The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
14 January 2024
Q&A
Q: How would you describe the status of the mind of: i) a Sotāpanna ii) a Sakadāgāmī iii) an Anāgāmī? Could you explain in detail what his/her capabilities and remaining defilements are?
A: A Sotāpanna has got rid of three defilements or fetters. The first fetter is the wrong view of seeing the body as himself or herself. A Sotāpanna sees the body as a natural phenomenon - a work of nature made up of the four elements, the body is subjected to change to ageing, sickness and death. So having understood this phenomenon, a Sotāpanna let go of his/her attachment to the body and has no fear over the body becoming old, becoming sick, or dying. A Sotāpanna looks at the body as if he is looking at the weather - the weather could change from snow to rain, rain to a storm, or to drought.
So the body is like that. It is a work of nature; no one can stop it from becoming old, becoming sick, and dying. And by seeing this, those who have reached Sotāpanna let go of their cravings for the body to exist forever. By letting go of it, a Sotāpanna sees the stress or suffering in the mind disappear.
So a Sotāpanna sees the Four Noble Truths in real-time.
Therefore, a Sotāpanna has no doubt in the Dhamma (the teachings of the Buddha). And consequently, he/she has no doubt in the Buddha himself - whether he existed or not. A Sotāpanna also has no doubt in the Sangha, the Noble Disciples, because he has become one.
A Sotāpanna also sees the working of the mind that can cause dukkha (stress or suffering) which mainly are the craving for things and the bad kamma (bad action). So a Sotāpanna does not do any more bad kamma. Even if he has to die he will not do any bad kamma to protect his life.
Thus the three fetters that a Sotāpanna has got rid of are:
1) The wrong view of the body of himself/herself.
2) The doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma, and the Sangha.
3) The rituals. Rituals have no place in Buddhism. It’s the bad kamma that cause suffering, cause the harm and danger to the mind. It’s not anything else so there is no need to do any rituals.The only ritual a Sotāpanna would do is to keep the Five Precepts forever.
A Sotāpanna would then move up to the second level, called Sakadāgāmī by contemplating on the unpleasant aspect of the body so he/she can lessen the sexual desire. But the sexual desire has not completely disappeared yet. If the sexual desire is lessened by 50 percent, he becomes a Sakadāgāmī which means that his sexual desire is much less than that of a Sotāpanna.
The sexual desire of a Sakadāgāmī has not yet completely disappeared because a Sakadāgāmī has not yet contemplated the asuba nature of the body so he can’t see the body as being asubha or unpleasant at all time.
Once he can see the body as being asubha or unpleasant at all times, such as seeing the skeleton of the body every time he sees a person, then he reached the third stage of enlightenment. He becomes an Anāgāmī. An Anāgāmī has completely got rid of two more fetters – the sexual desire and the sad feeling, being lonely, or unhappy due to the consequence of not having sexual desires. Those are the two fetters that an Anāgāmī has gotten rid off that is when the noble disciple can see the body as being unpleasant at all time. So this is the third level of enlightenment.
An Anāgāmī still has five more fetters or defilements to get rid of which are: the attachment to rūpa-jhāna, attachement to arūpa-jhāna, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance. These are the remaining cravings that he has not got rid of. He still has an attachment to the concept of a self. He still looks at the mind as a self although he does not look at the body as a self. So an Anāgāmī still looks at himself/herself as a self— and this is what he has to get rid of in order to completely get rid of all mental stress left in the mind.
“Dhamma in English, Feb 26, 2023.”
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Q: Many Buddhists engage in meritorious deeds and expect in return a better life for them in their next birth or in this birth itself. Isn’t this a craving?
A: Yes, it is considered a craving. It keeps them being reborn again and again. If they engage in meritorious deeds in order to stop rebirth, then it cannot be seen as ‘craving’, but a cessation of cravings or cessation of suffering. If you engage in/practise all three meritorious deeds that the Buddha had wanted us to do namely dāna, sīla, and bhāvanā, you can stop being reborn. If you are just doing one, or the first two (dāna and sīla), then you will still be reborn. You have to do the third one which is bhāvanā in order to stop your rebirth. But firstly, you need to do/practise dāna and sīla for you to be able to do bhāvanā.
