[Akvan]

Hi Aniduan,

1) I think regret would fall under the dvesha category because it is more of a negative feeling. But of course there is moha involved as well. It is always a mix.

2) One needs to have pragna or panna. I think this translated to wisdom. There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom.

[Akvan]

Hi Johnny,

I think you have a point. The Buddha said that the Dhamma is something completely unknown to anyone at that time. But people at that time had seen the suffering in the re-birth process (i.e. the hell worlds, animal realms etc.). So the dukkha sachcha cannot simply be the suffering in the re-birth process but something a bit more subtle that no one could fathom. Hence the term sachcha, without simply saying dukkha.

I guess different people will understand it in different ways. Some would see this subtle sachcha better through the re-birth process while others will understand it through the daily life (without having to look at the rebirth process).

Also this dukkha sachcha is more the mental suffering than the pure physical suffering. This mental suffering is something that most will not see. A Buddha doesn’t need come forward to explain about physical suffering. Any human knows what the physical suffering is. So dukkha sachcha is a more subtle, but very important concept.

I think Lal has explained this fact – that there is a difference between dukkha and dukkha sachcha – in detail in many posts as well.

[Akvan]

Hi y not,

I have a question based on the sutta you quoted above;

When it is stated “THIS PERSON TOO DOESN’T GO TO HELL, the animal realm, and the ghost realm. They don’t go to places of loss, bad places, the underworld” does this mean that such a person will never be born in the apayas ever again? Meaning is it a permanent thing?

If it is permanent, and that such a person will not be born in the apayas ever again, then he has to be an ariya (atta purisa puggala). If such a person is not a sotapanna, and is permanently kept away from the apayas, then such a person would have to be a sotapanna anugami isn’t it?

[Akvan]

Hi Mahendran,

I am not really sure how this works and the technicalities of it but if we look at it in the following manner it makes a bit more sense.

Humans are above animals in their good deeds and intentions, but not all humans are of good nature. They got to being a human because of a good kamma but how they react will differ from person to person. So this could be the same for Devas as well.

Again even a human who is predominantly good can do harm to others sometimes. Someone can look at person A and say he such a good human being, he does so many good deeds and so on. But in some instances that same person A might do harm to others for some reason. Another example is that some people give arms to beggars but not to monks or vice versa. I guess things like this could also happen with Devas.

So generally we can say that devas are beings with good morals and intentions, but there can be instances where this does not hold.

[Akvan]

Hi Lal,

Here is a link to the pali section: https://legacy.suttacentral.net/pi/pp2.1

This is how I have understood all this;

There are two types of sotapanna anugami (Sotapattiphalasacchikiriyaya paṭipanno) based on their dominant faculty. The pragna dominant person is a dhammanusari and a saddha dominant person is a saddhanusari.

There are three types of sotapanna based on the time they will take to attain nibbana; sattakkhattuparamo, kolamkolo and ekabiji.

Sotapanna’s can also be categorised into two based on the dominant faculty they used to attain the sotapanna phala; ditthippatto and saddhavimutto.

I don’t see any inconsistencies in the above.

The only possible issue I have is in the following;

In the explanation of ekabījī, kolaṅkolo, and sattakkhattuparamo the differences for the three are as follows:

So sattakkhattuṃ deve ca mānuse ca sandhāvitvā saṃsaritvā dukkhassantaṃ karoti— ayaṃ vuccati puggalo “sattakkhattuparamo”.

So dve vā tīṇi vā kulāni sandhāvitvā saṃsaritvā dukkhassantaṃ karoti—ayaṃ vuccati puggalo “kolaṃkolo”.

So ekaṃyeva mānusakaṃ bhavaṃ nibbattetvā dukkhassantaṃ karoti—ayaṃ vuccati puggalo “ekabījī”.

Although you said that the number of remaining bhava are precise for these three, the word bhava is only mentioned for ekabiji, while for others it is not mentioned specifically as bhava.

[Akvan]

Hi Lal,

You mentioned: Thus it is clear that an ekabījī is a Sōtapanna.
The last two must be the two types of Sōtapanna Anugāmis discussed in the post “Sōtapanna Anugāmi – No More Births in the Apāyās“: “dhammānusārī or a saddhānusārī.

In the Puggala Pannatti ekabījī, kolaṅkolo and sattak¬khat¬tu¬paramo has been explained. Here all three have been explained as “thinnang sanyojananang parikkaya sotapnno hoti…” meaning that all three are sotapanna not sotapanna anugami. The differences between the three are the amounts of time they take to attain nibbana as you have mentioned.

For both dhammānusārī and saddhānusārī, the explanations are “yassa puggalassa sotapattiphalasacchikiriyaya patipannassa…”, which means that both of them are sotapanna anugami.

You mentioned: I am not sure yet how kolaṅkolo and sattak¬khat¬tu¬paramo categories are to be identified with dhammānusārī and saddhānusārī categories.

