When saying that a Jain monastic has a hard life it was really meant that way, not ironically. And of course this requires a lot of bravery.
But I canât easily see the benefit of such a self-torture, and the author of the above verse (after having become an arahant) even seems to find it harmful. The Buddha too didnât describe self-torture as leading to any genuine spiritual progress. So what is it good for?
I think the bodhisattva said it lead his mind to be concentrated (!) in a sutta which described the austerities- however it certainly isnât recommended and concentration can be reached in other ways. I think the concentration was a by product of extreme letting go, if not extreme suppression of cravings.
âSuppose there was a pit of glowing coals deeper than a manâs height, full of glowing coals that neither flamed nor smoked. Then a person would come along who wants to live and doesnât want to die, who wants to be happy and recoils from pain. Then two strong men would grab them by the arms and drag them towards the pit of glowing coals. What do you think, householder? Wouldnât that person writhe and struggle to and fro?â âYes, sir. Why is that? For that person knows: âIf I fall in that pit of glowing coals, thatâd result in my death or deadly pain.ââ
In the same way, a noble disciple reflects: âWith the simile of the pit of glowing coals the Buddha said that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks.â
Do you have a sutta quote for that?
They still have attachment and aversion, and attachment comes with the fear of losing the object you are attached to.
Ven Sujato translates bhayÄni as danger. Ven Thanissaro translates it as fear. There is a subjective-objective difference here, as in if someone fears that which is a danger or threat to them. Incidentally the sutta is about stream entrants!
Also you might remember the sutta SN13.8 where the Buddha says the amount of suffering left for a stream entrant is infinitely small. This means the fear of samsaric wandering is finally over, for all purposes.
It is true however the fear is finally removed when becoming an arahanth, as it is closely connected to ignorance (avijja), but will get less when attachment and aversionsa are less in once-returner and non- returner states. Thereâs a story where a teacher who mistakenly thought he was an arahanth was jolted into reality by a student (who was an arahanth, with psychic abilities) generating a fierce elephant rampaging down at him which caused him/her? to be afraid.
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Sure, stream-enterers have lessened fear, but as you now say, they havenât fully overcome it.
Your sutta quote is not necessarily about stream-enterers. It just says that people who keep the five precepts are ethical people and will be reborn in heaven. It also talks about âfive fearsâ, not all fears.
âMendicants, there are these four right efforts. What four?
⊠They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that bad, unskillful qualities that have arisen are given up. âŠ
Oh my goodness! When did Mara grow an afro?! I was already quite fond of how demons are handled in the EBT, but this depiction takes things to a new level!
Okay, seriously now, much thanks for these ever glorious Dhamma lessons.