Reply To: Taking Back my old claim based on newfound awareness

#37463
Lal
Keymaster

You wrote: “although sensual pleasures directly do not creates suffering, when they are experienced, there is chance that we might attach to them. I am afraid of such attachment.”

That is a concise way to put it.

1. The easiest way to see the “mechanism” is to see what happens at the Anagami stage.
– An Anagami may experience sensory pleasures that MATERIALIZE as “good kamma vipaka,” but their mind WILL NOT attach to such pleasures. Of course, they WILL NOT engage in INTENDED “pleasure activities” like sex.
– That is because their minds have truly “seen/realized” the bad consequences of rebirths even in human and Deva realms (realms in kama loka above the apayas.)

2. In the same way, a Sotapanna/Sotapnna Anugami WILL NOT engage in apayagami deeds even under the most tempting conditions.
– This is not something that can be easily tested, like whether one is an Anagami or not.
– As I have explained before, one quick way to check whether one is an Anagami is to watch an adult/X-rated movie. If no sexual urge arises, it is quite likely that one is an Anagami. Of course, a medical condition could also be responsible for that, so one must be careful.

3. Another, and a better, way is to use Paticca Samuppada. See, “Paṭicca Samuppāda – “Pati+ichcha” + ‘Sama+uppāda’.” The following is a brief summary (you may know this, but for the benefit of others).
Paṭicca = paṭi + icca; here, “paṭi” is bonding, and “icca” (pronounced “ichcha”) is liking. Thus, Paṭicca is “bonding to something willingly” or “getting attached to something through a liking for it.”
– This bonding depends on one’s gati (habits and likings), which in turn are due to deep-seated āsavas (cravings). Note that “gati” is pronounced as “gathi.”
Samuppāda = “sama” (same or similar) + “uppāda” (generation), i.e., an existence (bhava) of similar quality or kind. Thus samuppāda means leading to existence or experience corresponding to defilements that made one attach to the situation (ārammaṇa) in the first place.
Putting all that together, we see that when one is engaging in certain activities (via likings for them), births in realms where such activities present are INEVITABLE.
– For example, if one can be sexually attracted to another person, then one will likely generate relevant abhisankhara (related to thoughts, speech, and actions) accordingly. That means “bhava” and “jati (births)” in the “kama loka” will take place. Only an Anagami or an Arahant would have overcome such births. For that to happen, one would have not only “seen that mechanism” but ALSO would have comprehended the mechanism at a deeper level. One “sees” the mechanism when the “ditthi vipallasa” is removed. But the deeper understanding comes when “sanna vipallasa” and “citta vipallasa” are also removed. See, “Vipallāsa (Diṭṭhi, Saññā, Citta) Affect Saṅkhāra
– However, to get to the Sotapanna Anugami stage, one just needs to remove diṭṭhi vipallāsa. That means one would have understood how different types of (abhi)sankhara generated via different levels of avijjā (“avijja paccaya sankhara“) lead to CORRESPONDING bhava and jati (births) in various realms.
– If that understanding is true, then one is likely to be a Sotapanna Anugami. That also means one would have “seen” the anicca nature of engaging in apayagami actions. Such a mind WILL NOT and CAN NOT be forced to apayagami actions. No willpower is needed to avoid apayagami actions. One needs to remove sanna vipallasa and citta vipallasa (in stages) to progress above the Sotapanna stage.
– Again, there is no easy way to do that test. But that is the principle. In fact, the Four Noble Truths, Tilakkhana, and Paticca Samuppada are inter-related. If one understands one of them, one would understand the other two as well. See, “Paṭicca Samuppāda, Tilakkhana, Four Noble Truths

That is a long answer. But I wanted to give a general answer that could be helpful for anyone.

P.S. Please read and understand the relevant posts suggested above before asking more questions. Answers to most questions are there in those posts. If something in those posts is not clear, please feel free to cite the post and bullet numbers and ask questions.