It is translated as: the one practicing to realize the fruit of stream-entry
From Bhikkhu Kumara: the one who has entered upon the course for the realization of the fruit of stream-entry
From Bhikkhu Bohdhi: The one practising for the realization of the fruit of stream-entry.
Question: Is merely aiming for stream winner and practising upon it (try to develop the noble 8fold path as much as one can) is enough? Or is there some levels of which one should qualify to be called a path attainer?
Additional question: Is the path attainer means before death in this life, one attains to stream winner fruit?
The two on the path to stream entry are the dhammānusārī (dhamma-follower) and saddhānussārī (faith-follower). They’re described in detail in MN 70:
What kind of person is a Dhamma-follower? Here some person does not contact with the body and abide in those liberations that are peaceful and immaterial, transcending forms, and his taints are not yet destroyed by his seeing with wisdom, but those teachings proclaimed by the Tathāgata are accepted by him after reflecting on them sufficiently with wisdom. Furthermore, he has these qualities: the faith faculty, the energy faculty, the mindfulness faculty, the concentration faculty, and the wisdom faculty. This kind of person is called a Dhamma-follower…
And what person is a follower by faith? It’s a person who doesn’t have direct meditative experience of the peaceful liberations that are formless, transcending form. Nevertheless, having seen with wisdom, some of their defilements have come to an end. And they have a degree of faith and love for the Realized One. And they have the following qualities: the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom. This person is called a follower by faith.
They have developed all of the five faculties partially. From SN 48.17:
Mendicants, there are these five faculties. What five? The faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom. These are the five faculties.
Someone who has completed and fulfilled these five faculties is a perfected one. If they are weaker than that, they’re one who is extinguished between one life and the next … one who is extinguished upon landing … one who is extinguished without extra effort … one who is extinguished with extra effort … one who heads upstream, going to the Akaniṭṭha realm … a once-returner … a stream-enterer … a follower of the teachings … a follower by faith.
So, mendicants, if you practice partially you succeed partially. If you practice fully you succeed fully. These five faculties are not a waste, I say.
They’ve also been changed enough by the Dhamma that the worst of the defilements – those that would lead to rebirth in a lower realm – are transcended. And, as you mention, they can’t die without realizing the fruit of stream-entry. From SN 25.10:
Mendicants, form is impermanent, perishing, and changing. Feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness are impermanent, perishing, and changing.
Someone who has faith and confidence in these principles is called a follower by faith. They’ve arrived at inevitability regarding the right path, they’ve arrived at the level of the good person, and they’ve transcended the level of the bad person. They can’t do any deed which would make them be reborn in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. They can’t die without realizing the fruit of stream-entry.
Someone who accepts these principles after considering them with a degree of wisdom is called a follower of the teachings. They’ve arrived at inevitability regarding the right path, they’ve arrived at the level of the good person, and they’ve transcended the level of the bad person. They can’t do any deed which would make them be reborn in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. They can’t die without realizing the fruit of stream-entry.
Someone who understands and sees these principles is called a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.
On a practical level, I think these two types refer to the point when the teachings resonate so profoundly with a practitioner (dhamma-follower) or faith is aroused so profoundly by a symbol of the teachings (the Buddha or someone/something that represents the path) that the practitioner deeply knows that this is the right way, and they become aligned with the Dhamma in a deep and lasting way.
This transition results in a basic level of mental purity, such that the restraint of the five precepts no longer chafes but becomes natural.
The discourse on ignorance - AN 10.61 - will be of help in clarifying the question. It starts off with associating with noble friends whose influence leads to listening to the teaching. In turn it leads to faith which in turn leads to radical attention. It appears from this discourse that the key to penetrating the Dhamma begins in earnest at this stage having already developed faith.
With Metta
Interesting question Venerable that could be discussed at length. Why? Because, as you probably know, the EBTs describe stream entry somewhat differently in different suttas.
