound to samsara.

There are divisions in the path in Buddha’s ordinary disciples; so there is a different path for dhutanga monks, a different path for forest monks, another path for householders, another path for people from various geographical places in the world among ordinary disciples.

Typically, when ordinary people carry Dhamma, they carry divided Dhamma.
When ordinary people take an ordinary person as their teacher, they get entangled in an ordinary vision of Dhamma preventing nibbana; none of them knows Dhamma in depth across the four stages. In this manner, ordinary disciples explain Dhamma: they explain what they know about Dhamma, and what they know is limited and measurable, so they measure people by rituals, social practices, and traditions, physical aspects such as dresses and alike.

When noble people talk about Dhamma, they know infinite Dhamma or universal Dhamma, so they do not limit Dhamma to traditions, rituals, or social practices, and explain that universal Dhamma is immeasurable. Noble friends invite you to focus more on understanding mental construction (perception, understanding) regardless physical aspects that is related to so you can understand dependant origination better.

There are pleasures a person gets to experience while living with oneself. Similarly, suffering arises when you live with yourself, particularly when you live with an unwise self.
Suffering arises from having to live with delusions about likes and dislikes. Thus, you don't have to cut off likes and dislikes entirely, but delusion, as the noble path is developed based on noble right view.
There are pleasures coming from associating with oneself, friends, family, supporters, and society. There are likely to be displeasures arising from associating with oneself, friends, family, supporters, and society.
There are many kinds of suffering; Suffering arises from bodily pains, suffering arises from a lack of food or water, hunger, a lack of medicine, and unsuitable accommodation.
To follow the noble path, one must make no significant modifications to the physical aspects related to the self. Suffering arising from physical aspects should be minimized to provide at least reasonable comfort: food for hunger, water or drink for thirst, accommodation for living, clothing for protection, medicines for the body, and the like, so a person can retain the ability to think with wisdom and develop wisdom-based thinking.

When you eat something physically, you construct what you eat in your mind, a mind-construction, sense-making, interpretation, and understanding.
To follow the noble path, we do not necessarily have to talk about physical food, but about what your mind constructs about physical food, where your physique meets your mind to make sense of you: perception and understanding.
Thus, what you eat, drink, where you live, who you associate with, and what you wear from a physical aspect is not applicable, but what you construct about what you eat, drink, live, associate with, and wear from a sense-making perspective, with wisdom and understanding, is relevant.

“…And what are name and form? Feeling, perception, intention, contact, and understanding”.
-Paṭiccasamuppādasutta, SN 12.1

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“And what is dependent origination? Ignorance is a requirement for choice or intentional actions. Choices or intentional actions; whether you perform actions with intentions that are purified from self-view, social practices, and other fetters, or whether you perform actions that are not purified from fetters) are a requirement for understanding self and the world (consciousness)...”
-Vibhaṅgasutta, SN 12.2

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To reach emptiness, cessation across stages, your mind’s construction should reach emptiness in delusion. Cutting off delusion cuts off delusion for greed and hate. This is where Buddha’s path becomes universal. To reach emptiness, a dhutanga monk should not construct a mental image of a dhutanga monk and give it too much value, as giving value in the mind means constructing a self and a world. Instead, a dhutanga monk should let go of placing too much value on the very idea, perception, or the mind’s construction of a dhutanga monk.
To reach emptiness, a forest monk should not construct a mental image of a forest monk and give it too much value, as giving value in the mind means constructing a self and a world. Instead, a forest monk should let go of placing too much value on the very idea, perception, or the mind’s construction of a forest monk.
To reach emptiness, a household should not form a mental image of itself and give it too much value, as assigning value in the mind entails constructing a self and a world. Instead, a household should let go of placing too much value on the very idea, perception, or the mind’s construction of a household.

If you understand these words of higher Dhamma, you have only your wisdom to be thankful for, which means you are likely to have the potential to experience Sotapanna or stream entry during this birth.
If you don't understand these words of Dhamma, it means you need more training in the paramis across samsara, and wisdom, so you will likely develop the potential to experience Sotapanna and beyond.

Typically, we have many beginners. Rare are those who end the training at all times; this is the truth about nibbana.

As a beginner, you construct a practice as a monk, as a meditator, a household, and so on. Thereafter, you need to grow and renounce the mind’s construction of the very same thing that you constructed, transforming it into something more stable as a Sotapanna. This way, Dhamma across stages allows you to progress.

Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