section_path: Doctrine/Soteriology and Buddhology
section_name: Soteriology and Buddhology
paragraph_text: Soteriology and Buddhology
  
  According to Theravāda doctrine, release from suffering (i.e. nibbana) is attained in four stages of awakening (bodhi):
  
  In Theravāda Buddhism, a Buddha is a sentient being who has discovered the path out of samsara by themselves, has reached Nibbana and then makes the path available to others by teaching (known as "turning the wheel of the Dhamma"). A Buddha is also believed to have extraordinary powers and abilities (abhiññā), such as the ability to read minds and fly through the air.
  
  The Theravāda canon depicts Gautama Buddha as being the most recent Buddha in a line of previous Buddhas stretching back for aeons. They also mention the future Buddha, named Metteyya. Traditionally, the Theravāda school also rejects the idea that there can be numerous Buddhas active in the world at the same time.
  
  Regarding the question of how a sentient being becomes a Buddha, the Theravāda school also includes a presentation of this path. Indeed, according to Buddhaghosa, there are three main soteriological paths: the path of the Buddhas (buddhayāna); the way of the individual Buddhas (paccekabuddhayāna); and the way of the disciples (sāvakayāna).
  
  However, unlike in Mahayana Buddhism, the Theravāda holds that the Buddha path is not for everyone and that beings on the Buddha path (bodhisattas) are quite rare. While in Mahayana, bodhisattas refers to beings who have developed the wish to become Buddhas, Theravāda (like other early Buddhist schools), defines a bodhisatta as someone who has made a resolution (abhinīhāra) to become a Buddha in front of a living Buddha, and has also received a confirmation from that Buddha that they will reach Buddhahood. Dhammapala 's Cariyāpiṭaka is a Theravāda text which focuses on the path of the Buddhas, while the Nidānakathā and the Buddhavaṃsa are also Theravāda texts which discuss the Buddha path.