Question: Can we enter the stream by listening to the Dhamma, or must we also meditate?
Than Ajahn: It depends on how much strength you have in your mind. If you have a strong mind, you can let go of your desire. You can attain it without sitting in samādhi. But if your mind is weak, doesn’t have the strength to resist your desire, then you have to meditate first: to calm your mind, to develop samādhi first. Once you have samādhi, then you have to understand the nature of the body that it is impermanent. It doesn’t belong to you and you have to give it up one day. And if you can let it go, then you can become a Sotāpanna. So, it depends on what you have developed.
For some people, they’ve already had samādhi. Like the Buddha, when he first gave his sermon to the five ascetics, they’ve already had jhāna. So, the Buddha said, ‘Let go of your body.’ They let go right away. Like one of the five ascetics, the Venerable Aññā Koṇḍañña, he saw ‘Whatever rises has to cease.’ He referred to the body. Once the body is born, it’s going to die so don’t cling to it. When you cling to it, you become sad. You suffer. If you let it go, you will not suffer. But you don’t have the strength to let go, even though you know that the body has to die, then you have to meditate to build up the strength to let go, you see. Once you have the strength to let go, then when it’s time for you to let go, you can let go.
Dhamma in English, Dec 27, 2016.
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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