Abstract
With this understanding of the shift of the character of the stream-enterer, this chapter moves on to investigate the concept of non-returner in early Buddhist discourses and its subsequent development in Pāli commentaries. It discusses the origins of the concept, its association with the concept of a pure-abode (suddhāvāsa), and the pre-requisites for the attainment of this stage, such as the five lower fetters and the attainment of jhānas. This approach reveals that the concept of a non-returner is found somewhat earlier than the concept of pure abode. In the earliest phase, there was no fixed and exclusive destiny for non-returners. Rather, it was understood that they may be born in the form realm (rūpa-loka) or formless realm (arūpa-loka) corresponding to their attainment of jhānas. Later, towards the end of the Pāli canonical period, the concept of the pure abode was developed and associated with non-returners. The chapter also argues that the attainment of jhānas is a pre-requisite for the attainment of the stage of non-returning. Consequently, the Pāli commentarial interpretation of the ‘dry-insight arahant’ (sukkhavipassaka-arahatta) theory in which one attains the four stages by mere insight and without reliance on any of the meditative absorptions is not coherent with the theory of the four stages to arahantship. In light of this, it would appear that it is purely an arbitrary relation that has been developed by the Pāli commentators in order to justify how a ‘dry-insight arahant’ is capable of taking rebirth in a pure abode. Finally, we consider how, insofar as the Pāli Nikāyas are concerned, abandoning the five lower fetters is not an exclusive criterion for becoming a non-returner.
Part of this chapter is derived from an article published in Anveṣaṇā: Journal of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies University of Kelaniya 9 (2) in 2018. Copy right Postgraduate Institute of Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya.
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Notes
- 1.
Vin III 87; Ud 56.
- 2.
DN III 237.
- 3.
Iti 96: kāmayogayutto bhikkhave bhavayogayutto āgāmī hoti āgantā itthattaṃ, kāmyoyavisuññutto bhikkhave bhavayogayutto anāgāmī hoti anāganta itthattaṃ.
- 4.
Masefield (1979); Huzita (1988: 1–2); Hwang (2006).
- 5.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad IV 4.6: tad eva saktaḥ saha karmaṇaiti liṅgam mano yatra niṣsktaṃ asya, prāpyāntaṃ karmaṇas tasya yat kiṃ ceha karoty ayam tassmāt lokāt punar caiti asmai lokāya karoṇe itu nu kāmayamānaḥ. athākāmayamānaḥ yo ‘kāmo niṣkāmo āpta-kāma ātma-kāmo, na tasya prāṇā utkrāmanti, brahmaiva san brahmāpyeti.
- 6.
Suttanipāta 158.
- 7.
Suttanipāta 206:Verse
Verse sabbesukāmesuyovītarāgo, ākiñcaññaṃnisitohitvamaññaṃ Saññāvimokkheparamevimutto tiṭṭhe nu so tathaanuyāyi
- 8.
Saddatissa (tr.) : 123; Suttanipāta 206:Verse
Verse sabbesukāmesuyovītarāgo, ākiñcaññaṃnisitohitvamaññaṃ Saññāvimokkheparamevimutto Tiṭṭheyya so tatthaanānuyāyī.
- 9.
Saddhatissa (tr.) : 6 ; Suttanipāta 10:Verse
Verse sadālayitvāsaṃyojanānijalaṃvabhetvā,
- 10.
Maurice Walshe considers this discourse to be “the most important sutta in the entire Pāli canon” (Walshe 1995: 588). Bhikkhu Nyanatiloka agrees that this discourse is the most important part of the whole Nikāya and considers it the quintessence of Buddhist meditation practice (The Path to Deliverance, 123). In the Theravāda tradition today, this text is like a manual guide for meditators. In a comprehensive study of the discourse, Anālayo states that the path in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna sutta in the DN and Satipaṭṭhāna sutta in the MN belong to the late period of Buddhist history (Anālayo 2003: 16). Bhikkhu Sujato offers an excellent study on the historical development of the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta. He has convincingly argued that the section of the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta in the Samyuttanikāya is more archaic than schemes in the other two presentations (Bhikkhu Sujato 2012a: 118).
