The Ekottara Āgama Sūtra, Volume Forty-Six

Original text: 有十一法阿罗汉所不习者。云何为十一。漏尽阿罗汉终不舍法服习白衣行。漏尽阿罗汉终不习不净行。漏尽阿罗汉终不杀生。 漏尽阿罗汉终不盗。漏尽阿罗汉食终不留遗余。漏尽阿罗汉终不妄语。漏尽阿罗汉终不群类相佐。漏尽阿罗汉终不吐恶言。漏尽阿罗汉终不有狐疑。漏尽阿罗汉终不恐惧。漏尽阿罗汉终不受余师。又不更受胞胎。诸贤士。是谓漏尽阿罗汉终不处十一之地。

Explanation: There are eleven kinds of conduct that an arhat will never again engage in. What are these eleven? First, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never abandon the kasaya robes and behave like a layperson in white, engaging in worldly affairs. Second, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never again have impure sexual craving between men and women. Third, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never again kill living beings. Fourth, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never again steal. Fifth, when an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted takes his meal, he will no longer leave food remaining or keep leftovers. Sixth, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never again speak falsely. Seventh, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never form cliques and factions, setting himself up as the head of a group. They differ from worldly social ways; they prefer solitude and do not like to band together and support one another, having no such desires or designs of self. Eighth, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never utter harsh words. Ninth, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never harbor doubt or disbelief in the Buddha's Dharma. Tenth, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will never again give rise to fear in the mind. Eleventh, an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted is a noble one beyond training (aśaikṣa) of the Small Vehicle; he need not again study the Small Vehicle Dharma of liberation from birth and death with anyone else, and he will no longer enter a mother's womb to be reborn. All you virtuous gentlemen, this is called the eleven states in which an arhat whose afflictions have been exhausted will forever never abide.

If an arhat still engages in even a little bit of worldly affairs, with his mind dwelling even slightly in worldly matters, then he is not an arhat. Therefore all arhats are monastics and cannot live a single day as laypeople. If such a person returns to lay life and goes home, he immediately becomes a once-returner (Sakṛdāgāmin). But after living in worldly circumstances for no more than three months, he will grow weary of it, then leave home again, and will once more realize the fourth fruit of arhatship.

Even if there is an arhat who has returned to lay life, he would be an arhat liberated by wisdom (paññāvimutti), whose meditative concentration is not particularly excellent. An arhat liberated in both ways would never entertain the thought of returning to lay life, for they cannot endure even the slightest bit of worldly affairs.

If a Mahāyāna bodhisattva has realized the third or fourth fruit, he too would be unwilling to live in worldly circumstances or engage in worldly affairs. Even if countless treasures and riches were there for him to take, he would not care to trouble his mind over them. Being together with sentient beings in order to deliver them is something done out of necessity; even when together with them, his mind remains detached. Even when funds are needed for propagating the Dharma, he is unwilling to rack his brains to raise money, and unwilling to pander to what is contrary to the Dharma or to worldly ways.