Paṭisotagāmi means to go against the tendency to “go with the flow of the rebirth process” and cultivate the path to Nibbāna. The first step is to “see the adverse outcomes of kāma rāga, how it has roots in kāma saññā, and to overcome both those.”
August 16, 2025; revised #11 August 18,2025
Paṭisotagāmi versus Anusotagāmi
1. In the previous post “Growth of Pañcupādānakkhandha – ‘Anusotagāmi’,” we discussed in detail the growth of pañcupādānakkhandha, which is the same as being trapped in the suffering-filled rebirth process or ‘anusotagāmi.’
- There, ‘anusotagāmi’ (‘anu sota gāmi’) means to stay engaged (‘gāmi’) with (“anu”) the flow of the rebirth process (‘sota’). The word ‘sota’ (‘flow’) is used to indicate the Noble Path (e.g., as in ‘Sotapanna’ who has engaged with the ‘flow of the Noble Path’; see “Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5)“), but it is also used to indicate the flow of the rebirth process (as in ‘bhavasota’; see “Mahaddhana Sutta (SN 1.28)“). That is why it is essential to understand the meaning of a word in its context.
- The meanings of the specific words ‘anusotagāmi’ and ‘paṭisotagāmi‘ are explained in the “Anusota Sutta (AN 4.5).”
- As explained in that sutta, an ‘anusotagāmi’ is a person who indulges in sensual pleasures and does immoral deeds seeking them. In contrast, a ‘paṭisotagāmi‘ is someone who doesn’t indulge in sensual pleasures or do immoral deeds; they live the full and pure spiritual life, avoiding sensual pleasures even if that may seem embracing suffering (because of the loss of sensual pleasures).”
- Below, we will discuss why even engaging in pursuing “pleasurable sensory experiences” keeps one away from Nibbāna. As we have also discussed, such “pleasurable experiences” are mirages in ultimate reality anyway (of course, they appear real and even Arahants experience them), because they are essentially “made-up saññā” via Paṭicca Samuppāda: “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)” and “Paṭicca Samuppāda Creates the External World, Too!“
Getting to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi Is the Goal of a Paṭisotagāmi
2. In the post “Growth of Pañcupādānakkhandha – ‘Anusotagāmi’” (and in many previous posts), we discussed the ‘anusotagāmi’ process. Then we briefly discussed the following chart, which shows that one must go backward toward kāma dhātu, overcome the kāma saññā there, and then jump to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi that is free from the kamma saññā.
- That is the ‘safe place’ with Noble Sammā Sati (where kāma saññā is absent), where one first attains the Sotapanna stage. At that time, the mind stays there only for a brief time.
- After that, a Sotapanna can cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna to be able to spend more and more time in that Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi to reach higher magga phala.
Download/Print: “Overcoming Kāma Saññā“
Step-by-Step Process to Get to Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi
3. Let us first discuss the sequence of steps necessary to “go backward” and approach kāma dhātu.
- First, one must stop making “new strong kamma” in the nava kamma stage. As we have discussed, this stage begins with the “upādāna paccayā bhava” step in Paṭicca Samuppāda and takes place consciously.
- However, the seeds for the “upādāna paccayā bhava” step are germinated in the purāna kamma stage without conscious thinking (i.e., automatically) due to saṁyojana and gati. See #10 of “Growth of Pañcupādānakkhandha – ‘Anusotagāmi’“
- Let us review the first chart discussed in the above post again, as it illustrates the steps that must be retraced.
Download/Print: “Growth of Pañcupādānakkhandha“
4. It is clear that we must start with step 5 in the above chart and retrace steps 4 through 1 to “go backward.”
- We must remember that no one knew about the steps 1 through 4 (in the “purāna kamma” stage) before the Buddha. Yogis like Alara Kalama believed that all they needed to do was abstain from sensory pleasures as well as abstain from akusala kamma committed through conscious thoughts, speech, and actions.
- Even today, most people understand Nibbāna in this way. They say, “If I live a moral life without breaking the five precepts while also engaging in helping others, I will not have a bad rebirth.” The Buddha rejected that as a wrong view.
- In the “Mahākammavibhaṅga Sutta (MN 136),” the Buddha stated, “But when they say: ‘It seems that everyone who refrains from killing living creatures … and has (mundane) right view is reborn in a heavenly realm,’ I don’t grant them that.”
