Fourteen stages of spiritual development (Jainism)

In Jain tradition, there are fourteen stages, [gunasthanas]

, from total bondage to karma in ignorance and delusion to total freedom. This is a process which takes numerous lifetimes. A life of piety may be lead at the fourth stage; but the sixth stage must be reached before commencing the life of a monk. Then the Jain makes five mahavratas or vows and lives a life of increasing asceticism which may culminate in old age with a ritual fasting to death. The monastic pattern is mirrored in lay practice, when eleven stages or [pratimas]

bring the lay person to a condition of renunciation similar to that achieved by those in orders. This is propitious for rebirth into a life where the monastic path to liberation is possible. Full enlightenment of the liberated soul, [kevalajnana]

, the fourteenth stage, is said to have been achieved by some practitioners of Jainism, who transcended the separation of eternal transcendent reality from manifestation. This is the stage of the [arhat-kevalin]

.