Practice for non-noble householders to achieve stream entry

[neptunao]

@Upasako

A practitioner who is in one of the Eight Classes would easily fall within the Ariya Sāvaka classification! I have no doubt that such a person would be very much qualified to practise any type of Buddhist Meditation!

I just want to express to you my huge gratitude for your beautiful, elaborate answer which resolved by doubt by great extent. Thank you, friend.

@IndyJ

thus, the way forward to stream entry is that one should see the world - all phenomena - as comprised by the aggregates / elements / sense bases / senses objects / contact / craving - in terms of their impermanence, their incapacity to provide satisfaction, and their absence of any intrinsic essence. if you look at all phenomena constantly in these terms, you will attain stream entry.

It’s interesting choice of words here: Sariputta says “It’s possible”, not “It’s guaranteed”. I wonder which factors this depends on.

[ngoonera]

There is an interesting comment on the wikipedia post about Anathapindikha, the great lay follower of Buddha: “Buddhist scholars George D. Bond and Ananda W.P Guruge, point to the story of Anathapindika as evidence that the Buddhist path for lay people and the rewards of generosity in Buddhism are not distinct from the path to Nirvana that is the focus of Buddhist monastics.[Ilchman, Warren Frederick; Katz, Stanley Nider; Queen, Edward L. (1998). Philanthropy in the World’s Traditions. Indiana University Press. p. 89. ISBN 025333392X. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2017-10-08.]” Anathapindika - Wikipedia

My understanding is that Anathapindika attained stream entry: “As for the rules for householders, he knew of none which he was still violating. Then Venerable Ananda praised him and said that he had just declared the fruit of stream-entry. (SN 55.27)” (Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor)

I understand that many of the deeper meditative experiences are not available to me as a lay person because my mind is too fragmented by the distractions of the modern world. But I can still experience much happiness, as you seem to do, from many practices, even my own lay-follower/limited form of anapanasati practice. It calms my mind, provides insights and other benefits. It does not make sense to me to stop practicing it because I am not a “noble one”.

[IndyJ]

yes, interesting choice of words.

it contrasts with the buddha’s choice of words where he ‘guarantees’ stream entry for the dhamma and faith followers.

i’m not sure of the implication. sariputta is talking about seeing just the aggregates more broadly than just impermanence:

A virtuous monk, Koṭṭhita my friend, should attend in an appropriate way to the five clinging-aggregates as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a dissolution, an emptiness, not-self

SN 22:122  Sīlavant Sutta | Virtuous

on the other hand, the buddha limits his guarantee to those who examine just impermanence of a broader set of phenomena than the aggregates:

https://suttacentral.net/sn25-cakkhuvagga

this may reflect either sariputta’s humility in acknowledging the limits of his own knowledge or may reflect the buddha’s superior knowledge that it’s just consideration of impermanence across the broader gamut of phenomena than just the aggregates that would ‘guarantee’ one stream entry. on reflection, i think it’s the latter mainly but perhaps both.