Is Frank Yang an arhat?

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Vajrabimba
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Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Vajrabimba »

There is a young fellow called Frank Yang who has made a certain amount of noise about having attained arhatship but his claims have struck some with skepticism. For example he makes a show of being very fond of leather Nike Air Jordan shoes and all this other kind of profane, nonspiritual stuff. You can find him at "Being Frank Yang" on Instagram and on Youtube as Fran Yang aka "Infinite Brah" also known as "The Human Acid Trip". Nobody but Buddha or another omniscient could know if his claims are true or not but on the surface they seem hard to believe.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by krodha »

The arhathood claim is whatever, but in terms of just insight in general, I’ve heard this guy has some degree of credibility.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Vajrabimba »

krodha wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 2:56 am The arhathood claim is whatever, but in terms of just insight in general, I’ve heard this guy has some degree of credibility.
That's interesting....I don't doubt it, there is something about him which does seem genuine. But on the surface, there's something incongruous about some of the nontraditional lifestyle trappings from the Buddhist perspective he appears to indulge in, versus the spiritual life. Could this be some kind of legitimate "crazy wisdom" of sorts? And/or a skillful expedient means of expressing Dharma reality for the present age?
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Vajrabimba wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:28 am
krodha wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 2:56 am The arhathood claim is whatever, but in terms of just insight in general, I’ve heard this guy has some degree of credibility.
That's interesting....I don't doubt it, there is something about him which does seem genuine. But on the surface, there's something incongruous about some of the nontraditional lifestyle trappings from the Buddhist perspective he appears to indulge in, versus the spiritual life. Could this be some kind of legitimate "crazy wisdom" of sorts? And/or a skillful expedient means of expressing Dharma reality for the present age?
Maybe to people with hang ups about religious purity, etc. I mean, I suppose Orthodox Thervadins might fault him on that count.

I’ve met a couple people who I suspect have some realization that are just regular guys.

Don’t know anything about this guy, just saying that’s a somewhat narrow view of what a realized person is supposed to be. Doesn’t need to be about crazy wisdom either.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

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Vajrabimba wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:50 am There is a young fellow called Frank Yang who has made a certain amount of noise about having attained arhatship but his claims have struck some with skepticism.
According to tradition, Arhats can't be householders, they eventually have to enter the Sangha as monastic monks or depart for Nirvana without remainder.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

After looking this guy up,gotta admit I definitely have my own doubts based on presentation too, not to mention content. His social media stuff is just too much for me.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

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Vajrabimba wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:50 am There is a young fellow called Frank Yang who has made a certain amount of noise about having attained arhatship but his claims have struck some with skepticism. For example he makes a show of being very fond of leather Nike Air Jordan shoes and all this other kind of profane, nonspiritual stuff. You can find him at "Being Frank Yang" on Instagram and on Youtube as Fran Yang aka "Infinite Brah" also known as "The Human Acid Trip". Nobody but Buddha or another omniscient could know if his claims are true or not but on the surface they seem hard to believe.
Frank Yang and Daniel Ingram certainly use Buddhist terms and terms from other traditions to describe what they feel are deep meditational experiences, as they wish, but if we use those terms in their original contexts and apply them back to these people, it will be clear that they are just labelling fairly shallow meditative or mental events. Meditative experience can reduce passions, but an arhat by definition has completely eradicated lust, anger, delusion, and vexations—by Frank Yang's own admission, this hasn't occurred (in the interview I listened to after seeing this thread, he said his lust decreased by 95% and he still gets frustrated but it doesn't bother him). So, there you go, not an arhat.

(SĀ 490): Sensual lust having been removed without remainder, anger and delusion having been removed without remainder: this is called being an arhat.

I have my doubts that people can attain arhatship through the Goenka retreats (which are really based on a distortion of Theravāda meditation practices) or psychedelic drugs.

Anyway, if he did attain arhatship, what is the continued use he sees in the expensive cars, obsession with bodily aesthetics, and photo shoots with beautiful women? Many "gurus" start with these obsessions and carry them over into their religious "teaching" careers.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Yeah, exactly, I don’t know if he claims to have fully extinguished the afflictions, but if he has that is quite the claim. If he hasn’t he’s just playing fast and lose with the term.

Just seems like another shiny spirituality influencer in the YouTube fever swamp to me, but hey I could be dead wrong.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Zhen Li »

Well, it seems like he is largely using Daniel Ingram's model of awakening. Daniel Ingram claims that the afflictions are not extinguished, only lessened. He also claims that relying on Vajrayāna teachings (I think he means philosophy) that "embrace" afflictions (in his understanding) helped him to accept this.

So, I would say it is likely that Yang doesn't believe afflictions can completely end, but I am open to counterevidence. His videos are quite long and not so interesting to me as a "traditional" Buddhist.

And I was also thinking: in Taiwan, there are so many temples and monasteries. If it is true that an arhat would naturally enter the sangha, then this is definitely easier to do there than in other countries. But that would mean sacrificing fame, women, cars, gym, drugs, YouTube ad revenue, etc.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Meggo »

This is what stream entry looks like. Could be Sakadagami as well, depends on the reduction in afflictions, but this would have to be tested under pressure but it seems he has a nice life. But good for him!
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Zhen Li wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 6:00 am Well, it seems like he is largely using Daniel Ingram's model of awakening. Daniel Ingram claims that the afflictions are not extinguished, only lessened. He also claims that relying on Vajrayāna teachings (I think he means philosophy) that "embrace" afflictions (in his understanding) helped him to accept this.