Sakkāya Diṭṭhi is Eliminated While in Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi for the First Time
5. The Buddha explained the reason in @marker 20.1 through 20.3 in the above sutta. Even though a person has followed the mundane eightfold path for most of their life, it can change even at the moment of death or in a future life. Anyone who is on the mundane eightfold path has not eliminated any of the ten saṁyojana that bind one to the rebirth process.
- Eliminating the ten saṁyojana from a mind starts with breaking sakkāya diṭṭhi (i.e., attaining lokuttara Sammā Diṭṭhi) at the Sotapanna stage. That is when one can be guaranteed not to be reborn in an apāya. That happens when the mind of a puthujjana enters the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi (free of kāma saññā) for the first time ever.
- Until that happens, one’s mind can go back and forth between mundane sammā diṭṭhi and micchā diṭṭhi during this life or in future lives. That is why rebirth in the apāyās cannot be avoided until attaining lokuttara Sammā Diṭṭhi.
Step 1 Will Happen Until the Five Lower Saṁyojana are Eliminated
6. Now, attaining lokuttara Sammā Diṭṭhi means to “see the futility of pursuing sensory pleasures.” We can refer to the second chart above to gain a deeper understanding of sakkāya diṭṭhi.
- First, we note that the mind of anyone with sakkāya diṭṭhi saṁyojana will definitely undergo Step 1 upon receiving sensory input. That mind will attach to the sensory input with all ten saṁyojana. Even a Sotapanna or a Sakadāgāmi will also undergo Step 1 since they have the kāma rāga saṁyojana intact. See “Kāma Rāga Arises Due to ‘Distorted Saññā’.” Only the minds of Arahants and Anāgāmis (who have eliminated the five lower saṁyojana and overcome kāma saññā) will not undergo Step 1.
- Step 1 is also where a new Paṭicca Samuppāda cycle begins based on sensory input, starting with “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra.” We can gain insight by examining what saṅkhāra means and how avijjā triggers the generation of saṅkhāra.
- Saṅkhāra (saṅkappa in Step 1 and abhisaṅkhāra in subsequent steps) are rooted in sañcetanā (defiled thoughts). Saṅkappa arises automatically in Step 1 for a puthujjana due to simply “not seeing that one is moving away from Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi (and Nibbāna)” since they have not removed sakkāya diṭṭhi!
- Even though a Sotapanna or a Sakadāgāmi would not have that wrong view, their minds still cannot overcome the kāma saññā (since they still have kāma rāga saṁyojana intact). Thus, their minds also go through Step 1.
- Note: When sakkāya diṭṭhi saṁyojana is removed, two other saṁyojana are also removed simultaneously. When kāma rāga saṁyojana is removed, paṭigha saṁyojana is also removed. Thus, for an Anāgāmi, all five lower saṁyojana have been eliminated.
Growth of Pañcupādānakkhandha Means Suffering (Because Moving Away from Nibbāna)
7. One should be able to “see with wisdom” that as long as Step 1 takes place, one’s mind is proceeding in the wrong direction!
- The key point is that the pañcupādānakkhandha process proceeds to the right on the chart. When one overcomes it and directs the mind toward the left (kāma dhātu stage), at some point, it will overcome the kāma saññā (temporarily) and jump to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi. One attains all magga phala while in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi.
- In other words, the initiation of a new pañcupādānakkhandha process is always unfruitful because it moves a mind away from Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi (and Nibbāna), i.e., to the right in the charts.
- This is why the Buddha succinctly stated “suffering is the same as pañcupādānakkhandha” (‘saṅkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā’); see #8 of “Essence of Buddhism – In the First Sutta.”
- This is also the same as saying ‘Sabbē saṅkhārā aniccā’ or “all saṅkhāra are of anicca nature’ because the generation of them always moves one away from Nibbāna!
- I have discussed the above critical idea in various ways. See, for example, “‘Attato Samanupassati’ – To View Something to be of Value,” “‘Attato Samanupassati’ and Sotapanna Stage,” and “Aniccaṁ Vipariṇāmi Aññathābhāvi – A Critical Verse.”
- Where the Nibbāna is, the world of 31 realms is totally absent; see “Loka and Nibbāna (Aloka) – Complete Overview.”
- If one can grasp the above related ideas, that is the key to the Sotapanna stage. Don’t hesitate to ask questions in the forum about anything that’s not clear.
Why Is It Necessary to Get to Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi?
8. Since the mind of a puthujjana (or anyone below the Anāgāmi stage) ALWAYS gets into kāma loka, they must retrace the steps to get back to the beginning and then to overcome the kāma saññā to get to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi free of kāma saññā.