- 11.
SN V 141–192.
- 12.
MN I 63.
- 13.
AN IV 70.
- 14.
DN III 230; MN I 73; SN III 240.
- 15.
DN II 314; MN I 62, 63, 481; SN V 129, 181, 236, 313, AN III 82, 142; V 108; Iti 39, 40, 41 dvinnaṃ phalānaṃ aññataraṃ pātikaṅkhaṃ, diṭṭhe va dhamme aṇṇā, sati vā upādise anāgāmitā.
- 16.
Sn 140.
- 17.
Originally, the supreme soteriological goal of nibbāna was understood as blowing out or quenching or extinction of the three fires, namely passion (rāga), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha/avijjā). The extinction of these three was understood as liberation from the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra). And the attainment of nibbāna was identical to the experience of non-self (anattā) and emptiness (sunyatā), i.e. the nature of phenomena.
- 18.
Theragathā-A I 46; Dh-A II 163.
- 19.
Visuddhimagga 438.
- 20.
Visuddhimagga 509.
- 21.
Dh-A II 163.
- 22.
These two texts are considered canonical texts by the Burmese tradition (within the Khuddaka nikāya), but the Sri Lankan tradition considers them independent texts, not included in the canonical literature. Scholars generally agree that these two texts were composed before the Pāli commentaries.
- 23.
Nettippakaraṇa 38: yā nittaṇhātā ayaṃ saupādisesānibbānadhātu, bhedā kāyassa ayam anupādisesānibbānadhātu.
- 24.
Peṭakopadesa 124: ettāvatā bhiikhu katakicco bhavati, esā sopādisesānibbānātu. tassa āyupariyādānā jīvitindryassa uparodhā idañca dukkhaṃ nirujjhati, aññañca dukkhaṃ na uppajati, tattha so imesaṃ khandhānaṃ dhātu-āyatanānaṃ nirodho vūoasamo añesaṇca khandhadhātu-āyatanānaṃ appaṭisandhi apātubhāvo ayaṃ anupādisesanibbānadhātu.
- 25.
Iti 38: katamā bhikkhave saupādisesa nibbānadhātu? idha bhikkhu arahaṃ hoti khīṇāsavo vusitavā katakaraṇīya ohitabhāra anuppattasadattho parikhīṇabhavasaṃyojano sammadaññāvimutto. tassa tiṭṭhento pañcindriyāni yesaṃ avighātattā manāpāmanāpaṃ pacanubhoti sukhadukkhaṃ paṭisaṃvediyati. tassa yo rāgakkhayo dosakkhayo mohakkhāyo ayaṃ vuccati bhikkhave saupādisesa nibbānadhātu. katamā ca bhikkhave anupādisesā nibbānadhātu? idha bhikkhave bhikkhuṃ arahaṃ hoti khīṇāsavo vusitavā katakaraṇīya ohitabhāra anuppattasadattho parikhīṇabhavasaṃyojano sammadaññāvimutto. tassa idheva bhikkhave sabba vediyitāni anabhinanditāni sītibhavissati, ayaṃ vuccati bhikkhave anupādisesā nibbānadhātu.
- 26.
Nettippakaraṇa 38.
- 27.
Nettippakaraṇa 92.
- 28.
Lovejoy (1898:126–36).
- 29.
Huzita (1988: 8).
- 30.
Hwang (2006:16).
- 31.
Hwang (2006: 30–31).
- 32.
Masefield (1979: 221).
- 33.
Visuddhimagga 432, translated by Ñāṇamoli (1997: 580–1).
- 34.
The Minor Readings 214–15.
- 35.
EA, TD259a, cited and translated by Hwang (2006: 31).
