The Seven Obsessions

Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Terms and Doctrines

Obsession destroys (tasithoughts.com)

The seven obsessions or anusayas (proclivities, inclinations, tendencies) are:

1. sensuous greed (kāma-rāga, see fetters),
2. resentment (aversion, anger, patigha),
3. speculative views (wrong views, opinions, ditthi),
4. skeptical doubt (vicikicchā),
5. conceit (māna),
6. craving for continued states of existence (bhava-rāga),
7. ignorance (avijjā) (D.33; A.VII.11-12).

"These things are called obsessions or proclivities because, as a consequence of their pertinacity, they again and again tend to become the conditions for the arising of ever new sensuous greed, [aversion, and delusion]'' (Path of Purification, Vis.M. XXII, 60).

 

Yam. VII first determines in which beings such and such obsessions exist, and which obsessions, and with regard to what, and in which sphere of existence [Sensual, Fine Material, or Immaterial]. Thereafter it gives an explanation concerning their overcoming, their penetration, and so on. Cf. Guide VI (vii).

 

According to Kath. several ancient Buddhist schools erroneously held the wrong view (opinion) that the anusayas, as such, meant merely latent -- and therefore karmically neutral qualities -- which however contradicts the Theravāda school conception. Cf. Guide V, 88, 108, 139.

• Four Dangers of Living a Simple Life (MN 67)

Obsession – When it Turns Destructive

Tasithoughts 

What causes people to fixate on someone [or something] so much that it takes over their being and wipes out whatever common sense and self-esteem they have for themselves?

Recently I have seen this in a few individuals who have basically thrown their self-respect out the window by going uber crazy over someone they initially had a crush on that turned into a full on -- almost Fatal Attraction -- kind of situation. 

The irrational behavior reaches fever pitch when they are rejected by the object of their affection.  Their feelings of  ultra-attachment turn into hurt and open bitterness.  It becomes a frenzy of texting,  calling, and harassing the person who scorned them.

In one instance, I have seen it become violent.... because they have attached their egos and their self-esteem so much to their object of affection...

• The Downward Spiral of Vengeance (anger)
• Can anger ever be good?
• Masks (depression)

Christian Pastor Vollmar converts to atheism

Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Billy Hallowell (TheBlaze.com, Feb. 11, 2014)

In this video, I am "coming out of closet." I no longer believe in God. I am an atheist now. This video, in American Sign Language with subtitles, explains my journey to doubt.

‘Jesus Christ Was…’: Deaf Pastor Who Revealed He’s an Atheist Has a Big Message for Christians

C'mon, you've got to believe in yourself.

Pastor Justin Vollmar’s revelation that he’s now an atheist captured a plethora of attention Monday. So far the ex-preacher said that reaction has been “explosive,” with Christians lamenting his de-conversion and atheists expressing their excitement over his so-called “coming out.”

 

The former Christian leader, who has spent the past few years releasing sign-language videos explaining Biblical concepts, has now penned an op-ed for CNN offering an in-depth recap of his journey into non-belief.

 

In sharing his testimony Vollmar also noted that he wants to help Christians “break free from their traditions and superstitions.”

 

(AT) Monty Python's Flying Circus on questioning religion

Annie Laurie Gaylord (ffrf.org)

He detailed joining the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist sect at age 18 and his eventual transition to the belief that there is no God. Among the details Vollmar said his faith was first shaken when he was not treated well while serving in a pastoral role after college.

 

“I was a pastor in Silver Spring, Maryland, working 60 hours a week for little pay. My senior pastor was a harsh taskmaster, scolding me and always pushing me to work harder,” he wrote. “Meanwhile, he earned $80,000 a year and played golf two times a week. I lived in poverty and did not see my children much. I got burned out.” More

 

• Nudist pastor reveals how his church worships Jesus in one of the most uncommon ways imaginable
• Alabama politician’s new school prayer proposal uses Congress as justification
• Atheists launch "Godless" media outlet
• See the threatening Notes notes pasted on a New Mexico Jewish deli