- As long as a mind is entrapped in kāma saññā, it is impossible to comprehend the deeper teachings of the Buddha. That kāma saññā triggers pañca nīvaraṇa (to keep the mind at least in the ajjhatta/bahiddha viññāna in the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage).
- Then, if the mind keeps attaching to that sensory input with kāma guṇa (based on one’s gati at that moment), it will also proceed further into the “nava kamma” stage in an instant. See “Kāma Guṇa – Origin of Attachment (Tanhā).”
- In summary, the mind of anyone who has not removed kāma rāga saṁyojana (i.e., anyone below the Anāgāmi stage) ALWAYS proceeds in the ‘anusotagāmi‘ direction, away from the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi and Nibbāna. The nature of the world is to make that happen, as we discussed in “Paṭicca Samuppāda Creates the External World, Too!“
Key Steps to Get to Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi
9. Now, let us consider the steps that must happen for a puthujjana to attain the Sotapanna stage of Nibbāna. When one becomes a Sotapanna, one may not even be aware of the details in any of the charts in this post. Still, all the following steps must take place in their mind before one attains the Sotapanna stage.
- The “nava kamma” stage is stopped, i.e., at the time one is not uttering defiled speech, engaged in defiled actions, and not even generating defiled thoughts; thus, Steps 4 and 5 in the above chart do not take place.
- One’s mind is not focused on sensory inputs that can trigger kāmacchanda, i.e., step 2 is not triggered. For this, one’s mind must not be focused on sensory inputs that can trigger kāma rāga (or paṭigha). This is referred to as “not taking a subha or paṭigha nimitta.” We will discuss this in the next post.
- One is contemplating the anicca, dukkha, and anatta nature of the world, i.e., the futility of attaching to pañcupādānakkhandha. This is the critical step that enables the mind to overcome the kāma saññā, leap over the kāma dhātu stage, and land in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi.
These steps can be completed over a long period or within an hour. Even if the process may take many years, all these steps must occur sequentially within a relatively short time. For example, a bhikkhu may spend a lifetime setting the background, but when everything “falls into place,” those steps will all be completed within a short time.
- Anariya yogis (e.g., Alāra Kālāma in the days of the Buddha) could complete steps (i) and (ii) but not step (iii) above. They were unaware of the Noble Truths, i.e., they were unaware that future suffering starts with the automatic triggering of kāma saññā due to unbroken saṁyojana.
How Do Some Reach the Sotapanna Stage Quickly?
10. All three necessary steps in #9 may be fulfilled while listening to a single discourse or while deeply engrossed in meditation/contemplation. There are numerous examples in the Tipiṭaka where individuals with seemingly no prior background were able to attain the Sotapanna stage simply by listening to a discourse by the Buddha. A good example is Angulimāla, who first tried to take the life of the Buddha, but became a Sotapanna within a short time, probably less than half an hour.
- Then there were others who had been bhikkhus for many years (even lived close to the Buddha) before reaching the Sotapanna stage. A good example is Minister Channa (who accompanied the Bodhisatta on horseback when the Bodhisatta left the Royal palace during the night). He became a bhikkhu after the Bodhisatta attained Buddhahood, but attained the Sotapanna stage only after the Buddha’s Parinibbāna.
- The situation these days is more comparable to Bhikkhu Channa’s situation.
11. All these steps were completed for Angulimāla within an hour of meeting the Buddha. He initially tried to take the life of the Buddha. However, once the conversation began, the mind underwent an incredible transformation within a short time. See “Account of Angulimāla – Many Insights to Buddha Dhamma.” He must have fulfilled most of his pāramitā (meaning “setting up the necessary background”) in previous lives.
- On the other hand, for bhikkhu Channa, it took many years to “set the background.” He must have listened to numerous discourses by the Buddha and other Arahants, but still could not fulfill the three conditions for many years. See #10 above.
- I believe the key point is as follows. One must fully focus on the effort when it is possible to allocate a quiet time. One could attentively listen to a lengthy discourse by a Noble Person (sappurisa or kalyāṇamitta), or one could gather all necessary printed material and be absorbed in contemplation (vipassanā) for a long enough time for the mind to go through the three steps. That will help direct the mind to go through the steps. However, it will not be possible to live an immoral or indulgent life and try to “get it all done” in an hour. See “Kāma Rāga Arises Due to ‘Distorted Saññā’.”
- Those three steps lay the foundation for explaining how sīla, samādhi, and paññā lead to the four stages of Nibbāna, culminating in the Arahant phala. We will discuss further details in the next post.
