眾生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成

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Dharma Teachings

10 Jul 2019    Wednesday     1st Teach Total 1686

Which kind of craving does a srotāpanna eliminate?

Original text of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: 须陀洹断三结。贪痴不生。若须陀洹作是念。此诸结我不成就者。应有二过。堕身见。及诸结不断。

大慧白佛言。世尊。世尊说众多贪欲。彼何者贪断。佛告大慧。爱乐女人。缠绵贪著种种方便。身口恶业。受现在乐。种未来苦。彼则不生。所以者何。得三昧正受乐故。是故彼断。非趣涅槃贪断。

Explanation: The Buddha said that a stream-enterer (Srotaāpanna) has eliminated the three bonds, and craving and delusion do not arise. If a stream-enterer were to have this thought: "If I do not accomplish the elimination of these three bonds, there will be two faults—falling into the view of self (ātma-dṛṣṭi) and the failure to sever the various bonds of affliction." Mahāmati addressed the Buddha: "World-Honored One, you have said that sentient beings have numerous cravings. Which craving has the stream-enterer severed?" The Buddha told Mahāmati: the craving for and delight in women, clinging and lusting after them through all sorts of means, committing evil actions of body and speech, enjoying pleasures in the present while planting the seeds of future suffering—this craving the stream-enterer has severed and it no longer arises. Why is this so? Because of the bliss of meditative concentration (samādhi) and proper absorption. Therefore, this craving is severed, but not the craving that aspires toward the bliss of nirvāṇa.

This means that in a stream-enterer a certain kind of craving does not arise, not that all craving ceases to arise; the cessation of all craving belongs to the non-returner (Anāgāmin). A first-fruit practitioner has eliminated the view of self and the three bonds, and the clinging and lust toward the opposite sex no longer arises, because of the bliss of meditative absorption. The so-called bliss of meditative absorption refers to the meditative experience and the phenomenon of awakened clarity that occur at the moment of attaining the first fruit. Therefore, attaining the first fruit requires meditative concentration—preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi)—and only when one attains the first fruit with such concentration will there be the state of samādhi, encompassing both meditative concentration and the wisdom of eliminating the view of self.

——Master Sheng-Ru's Teachings
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