Guidance on "good" and "bad" (sutra)

Ven. Soma (accesstoinsight); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly (AN 3.65)

Light bursts through, enlightenment, into a dark cave (Chatchai Laka-mankong/flickr)

Kalamas ask the Buddha for Guidance

...3. The Kalamas, inhabitants of Kesaputta, sitting to one side said to the [Buddha]: "There are some wandering ascetics and Brahmin priests, venerable sir, who visit Kesaputta. They expound and explain only their own doctrines. The doctrines (dharrmas) of others they despise, revile, and pull to pieces. Some other ascetics and Brahmins too, venerable sir, come to Kesaputta. They also expound and explain only their own doctrines. The doctrines of others they despise, revile, and pull to pieces.

"Venerable sir, there is doubt, there is uncertainty in us concerning them. Which of these revered ascetics and Brahmins spoke the truth and which falsehood?"

Criterion for rejection

4. "It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain. Uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition, nor upon rumor, nor upon what is in a scripture, nor upon surmise, nor axiomatic, nor upon (hammering out by mere) reasoning, nor upon preference toward an idea that has been pondered over, nor upon another's seeming ability, nor upon the consideration, 'The ascetic is our teacher.' 

"But, Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are bad; these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them. 

 

Greed, hate, and delusion

5. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does greed appear in a person for benefit or harm?" — "For one's harm, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being given to greed, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by greed, this person takes life, steals, commits sexual misconduct, and tells lies. One also prompts another to do likewise. Will that be long for harm and ill?" — "Yes, venerable sir."

 

6. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does hate appear in a person for benefit or harm?" — "For one's harm, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being given to hate, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by hate, this person takes life, steals, commits sexual misconduct, and tells lies. One also prompts another to do likewise. Will that be long for harm and ill?" — "Yes, venerable sir."

 

7. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does delusion appear in a person for benefit or harm?" — "For one's harm, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being given to delusion, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by delusion, this person takes life, steals, commits sexual misconduct, and tells lies; one also prompts another to do likewise. Will that be long for harm and ill?" — "Yes, venerable sir."

 

8. "What do you think, Kalamas? Are these things good or bad [profitable or unprofitable, skillful or unskillful, wholesome or unwholesome]?" — "Bad, venerable sir" — "Blameworthy or not blameworthy?" — "Blameworthy, venerable sir." — "Censured or praised by the wise?" — "Censured, venerable sir." — "Undertaken and observed, do these things lead to harm and ill or not? Or how does it strike you?" — "Undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill. Thus it strikes us here."

 

9. "Therefore, did we say, Kalamas, what was said thus, 'Come Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition...nor upon the consideration, "The ascetic is our teacher." But, Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These things are bad; these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill," abandon them.'

Criterion for acceptance

10. "Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition... nor upon the consideration, 'The ascetic is our teacher.' But, Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are good; these things are blameless; these things are praised by the wise; when undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them.

Absence of greed, hate, delusion

11. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of greed appear in a person for benefit or harm?" — "For one's benefit, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being not given to greed, and being not overwhelmed and not vanquished mentally by greed, this person does not take life, does not steal, does not commit sexual misconduct, and does not tell lies, neither does one prompts another to do likewise. Will that be long for one's benefit and happiness?" — "Yes, venerable sir." More

Doubt, doubt, what about doubt?

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines (kankhā); Ven. Ñanamoli, Discourse Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth

Buddhist novices or samaneras (wellhappypeaceful.com)

 

Monastic doll, Thailand (ChristyB30/flickr)

"Doubt" (kankhā) may be either an intellectual uncertainty, or it may be a psychologically detrimental [persistent] skepticism.

The latter may manifest as wavering indecision, which impedes progress on the path. Or it may persist as negative skepticism, which is worse than indecision. 

 

Only this detrimental skeptical doubt (called vicikicchā) should be rejected and replaced. [This can be accomplished by cultivating confidence, faith, or saddha]. It is either useless, harmful, or very karmically unwholesome. It paralyzes thinking and hinders inner development. [It is one of the Five Hindrances to meditation and enlightenment.]
 

