Entering the Stream

I listened to  an early Ten Percent Happier podcast with an interview with Dr. Jay Michaelson.  Michealson is notable because he talks about what "stage of enlightenment" he's on and how he got there.  One thing that I liked about the concept that Michaelson talked about was that each stage marks a different level of attainment that you can't return from.  I think he refers to them as "boundaries you can't recross." Once you've accomplished Y, you can return to earlier behaviors and feelings, but you can't "unsee" X and you'll always have access to X.  There is something attractive in reaching stages that you can "never go back" to.  Here's  Dummies.com on this concept.

When you become a stream-enterer, you can never again believe that you’re really a separate self that lives inside your head and looks through your eyes. Your experience forever eliminates this illusion. When you look within, you can’t find a self anywhere.

In everyday life, however, you may still feel like a separate somebody and may still get caught up by greed, anger, ignorance, and various other negative feelings and patterns. Fortunately, the stage of stream-enterer also brings an unshakable confidence and dedication to the Buddhist spiritual path, so you’re motivated to keep deepening and refining your realization.

The levels are bewildering to me.  But I also am attracted to the fact that there are supposed 4 or 5 stages within each stage.... it's a process that's followable.  Here's wikipedia on the four stages:

A "Stream-enterer" (Sotāpanna) is free from:

• Identity view (Pali: sakkāya-diṭṭhi), the belief that there is an unchanging self or soul in the five impermanent skandhas
• Attachment to rites and rituals
• Doubt about the teachings

A "Once-returner" (Sakadāgāmin) has greatly attenuated:

• Sensual desire
• Ill will

A "Non-returner" (Anāgāmi) is free from:

• Sensual desire
• Ill will

An Arahant is free from all of the five lower fetters and the five higher fetters, which are:

• Attachment to the four meditative absorptions, which have form (rupa jhana)
• Attachment to the four formless absorptions (ārupa jhana)
• Conceit
• Restlessness
• Ignorance

According to this website, which I randomly chose, entering the stream has four steps:

Association of People with Integrity

Listening to the True Dharma.

Appropriate Attention. Having heard the Dhamma, it is important to bring appropriate attention — seeing things in terms of cause and effect — both to what you have heard and to your experiences in general, for this one factor can make all the difference in the success or failure of your practice.

Right Practice