[Saurabh@2110]

Hello, venerable @Lal sir. I read the latest post and I have some questions about these 2 paragraphs:

From #13:

• The avihiṁsā saññā triggers attachment to all neutral sensory inputs through avijjā. That holds true for all puthujjana and also for Noble Persons below the Arahant stage. This is where (weak) attachment (that propels a mind to the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage) happens even with sensory inputs that generate only a ‘neutral’ or ‘adukkhamasukha vedanā‘. This is discussed in #13 below.
• It is only with the complete cessation of avijjā (at the Arahant stage) that one fully comprehends that all sensory experiences are mind-made. That is when one fully comprehends the ‘anatta‘ nature.

and this one (from #17):

• Thus, a puthujjana (and any Noble Person below the Arahant stage) attaches to such sights (that generate only neutral vedanā) via avijjā.
• The only difference is that any Noble Person below the Arahant stage does not have the wrong view that those sights are real. However, they have not yet overcome the automatic attachment to the avihiṁsā saññā as discussed above.

This means the noble beings below the arahant level actually still suffer. The freedom from rebirth in all the lower realms but reward of rebirth in higher realms, do have a great unimaginable cost. Am I right? Also if the noble being/s (below Arahant level), due to attachment to 2nd set of 3 sannas from those 6 sannas, also suffer, then this scares me to the core. Am I understanding this correctly? If yes, it is no different than going from suffering without choice to suffering with the choice, in short everyone has suffering till he/she becomes arahant!

Also this complete post again takes me back to the virtual game analogy. I am just playing a game unconsciously, like a programmed process and think that I am making choices, under the influence of tanha/raga, dosa and moha/avijja. By default almost everyone is playing on the 3 sannas of 1st set and very few are playing with 2nd set from 6 sannas, but, in any case everyone is suffering! except arahants. So saying this wouldn’t be far-fetched: that no real safety from suffering till one reaches arahatship, or will it be, sir?

My opinion has become like, true happiness cannot be there until one attains parinibbana. This conclusion scares me when I think on the ways, it could be proven wrong.

[Lal]

In reading those paragraphs, one needs to be aware of the following facts:

1. ‘Suffering’ refers to the ‘suffering in the rebirth process’, not necessarily the suffering experienced in this life.

2. A Sotapanna has eliminated 99+% of the suffering to be experienced by a puthujjana in the future, in the rebirth process. It does not refer to the suffering in the current life.

• For example, a drug dealer may live a luxurious life in this life. He may even avoid getting caught and live luxuriously until his death. A Sotapanna may be poor and still go through many hardships in this life. However, that Sotapanna is guaranteed not to be reborn in an apaya, or a lower realm. Furthermore, the Sotapanna has only a limited time left in the rebirth process, and all of those are in the human or higher realms that are relatively free of suffering. In contrast, the drug dealer could be reborn in an apaya due to him ruining so many lives with drugs, and could spend a very long time in an apaya (in the animal realm or a worse realm), just due to selling drugs. Furthermore, he could be trapped in the rebirth for many billions of years.

3. Therefore, my comments in those quoted statements should be considered in that context. 

• Any Noble Person would have a relatively insignificant amount of suffering left in the rebirth process compared to a puthujjana.
• The Buddha gave the following analogy:  The suffering left to be experienced by a Sotapanna, compared to a puthujjana, is like a bit of dirt that can be picked up by a finger compared to the soil in this whole Earth! 
• See #8 of “Murderer to a Sotapanna in an Hour – How Is That Possible?“

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