Q34. Are we able to recognize awakened people?

~ By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~

People like asking this very much. For instance, there are some who doubt if we could recognize an arahant now living in the world. If asked whether we could recognize an arahant if one came walking along, we should consider the following. In the case of us not recognizing them or even arahants themselves not able to recognize one another as such, a report has it that the Elder Sāriputta didn’t know that Lakuṇṭakabhaddiya was arahant, also. Ven. Sāriputta carried on expounding Dhamma to him, the purpose of which was to make possible the attainment of arahantship. This shows that Sāriputta didn’t know that Lakuṇṭakabhaddiya was arahant. Conversely, for cases of recognizing arahants as such, even a god in the Brahma world who was himself no arahant was able to recognize which people were arahants. He could foretell who would die having realized Nibbāna and who would die without having realized Nibbāna.

Thus, if asked whether we should be able to recognize an arahant or not, we must say that we might be able to or not, depending on the circumstances. Even arahants themselves might not recognize one another as such. So we ought not to give an unqualified answer, saying that we could recognize one or that we could not, as do the teachers in temple preaching halls who like being dogmatic about such things.

(From “Buddha-Dhamma for Inquiring Minds”)

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Buddha-Dhamma for Students (title of original translation) was composed of two talks given by Ajahn Buddhadāsa in January 1966 to students at Thammasat University, Bangkok. It was translated from the Thai by Rod Bucknell, and revised in 2018 by Santikaro Upasaka. To read/download as free ebook (pdf).

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For all English retreat talks, visit Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu.

For more information and free ebooks, visit Suan Mokkh – The Garden of Liberation.

Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives E-317