Stream-enterer
I spoke of stream entry yesterday. Basically itβs the first seeming hurdle (seeming as I, as many do, get stuck in terms of thinking of cause-and-effect linear stepwise) on the seeming path to Awakenment. In other words, there is no path to what you already are.
Buddha: βWhat do you think, Subhuti? Does a Stream-Enterer think, βI have attained the fruit of stream-entry.β?β
Subhuti replied, βNo, World-Honored One. Why? Stream-Enterer means to enter the stream, but in fact there is no stream to enter. One does not enter a stream that is form, nor a stream that is sound, smell, taste, touch, or object of mind. That is what we mean when we say entering a stream.β - The Diamond Sutra
Yep, and now thereβs no turning back eitherβ¦
According to Buddhism, a stream-enterer βgains its name from the fact that a person who has attained this level has entered the βstreamβ flowing inevitably to nibbana. He/she is guaranteed to achieve full awakening within seven lifetimes at most, and in the interim will not be reborn in any of the lower realms.β
David Hawkinsβ new book also mentions that a level of consciousness of βunconditional loveβ, or 540 on (the, again, seemingly linear) scale 1 to 1000 as achievable by anyone and everyone that commits to it. Heβs a bit more skeptical of full enlightenment in one lifetimeβ¦but what if youβve lost track of how many lifetimes youβve been at this? 
In accounts of the life of the Buddha, there are many examples of people immediately understanding his teaching and breaking the first three βfettersβ that hinder people from seeing Reality. These fetters are: having a fixed view of oneself; doubt; and being attached to rites and rituals as ends in themselves. Such people become βstream entrantsβ β because they have entered the stream that draws them irresistibly towards Enlightenment.
Over the centuries there has been a tendency to emphasise the difficulty of making such a breakthrough [this blog will emphasize the ease!], and some Buddhist schools teach that it may take many lifetimes, or even that itβs no longer possible. Sangharakshita has a different understanding. He suggests that all sincere, committed and effective Dharma practitioners, who have supportive conditions and enough time, could reasonably expect to make substantial progress and even gain Stream Entry in this lifetime. - Friends of the Western Buddhist Order