Sim Pern Chong shared:

“ https://www.monroeinstituteuk.org/focus-levels/

Just my own understanding and experience.

Mapping the Focus to likely realms and experiences:

Focus 15 : the experience of I AM, timelessness or Eternal Now

Focus 24-26 : this is the realms most human Beings 'goes' to after death. This is the astral realms.. ranging from 'heaven' to' hungry ghost realm'..

Focus 42 (I-there): this is the Unbounded Alaya. It is much harder to access this than Focus 15.  Here it is not just a Presence. It is the direct knowing/ perception of the manifestations across lifetimes. Anatta insight cannot directly see the 'cause and effect' in realtime . The cause and effect is perceived here.. and is more nuanced and complex.. as one seems to be able to also plan what to inhibit or constraint.. That means the 'unpleasant' things in life can be self-imposed for purposes unknown to the human body/mind. Monroe called it the I-there.. i can understand. Because the 'self', 'I' is already assumed as this level. 'Self' is not only formed at the body/mind.. it is much deeper at this level. IMO, very few has ever access this level (even after death) .. Most death destinations are at FOCUS 24-26.. Hence, NDEs are not any reliable source of truth at all.. Anatta can be realised after FOCUS 15.. without any awareness of the levels beyond 15.

My take is that the correction of perceptual error at FOCUS 42, is what is winding down the compulsive rebirthing and the enabling the perception beyond.. that is a mystery.. and i only had a tiny glimpse 

Just my opinion”

Soh replied:

“Yes there are two kinds of arahats. There are those freed from fetters and rebirth without recollecting past lives and seeing the karma of beings, and there are those who obtained the three knowledges.

Tevijjā and Paññāvimutti: The Two Paths to Arahantship in the Pāli Canon

The early Pāli texts provide a clear road-map for understanding the different capacities of fully liberated beings, or arahants. Some are described as “three-knowledge” (tevijjā) saints, possessing remarkable psychic abilities, while others are equally liberated yet lack these powers. The Canon itself makes this distinction explicit, presenting two primary archetypes of the perfected individual, which differ not in their degree of freedom but in their method of attainment.

Key Points in One Paragraph

The Pāli Canon defines the three higher knowledges (tisso vijjā) as (1) the ability to recollect one's own past lives (pubbenivāsānussati-ñāṇa), (2) the "divine eye" for observing the death and rebirth of other beings according to their kamma (cutūpapāta-ñāṇa), and (3) the direct knowledge of the destruction of the mental taints, or āsavas (āsavakkhaya-ñāṇa). Every arahant must realize this third knowledge, as it constitutes enlightenment itself. The first two, however, are by-products of deep meditative absorption (jhāna) cultivated to a high degree. This leads to two recognized types of arahant: the "both-ways-liberated" (ubhatobhāgavimutta), who masters the formless meditative states and thus gains access to psychic powers, and the "wisdom-liberated" (paññāvimutta), who is freed by penetrating insight (vipassanā) alone and may not possess these supernormal abilities. The famous Susīma Sutta (SN 12.70) depicts a group of arahants who openly state they lack the first two knowledges, while suttas like the Anuruddha Sutta (AN 8.30) feature disciples who have mastered all three. The difference, therefore, lies in the specific meditative faculties developed, not in the final, unshakeable liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

1. The Three Higher Knowledges (Tisso Vijjā)

The Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) provides the classical definition of the three knowledges as fruits of the contemplative life.

The āsavas, or "taints," are the fundamental defilements that perpetuate suffering and rebirth. They are typically listed as:

• The taint of sensual craving (kāmāsava)
• The taint of craving for existence/becoming (bhavāsava)
• The taint of ignorance (avijjāsava)

The third knowledge is the direct, experiential understanding that these taints have been utterly destroyed. The Itivuttaka (Iti 112) confirms that a monk who has perfected these three is rightly called a "tevijjo brāhmaṇo," a true "three-knowledge brahmin," having laid down the burden and become fully liberated.

2. Two Canonical Classes of Arahant

The difference in attainment of the higher knowledges maps directly onto two distinct classifications of arahants found throughout the Canon. This distinction hinges on the balance and development of two core meditative faculties: serenity (samatha) and insight (vipassanā).

