Lecture on the Diamond Sutra: Why Sakadagami Cannot Have Thoughts Such as "I Have Attained the Sakadagami Fruit"

The Diamond Sutra, Chapter 9: The Mark of Non-Attainment. Original Text: "Subhuti, what do you think? Can a Srotapanna have the thought, 'I have attained the fruit of Srotapanna'? Subhuti said: No, World-Honored One. Why? Srotapanna means 'one who enters the stream,' yet there is actually no entering. It is merely termed Srotapanna."

Explanation: Subhuti, what is your view on this matter? Can a Srotapanna have such a thought: "I have realized the fruit of Srotapanna"? Subhuti replied: A Srotapanna cannot have such a thought, World-Honored One. Why is this so? Srotapanna means "one coming and going between heaven and earth once," yet in reality, there is no such thing as coming and going. It is merely termed Srotapanna.

This passage shares the same meaning as the preceding explanation about the first fruit. One who truly attains the second fruit has an even more profound emptiness regarding the self-mind of the five aggregates. There is no notion of "I have attained the second fruit," nor any attachment to the idea of "I have attained the second fruit"—no constant dwelling on it, no boasting everywhere, no fear that others do not know. If others disbelieve, one would not angrily ignore them. Such deep attachments clearly belong to the emotional clinging of ordinary beings and have nothing to do with the first or second fruit.

A Srotapanna of the second fruit has fainter afflictions than ordinary beings or those of the first fruit. After death, they are born in heaven once, return to the human realm once, and then attain the fourth fruit of Arhatship, achieving liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Similarly, they do not regard the five aggregates or eighteen elements as a self; there is no concept of "I" in their mind. Therefore, they do not believe there is an "I" that has attained the Srotapanna fruit, nor do they believe "I" can attain the Srotapanna fruit. A Srotapanna no longer considers the realms of the desire world as truly existent dharmas. These all belong to the realm of the six dusts and are illusory. Thus, when they are reborn in heaven, there is no place they go to; when they return to the human realm, there is no place they return from. There is no Srotapanna composed of five aggregates that travels between heaven and earth. Therefore, in reality, there is no coming or going.

One who attains the second fruit, after the end of this life, will be reborn in the desire realm heavens to continue cultivation. After the end of that heavenly life, they return to the human realm to continue cultivation. After attaining the fourth fruit of Arhatship, they enter Nirvana upon death and are no longer reborn within the three realms, thus liberated from the suffering of birth and death in the three realms. This is the "one coming and going between heaven and earth" of the Srotapanna of the second fruit. Is there actually any coming or going? There is no coming or going. The affairs of coming and going are illusory and unreal. The five aggregates in heaven and those in the human realm are both illusory and unreal—mere false appearances, not true realities. Therefore, the Srotapanna of the second fruit is not truly a Srotapanna; the mark of Srotapanna is also non-mark. It is merely termed Srotapanna. We need not cling to a false nominal mark, vainly occupying our minds. We should extinguish the mark of self and the mark of Srotapanna. Regardless of what achievements are attained, remain unmoved, giving rise to no attachments. Otherwise, we fall into the cycle of birth and death, unable to attain liberation.