Reasoned, critical doubt in dubious matters [when it leads to investigation] is to be encouraged.

 

The 16 doubts enumerated in the sutras (e.g., MN 2 or Middle Length Discourses, second sutra) are the following:
 

Wondering and wondering would keep one revolving in fruitless doubt (Nyanamoli)

1. Have I been in the past [in past lives]?
2. Have I not been in the past?
3. What have I been in the past?
4. How have I been in the past?
5. From what state into what state did I change in the past? 
6. Shall I be in the future?
7. Shall I not be in the future?
8. What shall I be in the future?
9. How shall I be in the future?
10. From what state into what state shall I change in the future?
11. Am I?
12. Am I not?
13. What am I?
14. How am I?
15. From whence has this being come?
16. Where will it go?"

The way to confidence

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Four ways of developing confidence and wisdom are also enumerated throughout the texts. For example, in the Buddha's first discourse ("Turning the Wheel of the Dharma," SN 56.11, see below), he focused on Four Ennobling Truths:

1. What is suffering?
2. What is the cause of suffering?
3. What is the cessation of suffering?
4. What is the way to the cessation of suffering?

These contemplations, particularly when undertaken immediately after emerging from the purifying meditative-absorptions (jhanas) are a source of progress: They lead to direct knowledge, to liberating insight, to complete emancipation (nirvana). They are ennobling inasmuch as they lead to noble attainments.

In that case, What is this thing we translate as "suffering," a translation that leads to so much confusion and debate about whether or not "all conditioned existence is suffering"? The Buddha defines the technical term in the following sutra. We try to avoid confusion by translating the very broad Sanskrit/Pali term dukkha as "disappointment" or "unsatisfactory." For all conditioned existence is unsatisfactory.

The True Wheel

Ven. Ñanamoli Thera, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Discourse Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth (SN 56.11). Alternate translations by Harvey and Ven. Piyadassi

The Buddha delivering the first sutra or "sermon" to the five ascetics (and countless devas) in the Deer Park, in the suburbs of ancient Varanasi, India

 
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Benares in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the "Resort of Seers"). There he addressed the group of five ascetics [his former companions prior to his enlightenment].

 

"These two extremes ought not to be cultivated by one gone forth from the household life. What are the two? There is devotion to indulgence of pleasure in the objects of sensual desire, which is inferior, low, vulgar, ignoble, and leads to no good. And there is devotion to self-torment [self-mortification, severe asceticism, insane austerities as distinct from the 13 Sane Ascetic Practices], which is painful, ignoble, and leads to no good.

 

"The middle way discovered by a Tathagata ["Wayfarer," Welcome One," "Well Gone One"] avoids both of these extremes; it gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nirvana. What is that middle way?

It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

 

What is "suffering"?

"The noble truth of suffering is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow and lamentation (crying), pain, grief, and despair are suffering; association with the loathed is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering -- in short, suffering is the Five Aggregates of Clinging.

 

"The noble truth of the cause (origin) of suffering is: It is the craving [clinging, attachment based on ignorance of how things really are] that produces renewal of being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, enjoying this and that -- in other words, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for [eternal-] existence, or craving for non-existence [annihilation].

 

"The noble truth of the cessation (end) of suffering is: It is the remainderless fading and ceasing, giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting [by insight not willpower] of this craving [which is always rooted in ignorance].

 

"The noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering is: It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path....

 

"'The noble truth of suffering is this.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to ideas not heard by me before. 

"'The noble truth of suffering can be diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to ideas never before heard by me. 

"'The noble truth of suffering has been diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to ideas never before heard by me.

 

"'The noble truth of origin of suffering is this.' Such was the vision... 'This origin of suffering, as a noble truth, can be abandoned.' Such was the vision... More

TED: Doubt versus Belief (audio)

Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; NPR/TED Staff (NPR.org, 11-24-13); SCPR.org

Believers and Doubters

Why do some of us believe in something greater than ourselves, while others of us do not? Can our doubts bring our beliefs into sharper focus? Or what is the difference between belief and faith? TED speakers, courtesy of Guy Raz and National Public Radio, offer personal perspectives on belief from all ends of the spectrum, from ardent atheists to the devout faithful.