For example, it seems like the most common definition of stream entry in the EBTs is one who has the four factors of stream entry: Experiential confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, and noble ethics praised by the wise. In SN 55:7, the Buddha seems to define this type of ethics as maintaining the five precepts including the four types of right speech.
In other suttas, however, the Buddha will mention these same four factors of stream entry and then add another quality of ethics loved by the noble ones… for a total of 5 factors. However, it’s not clear to me what’s the difference between keeping the five precepts and the ethics loved by the noble ones.
SN 55:24-25 you may also find interesting. It involves a stream enterer who apparently grappled with alcoholism. As @Christopher mentions, this sutta also includes faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom as qualities of a stream enterer. However, it doesn’t seem to say that all these are necessary for stream entry.
To complicate matters, there are suttas like SN 12:41 that add having insight into dependent origination as an additional quality of a stream enterer. That said, I haven’t done a statistical analysis yet, but it seems like the most common description of a stream enterer in the EBTs is one who has the four factors of stream entry. Along those same lines, why would the EBTs call them the four factors of stream entry unless they were just that – the factors of stream entry?
That said, the Buddha in SN 55:6 describes the fourth factor a little differently as generosity:
A noble disciple who has four things is a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.
What four? It’s when a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching [Dhamma] … the Saṅgha … They live at home rid of the stain of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, loving to let go, committed to charity, loving to give and to share. A noble disciple who has these four things is a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.
Perhaps, in the pali version of this sutta, a word translated as generosity could include ethics, I don’t know. This sutta does seem a little like an aberration to define the fourth factor of stream entry as generosity instead of ethics.
Hi Brooks! I couldn’t find mention of right speech in SN 55.6 – was this a typo in your citation?
I think clues to the difference may be found in the phrasing:
[The stream-enterer] possesses the virtues dear to the noble ones – unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unmottled, freeing, praised by the wise, ungrasped, leading to concentration.
First, the stream-enterer “possesses” these virtues, which seems to imply that they are established and natural rather than still training rules. This seems to be supported by the virtues being described as unbroken, untorn, unblemished, and unmottled — meaning that there aren’t any slips, as might occur with a practitioner prior to stream-entry.
To me, the terms “freeing”, “ungrasped”, and “leading to concentration” mean that the stream-enterer isn’t clinging to them as “rites and rituals” or creating an identity around them. Instead, these virtues become a reliable condition for developing concentration and, subsequently, liberating insight.
I’ve always found this one interesting too. But I’m not sure that it implies that Sarakāni was an alcoholic. I can only see where the Sakyans complain that he partook of alcohol, which they probably all knew was a breach of the fifth precept.
Also, the sutta seems to make clear that he wasn’t a stream-enterer when he was partaking of alcohol:
Sarakāni the Sakyan undertook the training at the time of his death.
I was wondering why you think the five faculties here wouldn’t be necessary for stream entry? In these suttas, each of the types of people the Buddha describes has all five faculties, even the Dhamma-follower and faith-follower. In fact, in his description of many of these types, the Buddha says that even though this person doesn’t have various attainments, “However, he has these five things: the faculty of faith…energy…mindfulness…concentration…wisdom”. To me, the wording seems to imply that these are a necessity for stream-entry.
Follow up question, given that the criteria seems to be a bit vague, like how much of the 5 faculties are developed to qualify, is there harm in some people (I have a very strong enthusiastic yogi 1 year into the dhamma here who assumes just aiming for stream winner qualifies) assuming that they are on the path attainer level?
I recall that it’s very bad akin to being a true outcast to think of oneself as an arahant when one is not. So the 8 individuals, 4 pairs of persons are considered the ariyasanghas, worthy of veneration and refuge. Thus I think mainly to be on the safe side, to assume one is not, until stream winner is attained (whereby knowledge of attainment should be automatic).