- 36.
Hwang (2006: 32).
- 37.
AN IV 379–80.
- 38.
Sn148.
- 39.
DN-A III 805.
- 40.
DN II 314–15; MN I 63.
- 41.
MN I 481.
- 42.
The five things are: 1. Basis for psychic potency that possesses concentration due to desire and activities of striving. 2. Basic for psychic potency that possesses concentration due to vigour and activities of striving. 3. Basic for psychic potency that possesses concentration due to mind and activities of striving. 4. Basic for psychic potency that possesses concentration due to investigation and activities of striving. 5. Basic for psychic potency that possesses concentration due to enthusiasm itself. (Bodhi (tr). 2012: 695).
- 43.
AN III 81, 143.
- 44.
AN 5 108).
- 45.
SN V 129.
- 46.
AN IV 379–80.
- 47.
DN I 152; II 200; III 251; MN 1 490; SN V 346, 356–360; AN I 231; II 88, 238; IV 12.
- 48.
Gombrich (1975: 134).
- 49.
MN III 163–177, 178–186.
- 50.
MN I 285–290; AN V 269–273.
- 51.
MN I 285–290; 387–392.
- 52.
MN I 285–290; AN V 269–273.
- 53.
MN I 285–290.
- 54.
SN V 457.
- 55.
AN V 269–273.
- 56.
MN I 285–290.
- 57.
AN V 269–273.
- 58.
AN II 126–128.
- 59.
AN II 126–128.
- 60.
AN II 126–128.
- 61.
SN IV 293.
- 62.
AN I 267.
- 63.
AN II 126.
- 64.
AN II 127–28.
- 65.
Paramatthadīpanī Saṅgahamahaṭīkapathā 200.
- 66.
Paṭis-A II 465.
- 67.
AN-A IV 190, cf. MN-A I 30.
- 68.
Buddhavaṃsa-Aṭṭhakathā 224.
- 69.
MN-A II 761; SN-A II 448.
- 70.
DN-A II 411.
- 71.
DN II 455.
- 72.
Vibh-A 521; DN-A II 480.
- 73.
AN-ṭīka II 28 VRI.
- 74.
DN-A III 740.
- 75.
MN-A II 999.
- 76.
Iti-A 40.
- 77.
Vbh 1027; AN I 124, 136.
- 78.
AN-ṭīka II 28 VRI.
- 79.
DN-A II 479.
- 80.
AN-ṭīka II 28 VRI.
- 81.
Vbh 1027; AN I 124, 136.
- 82.
DN-A II 479.
- 83.
Vbh 1027; AN I 124, 136.
- 84.
Vbh 1027; AN I 124, 136.
- 85.
DN-A II 479.
- 86.
Vbh 1027; AN I 124, 136.
- 87.
Pug 17; cf Paṭis-A 319; DN-A III 289–90.
- 88.
DN II 50.
- 89.
Analāyo (2007: 655).
- 90.
DN II 185–196; AN II 26–28.
- 91.
AN I 267.
- 92.
AN I 233:sīlesu paripūkāri and samādhism paripūkāri.
- 93.
SN V 198, 219.
- 94.
DN I 73. See Karunaratne Upali for a succinct account of the jhānas in the Pāli Nikāyas.
- 95.
AN-A III 236.
- 96.
Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi (tr). (1995: 540).
- 97.
AN I 64 so aññataraṃ santaṃ cetovimuttiṃ upasampajja viharati.
- 98.
AN II 87, 89–91.
- 99.
DN-ṭīkā II 152; I 345 sukkhavipassako ti samathabhāvanāsinehābhāva sukkha lūkhā asinidhā vā vipassanā etasāti sukkhavipassako.
- 100.
Visuddhimagga-mahāṭīkā 474 ajhānalābhi suddhavipassanāyānikova sukkhavipassako.
- 101.