So, you have to do all three of them in order to stop your rebirth.
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Q: The ultimate goal of Buddhism is attaining Nirvana.
So is it proper for Buddhists to expect or wish for any material benefit or comforts (such as a better job, more wealth, good health, and good marriage) in return by making an offering to an Arhant or by engaging in ten meritorious deeds mentioned in Buddhism?
A: If you practise completely the teachings of the Buddha you will get to the ultimate goal of Nibbāna.
But if you practise partially, you will only get partial results. That is what it is.
So if you only practise sīla, (morality/ keeping the Five Precepts) and practise charity, the consequences of these two practices will give you birth in heaven, And when you come back to the world of human beings, you will come back richer than you are now. So whether you like it or not, this is what happens and some people just still want to return and live on this earth, they forget that being born will get them sick and die again. They only think of the good things they can do if they become rich. So a lot of people practise the teachings of the Buddha only partially.
Usually practicing keeping the 5 precepts and practicing charity. By doing these, they have a happy mind and when they die the mind goes to heaven. And after it has expired the merit, it returns and gets reborn as a human being again as a rich or wealthy human being due to the dāna (charity) and the precepts that were kept. But if you practise the third one - bhāvanā then you will not return to this world but will reach Nibbana. So it is up to you.
It is like a menu in a restaurant. You can choose the food you want to eat. If you want to get the complete/full course meal, then you will get the ultimate result of Buddhism, but if you only want to practise partially - only some part of the Buddha’s teachings - then you will get some of the good results instead of Nibbāna.
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Q: The first path/one of the Noble Eightfold Path is sammā-diṭṭhi (right view) Could you explain the exact meaning of sammā-diṭṭhi as described in the teachings of the Buddha?
How crucial is it (having the right view) in the process of developing the other seven (e.g. sammā-sati, sammā-samādhi etc) factors?
A: The first factor is very important which is right view. Right view (sammā-diṭṭhi) means to know the Four Noble Truths, to see that suffering is caused by our cravings. For us to stop our cravings, we have to develop the Noble Eightfold Path. So when we have this [right view] we have the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path which will initiate the other factors to fall into place. If you know that your rebirth is caused by your cravings and your suffering is caused by your cravings then you have to stop your cravings. And what you should do to stop your cravings is to practise the Noble Eightfold Path’s remaining seven factors.
The second (sammā-sankappa) is to think continually of stopping your cravings, stopping your bad kamma because your bad kamma and cravings are the causes of your mental suffering. Once you have the second factor - to think of stopping your cravings - then you develop the third one which is right action and the fourth one which is right speech, then the fifth one is right livelihood, the sixth one is right exertion, the seventh is right mindfulness and the eighth is right meditation or right concentration. So once you have the first one (sammā-diṭṭhi), then the other seven will follow suit.
To have sammā-diṭṭhi according to Buddhism is to know the Four Noble Truths - to see that our suffering, our endless rebirth, aging, sickness and death are caused by our own cravings and the path to stop the suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.
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Q: Could you explain the concept of non -attachment in Buddhism and how it helps to lead a happy life while being faithful to social commitments? (family life, office work, education, etc)
A: Non-attachment or non-clinging means not being attached or cling to things that will be separated from you one day.
Everything is anicca - everything is temporary. So when you cling to things and when that same things have to be separated from you, you will become sad. So being non-attached means you can have things, but you have to be ready to let go of them/things when the time comes (such as your body).
Your body is anicca (impermanent), one day it will have to die. If you cling and have a craving for the body to exist forever, then when the body starts to age and dies finally, you will undergo a lot of suffering.
But if you know that the body is temporary and one day it will have to die, then you don’t cling or get attached to the body and when the time comes, then you will have no suffering.
When it is not yet the time for the body to go (decay and die), you can still have it, but you have it with the thought that you have to let it go when the time comes. That is what non-attachment is.
You can still have what you already have but you have to tell yourself that what you have now, you won’t always have them. When the time comes, if you don’t want to have any sadness or suffering, then you have to be willing to let them go.
“Dhamma in English, Mar 26, 2023.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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This Q&A was published on Sunday Observer
https://www.sundayobserver.lk/2023/04/02/path-inner-peace-and-happiness
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