Devil vs. Super Devil ("Family Guy")

First, the daughter of the Christian televangelist Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, speaking for her elderly father on the difference between (rational) belief and (emotional) faith. Lesley Hazleton asks, Is doubt essential to faith? Former Catholic and SNL comedienne Julia Sweeny explores the journey, How does a person go from believer to atheist? Then Alain de Botton asks, What can atheism learn from religion? Finally, Indian Hindu intellectual Devdutt Pattanaik wants to know, Are there any universal beliefs and truths? LISTEN

• Contribute your story to The Moth radio hour (PRX)

Kimberly Reed (themoth.org, 11-12-13)

A high school quarterback leaves Montana as a promising son and returns years later to reveal a shocking secret; a boy from Sierra Leone describes his transformation from innocent child to cold-hearted soldier; a teenage girl discovers how to control her errant parrot; and a construction worker discovers the up-side of his girlfriend’s one-year prison sentence. LISTEN

Storytelling with a Beat

(SnapJudgment.org) American life is much richer and diverse than we usually get to hear on NPR. Host Glynn Washington is doing something, bringing us Snap Judgment's amazing array of stories with extras only available to the podcast audience and the story-behind-the-stories on Facebook.

 

This American Life

(512: House Rules, 11-22-13) Where we live is important. It can dictate the quality of the schools and hospitals we have access to, as well as things we will experience -- like cancer rates, unemployment statistics, or whether the city repairs roads in our neighborhood. On this week's show, stories about "destiny by geography." Much of this story is told to Nancy Updike by ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose series on the Fair Housing laws in modern America -- with more stories, research, and interviews — is here.

 

More comedy, more stories:

• WITS: Margaret Cho with Josh Ritter
• RadioLab (startling stories)
• Science Friday (top science news)
• BBC Newshour (a UK look at America)
• BBC World Service (a UK look at the world)
• The World (a BBC-American look)
  
• The Story
• Fresh Air (interviews by Terry Gross)
• Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! (news as comedy)
• Ask Me Another (northern comedy)
• Car Talk (Harvard and MIT car fixers)
• Off-Ramp (local Los Angeles stories)
• A Prairie Home Companion (Garrison Keillor)
• The Splendid Table (foodie gluttony)
• On the Media (incisive look into the medium)
• Latino USA (news with a Latin twist)
• On Being (formerly "Speaking of Faith")
• Take Two Evenings (California stories)
• Bullseye

The Other F-Word (faith)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Joseph Goldstein (IMS); Wikipedia edit saddha; Ben Griggs (Happy Science Temple, Japan)

(SoundsTrue) Insight Meditation, Tape 10, a talk on faith and wisdom with Joseph Goldstein

Buddha, Gandhara style

FAITH IN BUDDHISM (Pāli saddhā, "to place one's heart on") is an important constituent element of the teachings of the historical Buddha within all Buddhist traditions, although the kind and nature of "faith," confidence, conviction, or devotion varies in different schools.

According to the tradition using the exclusively Buddhist-language of Pali, some of the first words uttered by the Buddha after resolving to teach to the world the Dharma he had rediscovered were: "Wide open is the door of the Deathless to all who have ears to hear! Let them send forth faith [confidence in the enlightenment of the teacher, the teaching, and those successfully taught] to meet it!" (Mahavagga, I, 5,11; Vinaya Texts, T.W. Rhys Davids, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1996, p.88).

 

Treasure, faculty, power of faith

Richard Gere and Lisa Simpson meditate

The Pāli discourses (suttas, sutras) list confidence/faith as one of Seven Treasures (dhanas) (e.g., Collection of Long Discourses III.163, Estlin Carpenter J. (ed.), The Dīgha Nikāya, Pali Text Society, London 1976, p. 163), one of Five Spiritual Faculties (indriyas), one of four "streams of merit," and one of the Five Spiritual Powers (balas).