Hi Chris! Yes, that was my mistake. Thanks for pointing that out so I could correct the citation. I was referring to the following sutta SN 55:7. That said, in 55:7, the Buddha does distinguish between the 5 (7) precepts and the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones.
Good point, I’m not sure it implies that Sarakani was an alcoholic, but a reasonable argument could be made that it does.
This is what stands out to me, too, as significant in the suttas. I think what gives me pause is when right speech is expanded to include abstaining from harsh speech, divisive speech, and nonsensical speech – especially harsh and nonsensical speech.
It seems like because a stream-enterer has not significantly freed him or herself of anger, that it would be very difficult if not impossible for a stream-enterer to be perfect in abstaining from harsh speech. Of course, that depends on how one defines harsh speech.
I wasn’t trying to declare that the five faculties are not necessary for stream-entry; at this juncture, I’d say they are probably present to one degree or another in a stream-enterer. What I was trying to say is that there are many, if not most, suttas that describe stream-entry don’t mention the five faculties. For example, SN 55:3, 55:27, 55:30, 55:39, 55:46, 55:47, 55:48, 55:49, 55:51, 55:53 all refer only to the four factors of stream-entry when describing stream-entry and don’t mention the five faculties.
Perhas SN 55:53 sums it up best.
Dhammadinna says: “Sir, these four factors of stream-entry that were taught by the Buddha are found in us, and we embody them. For we have experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching … the Saṅgha … And we have the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones … leading to immersion.”
And the Buddha replies: “You’re fortunate, Dhammadinna, so very fortunate! You have all declared the fruit of stream-entry.”
Also, in sutta you’re referring to, it does seem like one of the descriptions of a stream-entry does not include the five faculties:
Take another person who has experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching … the Saṅgha … But they don’t have laughing wisdom or swift wisdom, nor are they endowed with freedom. With the ending of three fetters they’re a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening. This person, too, is exempt from hell, the animal realm, and the ghost realm. They’re exempt from places of loss, bad places, the underworld.
Thanks, Brooks. I like that sutta, how the Buddha outlines the rationale behind the precepts in the way that he does. It seems to me that the suttas that describe the factors of stream entry all contain the core of confirmed confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha but then show some variation among them as to the fourth (and at times extra) factors. It could be due to the different contexts and audiences for each talk.
That’s a good point. I don’t recall any other suttas that define stream entry with this right speech requirement, do you? I wonder if it’s an outlier. I see that it has one parallel at SĀ 1044, but I’m not sure if it matches in this respect.
Thanks for clarifying your point on the five faculties. As I was thinking about what you said, it occurred to me that a case could be made that the five faculties are implicit in the four factors of stream entry.
Faith/confidence is obvious in the first three factors (faith in the triple gem).
Energy and mindfulness are both necessary for training the five precepts.
The stream entry factors describe the precepts of the stream-enterer as “leading to concentration” (the fourth faculty).
And “confirmed confidence” (or “experiential confidence”) would certainly require wisdom, the fifth faculty.
If the yogi assumes that the precepts are now natural and automatic, they might be less vigilant and drop their guard, potentially leading to backsliding into unskillful behavior.
They also might begin to create conceit around their identity as a “noble one”, potentially building up the very thing that they need to see through and relinquish.
Also, if their current enthusiasm begins to wane, they might decide that it’s ok to slack off in their effort, thinking that they’re already on the irreversible path and safe from falling away.
On the other hand, if the yogi is a mature person who knows themselves well, they may know with certainty that they’ve reached a point where they won’t fall away from the path. If they can also avoid the pitfalls I mentioned above, then occasionally reflecting that they are on the path to stream entry can be a way to arouse inspiration, energy, and kusala joy, which are useful for fueling motivation and developing samādhi.
I can’t think of any off the to of my head, and the very least, it seems like that sutta would be in the minority with respect to additional right speech requirements for stream entry
That sounds about right. And thank you for highlighting how the five faculties relate to stream entry!
