Teaching 17 - Arahants Of Every Sort

anasavam ceto vimuttim panna vimuttim
dittheva dhamme sayam abhinna sacchikatva
upasampajja viharanti:

They dwell without effluent, having entered the release through concentration and release through discernment realized and verified by themselves in the very present.

This passage from the Canon shows that arahants of no matter what sort reach both release through concentration and release through discernment, free from effluents in the present. No distinctions are made, saying that this or that group reaches release only through concentration or only through discernment. The explanation given by the Commentators -- that release through concentration pertains to those arahants who develop concentration first, while release through discernment pertains to the dry insight arahants, who develop insight exclusively without having first developed concentration -- runs counter to the path. The eightfold path includes both Right View and Right Concentration. A person who is to gain release has to develop all eight factors of the path. Otherwise he or she wont be able to gain release. The threefold training includes both concentration and discernment. A person who is to attain knowledge of the ending of mental effluents has to develop all three parts of the threefold training completely.

This is why we say that arahants of every sort have to reach both release through concentration and release through discernment .