Gyatrul (b. 1924), in a commentary on the 17th century work of Chagmé, rendered into English by B. Alan Wallace states [Karma Chagmé (author, compiler), Gyatrul Rinpoche (commentary) and B. Alan Wallace (translator), 1998. A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on the Union of Mahamudra and Atiyoga. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications):

Tibetan lamas, India (Laura Murphy)

By the power of faith, we are able to eliminate the two types of obscurations [i.e., the "obscuration of conflicting emotions" (Sanskrit kleśa-varaṇa) and the "obscuration concerning the knowable" (Sanskrit jñeyāvaraṇa), Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje (Dudjom Rinpoche, author), translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein (1991). The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History. Boston, USA: Wisdom Publications, p.107]. Through the power of faith both ontological and phenomenological knowledge arises. It is also by the power of faith that both the common and uncommon siddhis [psychic/supernormal powers] arise. More

(Ben Griggs) Happy Science, Japan, international retreat, spring

2011:  Koan seminar exploring "faith," interviews participants.

The Enlightened American (Daniel Ingram)

Wisdom Quarterly (edit); Buddhist Geek Daniel Ingram (DharmaOverground.org)

Self-proclaimed arhat, author (Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha), and Site Administrator Daniel Ingram founded the Dharma Underground, which lead to the Dharma Overground, which culminated in The DhO.

 
Frustrated with the world of online Dharma blogs that are all about dogma, hierarchy, disempowering views about how it can't be done, mindless blind faith in absurd ideals, and texts that are wildly out of touch with reality, and a whole host of other absurdities, Ingram founded The DhO to form a safe haven.

It is for people who are into hardcore practice, real attainments, helping people out in the spirit of mutual noble friendship, open conversations about topics related to actual practice, and the like.
 
Ingram's website, InteractiveBuddha.com, is home to a distinct voice in the wilderness. He is boldly making the following claims to attainments:

• I am an arhat, having attained [full enlightenment] in April, 2003.
• I have mastery of the [traditional eight] samatha jhanas [meditative absorptions], including Pure Land One and Pure Land Two, The Watcher, and Nirodha Samapatti [the "extinction of feeling and perception," a meditative state said to only be possible for arhats].
• I have some experience with some other traditional attainments.
• I can access the state [The DhO] calls No Dog. 

:: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ::

The face of enlightenment (DhO)

Ingram wrote the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book, often abbreviated MCTB, which has influenced the practice of many members of The DhO.
 
He is an emergency medicine physician who practices in emergency departments in Mississippi and Northeast Alabama, where he lives with his wife, Carol, and his cats Boris, Mavis, and Elvira (Mistress of the Dark), along with a number of relatively tame raccoons, two of which his family calls Scruffy and Ramona.
 
Ingram gives a whole lot more biographical information in MCTB.
 
He states, "I have many outside interests, including green building, cooking, dancing, playing, and listening to music, the writings of Jack Vance, and a good deal more. Updates on my current practice, whatever it may be, can be found at Current Practice Blog."
 
It is his sincere hope that The DhO will serve to add to the available literature and support of hardcore, empowered practice. He further hopes that through the collective work of a group of dedicated, skilled practitioners that meditation technology and culture will be advanced, enhanced, and adapted to this post-post-modern world.

Financial Disclosure
A brief disclosure of finances: Renting the server space and bandwidth for The DhO costs me about $179/month from Omegabit. There are also other expenses in running The DhO, such as developing the PM feature (which Liferay 5.2.2 didn't have), which cost me about $1,500 out of pocket for the programming, and recent attempts to upgrade to Liferay 6.1, of which the total bill so far has been over $3,000. I also get a small royalty on my book, MCTB, which generally runs roughly $400-$800 every 6 months. Thus, after paying for The DhO server time and miscellaneous expenses, I lose money on all of this, which is just fine by me and consider it my small dana [act of generosity] to the world of meditation. I hope this community benefits every interested person in some way. 

