Stream-Entry, the Extinguished Abode, and the Srotāpanna's Stream-Entry

Question: What is the relationship between "entering the stream and forgetting the objects" in the perfect penetration of the ear faculty in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the subsequent "realm of the form aggregate," and the "entering the stream" (Srotāpanna) mentioned in the Diamond Sūtra, which does not enter forms, sounds, scents, flavors, tangible objects, or mental phenomena?

Answer: When Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva cultivated the samādhi of hearing-nature through perfect penetration of the ear faculty, initially, upon hearing sounds, he entered into the stream of sounds. He was only aware of the sounds themselves, without knowing their source or anything else. This focused concentration represents the initial stage of meditative absorption.

The Diamond Sūtra states that a Srotāpanna is called "one who has entered the stream" yet enters nothing. This "stream" refers to the realm of the six dusts: forms, sounds, scents, flavors, tangible objects, and mental phenomena. Since the Srotāpanna has realized the emptiness of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, they no longer perceive the realm of the six dusts as real, as self, or as belonging to self. Therefore, although abiding within the realm of the six dusts, the mind does not cling to them.

The Srotāpanna's "entering the stream" is a state of wisdom attained by severing the view of self, primarily characterized by wisdom, with meditative absorption as a support. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's "entering the stream and forgetting the objects" is primarily a state of meditative absorption, supported by wisdom.

When a practitioner enters the realm of the form aggregate and has not yet emerged from it, nor penetrated through it, this is a state of meditative absorption.