2.1. Ubhatobhāgavimutta (“Liberated Both Ways”)

This arahant is described as being liberated "in both ways" because they are freed through:

1. Mind-liberation (cetovimutti): The mastery of the eight meditative absorptions—the four fine-material jhānas and the four formless attainments (arūpa-samāpattis). This profound level of samatha purifies the mind and serves as the platform for psychic powers.
2. Wisdom-liberation (paññāvimutti): The uprooting of the defilements through insight into the true nature of reality.

The Kīṭāgiri Sutta (MN 70) describes this individual as one who "contacts with his body and dwells in those peaceful, formless liberations that transcend form, and having seen with wisdom, his taints are destroyed." They have both the profound serenity of the formless states and the penetrating wisdom of liberation.

2.2. Paññāvimutta (“Liberated by Wisdom”)

This arahant attains liberation solely through the faculty of wisdom (paññā). While they must cultivate a sufficient degree of concentration to support insight, they do not necessarily master the four formless attainments. As the Buddha states in the Susīma Sutta, their freedom comes from seeing the nature of reality directly:

"First, there is the knowledge of the principle of causality, and afterwards, there is the knowledge of Nibbāna." (SN 12.70)

Their path is the direct application of vipassanā to understand impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and not-self (anattā), leading to the destruction of the taints. This is the definition of paññāvimutti.

The Yuganaddha Sutta (AN 4.170) clarifies that arahantship can be reached by developing serenity first, insight first, or both in tandem, confirming that the end-goal is the same regardless of the sequence.

3. Suttas Showing Arahants with the First Two Knowledges

• MN 71, Tevijja-Vacchagotta Sutta: The Buddha, speaking to the wanderer Vacchagotta, explicitly claims to be a tevijjā. He defines the three knowledges and affirms that he possesses them, while clarifying this is not a claim to constant, all-at-once omniscience.
• AN 8.30, Anuruddha Sutta: The Venerable Anuruddha, a foremost disciple renowned for his divine eye, declares his attainment in a verse: "The three knowledges have been attained; the Buddha’s teaching has been done."
• AN 5.28, Samādhaṅga Sutta: The Buddha explains that mastery of "five-factored right concentration" is the basis for attaining the higher knowledges, including past-life recollection and the divine eye. This links jhānic skill directly to these psychic feats, which are characteristic of the ubhatobhāgavimutta arahant.

4. Suttas Showing Arahants without the First Two Knowledges

• SN 12.70, Susīma Sutta: This is the locus classicus for the wisdom-liberated arahant. The wanderer Susīma questions a group of monks who have just declared their final knowledge (arahantship).

• Susīma asks: "Have you attained the various kinds of psychic powers... do you recollect your manifold past lives... with the divine eye, do you see beings passing away and reappearing?"
• The monks reply: "No, friend."

Susīma is bewildered, unable to understand how they can be arahants without these powers. The Buddha intervenes and explains to him that they are paññāvimutta, wisdom-liberated. Their liberation was secured not through psychic feats, but through a direct insight into dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) and the impermanence of all phenomena. The Buddha confirms their status, stating that the knowledge of the Dhamma precedes the knowledge of Nibbāna.

5. Conclusion: Why the Difference?

The existence of these two types of arahant is not a contradiction but a reflection of the flexibility of the Buddhist path. The difference arises from three factors:

1. Meditative Foundation: The first two knowledges require the profound mental stillness and power generated by mastery of the jhānas. Insight alone, focused on the three marks of existence, is sufficient to cut the fetters and achieve the third knowledge, but it does not automatically produce psychic abilities.
2. Canonical Requirement: The Buddha’s core formula for liberation, repeated countless times throughout the suttas, culminates in the statement: "Birth is ended, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being." This declaration is contingent only on the third knowledge (āsavakkhaya-ñāṇa). The first two are never presented as mandatory for release from saṃsāra.
3. Individual Inclination: Disciples have different temperaments and aptitudes (carita). Some, like Ven. Anuruddha or Ven. Moggallāna, were naturally inclined toward developing concentration and psychic mastery. Others were more analytically bent and focused exclusively on the insight practices that lead directly to liberation. Both paths are valid and lead to the same unshakeable freedom.

Ultimately, the Pāli Canon presents a spectrum of saintly attainment. By distinguishing between wisdom-liberated and both-ways-liberated arahants, the teachings steer practitioners away from the error of conflating psychic displays with the true essence of enlightenment. The ultimate measure of an arahant is not the range of their special powers, but the complete and irreversible eradication of greed, hatred, and delusion.”

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