Re: Digest Number 1625

Dear Sayalay Dhammanandī,

In the PED article on ‘thera’, there is mention of a sutta that gives the
Buddha's definition. It is in the second Uruvela Sutta (no. 22) at AN I 22-3
(Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, 408ff). He sets out the four qualities
that make one a thera or elder (therakaraṇā dhammā) and in the final verse
declares that a thera is one who has destroyed the taints (i.e. is an
arahant). This is very different from defining a thera as a bhikkhu of at
least ten years standing and not necessarily an arhant.

Best wishes,

Jim