Stream-Enterer and the Inversions

revised on 2019-09-12

Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 30th November 1961

By practicing vipassanā and realize Nibbāna is seeing the Deathless. There will be no more death again. At near death and oppress by painful feeling with intense practice will overcome it. At near death can’t rely on doctors. So, with right attention and practice regularly can work well at near death.

Even dies with impermanence and next life will arrive to the Deathless (i.e., next life will become a sotāpanna as mentioned by the Buddha.). Therefore it’s never in loss. What is the reason of unwise attention arises? Don’t have a good teacher. Parents are crazy. Therefore sons and daughters are also crazy.

They teach them what they know only. Not find a teacher who can teach rightly and the dawn of light will not appear. And will be always in the darkness. All are born in the darkness and will die in the darkness. It is not much beneficial only to rely on kamma alone when the Buddha’s teachings still exist because it can not be free from ignorance.

We have to look for a teacher who can teach the truth. You don’t want the truth of dukkha again if you find a teacher who can teach the truth of dukkha. (Sayadaw explained the twelve inversions) After knowing these things with the contemplation and inversions become thin out. At the end of the contemplation, the stream entering of the Path Knowledge destroys eight of them.

Other Path Knowledges are not very important. The Path Knowledge destroy the eight inversions is not an ordinary one. Becomes a non-returner ten of the inversions are gone. Only an arahant destroys all of them. There are three paths exist; from blissful existence (sugati) to Nibbāna, from sugati to sugati and from sugati to painful existence (dugati).

The crazy one doesn’t know how to go Nibbāna. Knowing about these things should come before. After that comes the contemplation. Later abandoning of them will come by itself. (Sayadaw gave some examples of the inversions in daily life). These distorted dhammas are making the D. A. process to arise.

If you can abandon them and D. A. process is cutting off. After becoming a sotāpanna, in the future you will be free from becoming a disable, blind, deaf, dumb person and a leper; and also be free from the wrong views and falling into the four planes of misery.

So, sotāpanna is abandoning these ten kinds of dukkha. Ñāṇa falls in line with the khandha is right attention. Therefore we have to be practiced.

The eight inversions the Stream-Enterer has abandoned are:

These are inversions if you take what the khandhas are telling you in the opposite ways. In the other hand, it is wise attention if you take it rightly. Your craziness becomes better if you see impermanence rightly. In your everyday life inversions are increasing. (Sayadaw gave some funny examples about them).

These are showing the increasing of craziness. Your bones are becoming mature but not your knowledge (i.e., the age increasing but not the knowledge). If you observe the khandha with knowledge, it will tell you about impermanence dukkha, non-self and foulness (anicca, dukkha, anatta and asubha).

revised on 2019-09-12; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4091&p=35848#p35848 (posted on 2019-01-18)

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