COMMENTARY
Wisdom Quarterly (EDITORIAL)

Daddy, is this an enlightened being? (Eighteen for Life/flickr.com)

 
Do we believe Ingram's claims about attainments? Yes.
 
The problem, of course, is that traditionally the belief has been that one who attains non returner or arhat stages would immediately want to ordain and live according to monastic guidelines, which are regarded as the perfection of the "high life" or brahmacariya. To live otherwise entails blameworthy harm being done to others. This would not suitable for a person of perfected view. (Enlightenment does not perfect personality; it perfects view).
 
A person with right view does not do harm while engaging in a livelihood. Outside of the Sangha it may be that one "goes along to get along" in the world. The arhat, unwilling or unable to stray from what is right/virtuous, would fall by the wayside. There is no example that we could find of a layperson becoming an arhat at the time of the historical Buddha who did not immediately ask for admission into the Sangha. It is not generally believed that a layperson can even attain that distinction to begin with except in exceptional cases. Monks scoff at the notion since they themselves, under ideal conditions, have so much trouble remaining motivated and reaching the goal, particularly in the city.

Falsely accusing the Buddha

Traditional Theravada teachers would probably not keep advancing a stream enterer or once returner who did not intend to ordain. But the question is, Is it possible? We do not see a necessary reason why it would be impossible. Tradition says that this or that is what happens, and it may be the strong inclination of an arhat to live in peace as a harmless contemplative. But we do not see where it says that has to happen. (Of course, there is the issue of sex and sexual motivation, procreative or strictly based on lust; it would not, as we understand it, be something an arhat would be drawn to. Then again we would not have thought a stream enterer would still break precepts, but they do. How do we know? We've seen it, and the texts say so. Look at the Ratana Sutra. Apparently, what they are incapable of doing is keeping it a secret, but they can live heedlessly. This would seem to be impossible for an arhat).
 
The systematic commentarial work by Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification, may seem like a set of hard and fast rules about the Dharma, meditation, attainments, and norms (niyamas), but there are so many examples of exceptions in the texts that one would be hard pressed to defend any definitive view. Buddhaghosa was not giving his opinion, which is how we define "comment" and "commentary." Expanding on and systematizing sacred texts is a sacred Indian tradition; one may need the commentary as much as the original text to make sense of most things great sages have taught.

It is easiest to believe that Daniel Ingram is mistaken or has misestimated his attainment. But how can we say with certainty? How can anyone say? One way to say is to become an arhat and then go meet Ingram. "It takes one to know one" is literally true in this case. If it is his experience, and he is being honest in reporting his experience, who will accurately judge the accuracy of his claims? To doubt it, if it is correct, is unskillful karma. Skeptical doubt is a major hindrance, so it would be better to believe or to leave it undecided until one can check.

An awakened heart of wisdom

We would only advise any person about to make such claim of enlightenment to check with a known arhat (such as Ajahn Jumnien, Pa Auk Sayadaw, the Western monk Ven. Dhammadipa, or other masters who would know) to confirm the attainment. It is easy to be mistaken even when one is personally "sure." What would be worse than living mistakenly thinking oneself liberated -- and convincing others of that -- if, in fact, one were wrong?
 
But Ingram has a mission to bring attainments out of the shadows where teachers imply they have attained things they may have not, and they never have to directly state one way or the other, or conceal what they are thought to have attained. The "defeat" offense (parajika) for monastics everyone seeks to avoid or ever be accused of in any way is to knowingly falsely claim attainments and/or distinctions in meditation for the sake of some worldly gain; if it is merely the result of misestimation, that does not fulfill the factors of defeat. There are, indeed, laypeople who have attained the stages of enlightenment alive today in America. We have met them. Until one learns what enlightenment actually is and meets examples of it, one may never "believe." This is a path of knowing-and-seeing, not of faith, for the wise and sincere. People may not be wise, but they will go a long way so long as they are sincere.
 
Before anyone judges this potential arhat or any other, we highly recommend reading Ingram's written work FREE: Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, an Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book. Thank you for teaching, venerable sir.