The noble eightfold path is the spiritual life. The fruits of the spiritual life are stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship.

Paṭhama sāmañña sutta - Spiritual Life (First)

At Sāvatthi.

“Bhikkhus, I will teach you the spiritual life and the fruits of the spiritual life. Listen to that.”

“What, bhikkhus, is the |spiritual life::ascetic life, monkhood [sāmañña]|? It is this noble eightfold path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right |collectedness::stability of mind, stillness of mind, mental composure [samādhi]|. This is called the spiritual life.

”And what, bhikkhus, are the fruits of the spiritual life? The |fruit of stream-entry::At the fruition of stream-entry [sotāpattiphala], one overcomes: \n\n 1) Personal existence, aka identity view \n 2) Doubt, aka uncertainty, and \n 3) Adherence to rules and observances|, the |fruit of once-returning::At the fruition of once-returning [sakadāgāmiphala], one weakens: \n\n 4) Sensual desire, \n 5) Ill-will|, the |fruit of non-returning::At the fruition of non-returning [anāgāmiphala], one overcomes: \n\n 4) Sensual desire, \n 5) Ill-will|, the |fruit of arahantship::At the fruition of arahantship [arahattaphala], one overcomes: \n\n 6) Desire for fine-material existence, \n 7) Desire for formless existence, \n 8) Conceit, aka pride, egotism, \n 9) Restlessness, aka agitation, \n 10) Ignorance, fundamental unawareness or misunderstanding of the true nature of reality, not experientially understanding the four noble truths|. These are called the fruits of the spiritual life.”

Last updated on March 27, 2025

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