ordinary person [凡夫] ( prithag-jana or bāla; bompu or bombu): Also, common mortal, ordinary mortal, ordinary (human) being, or worldling. In Buddhism, an unenlightened person who is bound by earthly desires and karma and therefore repeats the cycle of birth and death in the realm of delusion, or the six paths. Also, one who is ignorant of the Buddhist teachings and concerned only with secular matters, whose life is ruled by earthly desires and illusions. The exact meaning varies among the Buddhist teachings. One view defines an ordinary person as someone who is ignorant of the four noble truths and thus deluded. In the Sarvāstivāda school, an ordinary person is one who has yet to attain any of the stages of sagehood—the stage of the stream-winner, the stage of the once-returner, the stage of the non-returner, and the stage of arhat. The Sanskrit prithag-jana means a commoner or a fool; in contrast, ārya means a person of respect, wisdom, or noble birth. Bāla means an ignorant or foolish person.