So, I would say it is likely that Yang doesn't believe afflictions can completely end, but I am open to counterevidence. His videos are quite long and not so interesting to me as a "traditional" Buddhist.
The few I scanned were just mush mashed of terminology and (to me) not particularly interesting or inspiring. I’ve been to Dharma talks from random folks that were more stirring and had a more beneficial effect on my mind stream.
And I was also thinking: in Taiwan, there are so many temples and monasteries. If it is true that an arhat would naturally enter the sangha, then this is definitely easier to do there than in other countries. But that would mean sacrificing fame, women, cars, gym, drugs, YouTube ad revenue, etc.
To me the general bent of image-obsessed YouTuber and his business model is kind of the clencher, it’s one thing to enjoy sense pleasures, but the carefully marketed persona is enough to turn me off.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Aryjna »

Practicing Theravada with a conduct that is the opposite of the conduct needed to practice Theravada is not possible. This alone renders any claims of realization on his part absurd.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Losal Samten »

Sounds more like a dissociative/derealisation episode more than arhatship, especially considering his history of mental health.

Always enjoyed his works back in the day when I was lifting.

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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Kai lord »

Meggo wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 6:13 am This is what stream entry looks like. Could be Sakadagami as well, depends on the reduction in afflictions,
If he had entered stream entry, he would have praised, taken refuge in the triple gems, praise the four noble truths, etc or expressed that wish in his videos but he didn't.

I remembered how legendary masters of past frowned upon and expressed dismay at individuals who used vajrayana teachings and methods to achieve arahanthood.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Kai lord »

Zhen Li wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 6:00 am But that would mean sacrificing fame, women, cars, gym, drugs, YouTube ad revenue, etc.
Which are eight worldly concerns that Arya saints do not care about.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Astus »

It seems the correct question is: is Frank Yang a Buddhist teacher? Based on a couple of his writings, he does not uphold any specific or general Buddhist doctrine and discipline, and has his own version of things.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

The whole Daniel Ingram thing doesn’t make me feel comfortable or inspire Faith just my intuition not having delved too deeply into it
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Genjo Conan »

One of my rules of thumb is that someone who publicly claims an attainment probably doesn't have it. If the claim is on social media my skepticism grows
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by ThreeVows »

Kai lord wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:17 am
Vajrabimba wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:50 am There is a young fellow called Frank Yang who has made a certain amount of noise about having attained arhatship but his claims have struck some with skepticism.
According to tradition, Arhats can't be householders, they eventually have to enter the Sangha as monastic monks or depart for Nirvana without remainder.
FWIW, I think it is indeed true that an arhat needs to leave the householder life and ordain, but I don't think that this has to be expressed externally or exoterically as many might think. In Mahayana it is more explicit that ordaining does not necessarily entail the external signs, and for example Ngari Panchen and Dudjom Rinpoche in fact say that a vidyadhara actually has to follow essential ordination although the external signs not need be followed.

A similar conversation can in fact be found within Pali sources, for example here ( but the general orthodox, exoteric understanding would probably be more coarse than this.

I suspect that in an essential sense there may be far more 'ordained' individuals than some might realize, even that do not externally live exactly as one might coarsely expect.

FWIW.

Of note, initially ordaining didn't necessarily entail the whole 'find a quorum of monks, go through the ritual, start as a junior monastic', etc. The Buddha could even simply say, "Come here", and that would confer the status of being ordained. Also, of course, the Buddha did say that after his parinirvana, the lesser monastic rules did not necessarily need to be kept. Formally, in terms of the Sangha-at-large, given that Ananda didn't clarify which were the lesser rules, none of them were formally set aside, but I wouldn't personally rule out that in the case of particular realized Sangha members, the lesser rules may indeed at times be set aside.
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Re: Is Frank Yang an arhat?

Post by Kai lord »

Seeker12 wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:21 pm
Kai lord wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:17 am
Vajrabimba wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:50 am There is a young fellow called Frank Yang who has made a certain amount of noise about having attained arhatship but his claims have struck some with skepticism.
According to tradition, Arhats can't be householders, they eventually have to enter the Sangha as monastic monks or depart for Nirvana without remainder.
FWIW, I think it is indeed true that an arhat needs to leave the householder life and ordain, but I don't think that this has to be expressed externally or exoterically as many might think. In Mahayana it is more explicit that ordaining does not necessarily entail the external signs, and for example Ngari Panchen and Dudjom Rinpoche in fact say that a vidyadhara actually has to follow essential ordination although the external signs not need be followed.
Its all about receiving and holding the ten precepts which the Theravadins argue is essential for sustaining the lives of Arahants.

Is a layperson allowed to receive the ten precepts? I'm no vinaya expert to make that judgement.

But historically speaking, I have yet to read about an Arahant who lived long while remained as a layperson.
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