Thanks, y not. I did not see the link: “Sarakaani Sutta: Sarakaani (Who Took to Drink)” (SN 55.24)
I just read it and it is a good sutta that clarifies the Sotapanna Anugami stage. I have made some revisions to that English translation to make it clear:
Sarakaani Sutta: Sarakaani (Who Took to Drink)
[At Kapilavasthu] Now at that time Sarakaani the Sakyan, who had died, was proclaimed by the Blessed One to be a Sotapanna, not subject to rebirth in the apayas, assured of Nibbana. At this, a number of the Sakyans, whenever they met each other or came together in company, were indignant and angry, and said scornfully: “A fine thing, a marvelous thing! Nowadays anyone can become a Sotapanna, if the Buddha has proclaimed Sarakaani who died to be a Sotapanna… assured of Nibbana! Yet, Sarakaani failed to live a moral life and took to drink!”
[Mahaanaama the Sakyan reported this to the Buddha who said:] “Mahaanaama, a lay-follower who has for a long time taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha — how could he go to apayas? Therefore, how can Sarakaani go to apayas?
(1). “Mahaanaama, take the case of a person endowed with unwavering devotion (avecca pasada) to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, and has attained the Arahanthood. By the destruction of the defilements he has by his own realization gained the release, the release through wisdom, in this very life, and abides in it. The man is entirely released from the hell-state, from rebirth as an animal, he is free from the realm of hungry ghosts, fully freed from the downfall, the evil way, from the apayas.
(2). “Take the case of another man. He is endowed with unwavering devotion (avecca pasada) to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. He has wisdom but has not yet gained full release, but has destroyed the five lower samyojana (an Anagami). Upon death, he will be reborn spontaneously in a brahma realm where he will attain Nibbaana without returning from that world. That man is also entirely released from the apayas.
(3). “Take the case of another man. He is endowed with unwavering devotion (avecca pasada) to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. He has wisdom but he has not yet gained release. Yet by destroying the first three samyojana and weakening kama raga, patigha and avijja, he is a Once-returner (Sakadagami), who will return once more to this kama loka. That man is entirely freed from the apayas.
(4). “Take the case of another man. He is endowed with unwavering devotion (avecca pasada) to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. But he has wisdom not gained release. Yet by destroying three fetters he is a Stream-Winner (Sotapanna), not subject to rebirth in apayas, assured of Nibbana. That man is entirely freed the apayas.
(5). “Take the case of another man. He is not even endowed with unwavering devotion (avecca pasada) to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. He has not yet gained wisdom and has not gained release. But perhaps he has these things: the faculty of faith, of energy, of mindfulness, of concentration, of wisdom (saddha indriya, viriya indriya, sati indriya, samadhi indriya, panna indriya). And the things proclaimed by the Tathaagata are moderately understood by him with insight. That man does not go to the realm of hungry ghosts, to the downfall, to the evil way, to states of woe.
(6). “Take the case of another man. He is not even endowed with unwavering devotion (avecca pasada) to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. He is not joyous and swift in wisdom and has not gained release. But he has just these things: the faculty of faith, of energy, of mindfulness, of concentration, of wisdom (saddha indriya, viriya indriya, sati indriya, samadhi indriya, panna indriya). And the things proclaimed by the Tathaagata are even slightly understood by him with insight. He too will not go to the apayas.
I just wanted to point out the main ideas:
Descriptions in (5) and (6) above refer to Sotapanna Anugami. He/she has not yet comprehended Tilakkhana to the stage of a Sotapanna, but is beginning to start comprehending them.
– So, it is not just blind faith in Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha. He/she has grasped at least a trace of the anicca nature.
P.S. It is important to see that there is a difference between those with magga phala (1-4) and the last two types of Sotapanna Anugamai. It seems that the last two are not really FREED from the apayas. It seems to mean that they merely will not go to apayas at the end of this bhava.
– For each of the 4 magga pahala:
“Ayampi kho, mahānāma, puggalo parimutto nirayā parimutto tiracchānayoniyā parimutto pettivisayā parimutto apāyaduggativinipātā.”
“..That man is entirely free… from the apayas.”
– For the last two types (Sotapanna Anugamai):
“Ayampi kho, mahānāma, puggalo agantā nirayaṃ agantā tiracchānayoniṃ agantā pettivisayaṃ agantā apāyaṃ duggatiṃ vinipātaṃ.”
“..That man does not go to the apayas”.
I made this update later, in response to a comment by upekkha100. See my comment on Feb 5 below.
Apparently, Sarakani did not live an immoral life (especially after attaining the Sotapanna stage). He attained the Sotapanna stage close to his death, and could not get rid of the “drinking habit” until his death.
– This is why it is dangerous to judge someone else’s status. Only that person or a Buddha can know. In some cases, even that person may not be aware of it. There is another sutta about Mahanama himself, where he had doubts about whether he himself was a Sotapanna; the Buddha confirmed that he was.
P.S. The process of eliminating the ten samyojana at each stage of magga phala discussed at: “Dasa Samyōjana – Bonds in Rebirth Process“, and at “Conditions for the Four Stages of Nibbāna“.
February 11, 2019: The post,”Sōtapanna Anugāmi – No More Births in the Apāyās“, was written to clarify these issues.