Half 9-1
“Subhuti, what do you suppose—can a stream-enterer suppose, ‘I’ve attained the fruition of stream-entering’?” Subhuti stated, “No, World Honoured One. Why? A stream-enterer is known as one who enters the stream, but doesn’t enter something. One doesn’t enter kind, sound, scent, flavour, feeling, or phenomena—that is known as a stream- enterer.” “Subhuti, what do you suppose—can a once-returner entertain the thought, ‘I’ve attained the fruition of once-returning’?” Subhuti stated, “No, World Honoured One. Why? A once-returner is known as one who goes and comes again as soon as, however actually has no going or coming—that is known as once-returning.” “Subhuti, what do you suppose—can a non-returner entertain the thought, ‘I’ve attained the fruition of non-return’?” Subhuti stated, “No, World Honoured One. A non-returner is known as one who doesn’t come again, but in actuality there is no such thing as a return, and that’s for the identify non-returner.”
Commentary:
The first precept of the Buddha’s educating is that the essence of all the things, ourselves included, is empty.
‘Stream-enterer’, ‘once-returner’ and ‘non-returner’ are names representing the diploma of follow that was given to the Buddha’s disciples in accordance with how ripe their follow was. How ripe their follow was relied on how deeply they understood Vacancy, that’s, how good they had been at seeing and listening to issues as they’re with out being deluded by illusions.
When all the things is seen and heard as it’s, or when all the things is empty, there’s nothing to enter, nowhere to go to and are available from, and even no considered no return. If a stream-enterer, for instance, believing that there’s a mounted stage of follow known as ‘stream-enterer’, had thought that he achieved it, he wouldn’t have been a stream-enterer however no higher than an peculiar one that was deluded by the phantasm of ‘stream-enterer’.
That’s the reason Subhuti stated {that a} stream-enterer doesn’t enter something, {that a} once-returner actually has no going or coming and {that a} non-returner is known as one who doesn’t come again, but in actuality there is no such thing as a return.
So, historic masters would say that there’s the Buddha to see, Dharma educating to be taught and enlightenment to realize earlier than you get enlightened, however that there is no such thing as a Buddha to see, no Dharma educating to be taught and no enlightenment to realize after you get enlightened.
Scholar: “If all the things is empty and there’s no enlightenment to realize, why do we have now to attempt to realize enlightenment?”
Grasp: “Since you are deluded by illusions, phrases.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All photographs ©Simon Hathaway