They are not the same or overlapping. The distinction between dhammānusārī and
saddhānusārī are that the pragna indriya is more developed for the dhammanusari while the saddha indriya is more developed for the saddhanusari. When a dhammanusari attains sotapanna phala he is a dhittappaththo, and a sddhanusari when attained the phala is a saddhavimuththo.

[Akvan]

Hi Lal,

What is the difference between a sotapanna and a sakadagami anugami? Isn’t a sotapanna automatically a sakadagami anugami?

[Akvan]

Hi,

Johnny asked; “A saddhānusārī is incapable of dying (separating) from that Noble birth until he realizes the Sotāpanna stage.”Can one assume likewise for the rest of the Ariyan Magga Phala sets?

Lal replied; I thought that was obvious.

I’m kind of confused with this question. Are you asking whether a Sakadagami anugami, is incapable of dying until he attains the sakadagami stage, and similarly for anagami and arahanth anugami?

[Akvan]

Hi Upekkha,

This is the link to the Youtube channel; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA0sy3c2kTFKmiUaLElFfA

Most of the sermons are in Sinhala but there are a few in English as well. The English sermons are conducted every Sunday afternoon (at around 2 or 3 pm) Sri Lanka time and is streamed live on the YouTube channel.

[Akvan]

Hi Upekkha,

Don’t be disheartened that there aren’t many ariyas today. I believe that there are quite a few. So you can listen to their deshanas on youtube or on their sites. I can share some links of such deshanas / theros in English and Sinhala if you are interested.

There have been quite a few discussions here whether recorded deshanas are useful in attaining sotapanna stage. I personally think that they are. However, it is up to each individual to decide for themselves.

[Akvan]

Hi Upekkha100,

Jhana’s and brahma worlds can be enticing as you have pointed out in other discussion on this forum. But a point to keep in mind is that even if one gets to jhana and/or brahma worlds, if he is not an ariya, he will fall back down to the animal worlds and nirayas.

“An ordinary person stays there until the lifespan of those gods is spent, then they go to hell or the animal realm or the ghost realm. But a disciple of the Buddha stays there until the lifespan of those gods is spent, then they’re extinguished in that very life. This is the difference between an educated noble disciple and an uneducated ordinary person, that is, when there is a place of rebirth.”

So in my opinion it would be of more benefit to strive to attain maggha pala rather than jhana.

Just my thoughts on this.

[Akvan]

Hi Aniduan,

Just like Johnny mentioned all this is vipaka for previous kamma we have commited. One thero mentioned a good simili to overcome such situations. This has helped me immensly so I thought I should share it here.

The simili was of a postman delivering letters to us. When a postman delivers a letter we accept the letters without any hatred or attachment to the postman. For example, he may deliver a cheque with a bonus from our employer or a fine for speeding. We wouldn’t hug and throw a party for the postman if he delivers the bonus nor would we assault him if he delivers the fine. Why is is this? It is because we know that the bonus or the fine is something we deserve because of something we did before.

In the same way should try to treat everyone (those who treat us well or scold us) just like a postman, because all of them are only only delivering our bonuses (good vipaka) and fines (bad vipaka) that we rightfully deserve.

[Akvan]

Hi Upekkha,

An anantariya kamma is a specific type of kamma that will bring vipaka for certain at the time of death. It is fixed and there is no reason what so ever that can change the fact that the vipaka will arise after death. So if one commits an anantariya papa kamma there is no way he can avoid being born in the apayas after death.

You mention that if one gets into an (anariya) jhana the only way that he will not be born in the brahma realm is if he commits an anantariya papa kamma. If this is the case, then an anariya jhana cannot be an anantariya kamma, because the vipaka of the jhana will not arise after death (as the vipaka of the anantariya papa kamma will take precedence). So, technically an anariya jhana is not an anantariya kamma (a kamma that will give vipaka definitely at the time of death) because it’s vipaka can be overridden.

I may be wrong, but as far as I know, jhana have not been specifically classified as an anantariya kamma. The explanations in the sutta’s as far as I can recall, state that, if a person who has cultivated a jhana dies without it wearing off then he will be born in the brahma realms.

I guess the opposite of an anantariya papa kamma is to attain sotapanna stage. If one attains a sotapanna stage then one will definitely not to be born in the apayas ever.

So if a sotapnna (or above) person cultivates jhana, as he won’t commit any anantariya papa kamma, chances are that he will be born in the brahma realms after death.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Jittananto

[Akvan]

Thank you very much. This was something that had been nagging me for sometime.

[Akvan]

Hi Lal,

There is a small discrepancy in the post (https://puredhamma.net/myths-or-realities/paramita-and-niyata-vivarana-myths-or-realities/) or how I have understood it.

In the third point of section 1 you mention;
1. Attaining magga phala — including Arahantship — do not have such requirements (Paramitha)

However in the last point you mention;

1. Furthermore, one striving to attain the Arahanthood (or Nibbāna) is also fulfilling pāramitā.

Can you clarify this please?

[Author]

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