Anudīparīpāthā, 63 suddhaṃ vipassanāyānaṃ yesam te suddhavipassanāyānikā suddham iti samathajjhānena asammissaṃ.
- 102.
Theragathā-A III 208 ye pana khaṇika-samādhi-matte ṭhatvā vipassanaṃ paṭṭhapetvā adhigata agga-maggā, te ādito antarantarā ca samādhijena jhānāṅgena vipassanābhantara paṭisandhānam abhāvā sukkah vipassanā etesan ti sukkhavipassakā nāma.
- 103.
AN-A III 132.
- 104.
AN-A III 143 vipassanaṃ pubbaṅgamaṃ purecārikaṃ katvā samathaṃ bhāveti, pakatīyā vipassanālabhī vipassanāya ṭhatvā samādhi uppadeti attho.
- 105.
SN V 159.
- 106.
Iti-A II 169.
- 107.
SN V 200.
- 108.
MN III 99–103.
- 109.
AN IV 62–3.
- 110.
AN I 64: idhāvuso bhikkhu sīlavā hoti, pātimokkhasaṃvarasaṃvuto viharati ācāragocarasampanno anumattesu vajjesu bhayadassāvī samādāya sikkhati sikkhāpādesu. so kāyassa bhedā paramaraṇā aññataraṃ devanikāyaṃ upapajjati. So tato cuto āgāmī hoti āgantā itthattaṃ. ayaṃ vuccatāvuso ajjhattasaññojano puggalo āgāmī āgantā itthattaṃ. Idhāvuso bhikkhu sīlavā hoti, pātimokkhasaṃvarasaṃvuto viharati ācāragocarasampanno anumattesu vajjesu bhayadassāvī samādāya sikkhati sikkhāpādesu.so aññataraṃ santaṃ cetovimuttiṃ upasamjja viharati. so kāyassa bhedā paramaraṇā aññataraṃ devanikāyaṃ upapajjati. so tato cuto anāgāmī hoti anāgantā itthattaṃ. ayaṃ vuccatāvuso bahiddhāsaññojano puggalo anāgāmī anāgantā itthattaṃ.
- 111.
Vbh 215 VRI.
- 112.
MN-A 14 VRI.
- 113.
AN IV 70: so bhave na rajjati, sambhave na rajjati. atthuttarim padaṃ santaṃ sammappaññāya passati. tañca khvāssa padaṃ na sabbena sabbaṃ sacchikataṃ hoti. tassa na sabbena sabbaṃ mānānusayo pahīno hoti. na sabbena sabbabhavarāgānusayo pahīno hoti. na sabbena avijjānusayo pahīno hoti. so pañcannaṃ oraṃbhāgiyānaṃ saññojanānaṃ parikkhayā antarāparinibbāyī hoti (see the Sect. 3.6.1” for details of the term antarāparinibbāyī). antarāparinibbāyīAntarāparinibbāyī).
- 114.
MN I 267.
- 115.
SN V 159.
- 116.
Hwang (2006: 27).
- 117.
Dhs 74.
- 118.
Sn 215.
- 119.
AN IV 7: fetters of greed, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, lust for existence, and ignorance.
- 120.
AN IV 9. This list includes envy and miserliness.
- 121.
Dhs 197: Ten fetters are: kāmarāgasaññojanaṃ, paṭighasaññojanaṃ, mānasaññojanaṃ, diṭṭhisaññojanaṃ, vicikicchāsaññojanaṃ sīlabbataparāmāsasaññojanaṃ, bhavarāgasaññojanaṃ, issasaññojanaṃ, macchariyasaññojanaṃ, and avijjāsaññojanaṃ (sensual passion as a fetter, aversion as a fetter, conceit as a fetter, view as a fetter, irrational doubt as a fetter, attachment to rituals and vows as a fetter, passion for becoming as a fetter, envy as a fetter, stinginess as a fetter, and ignorance as fetter).
- 122.
Somaratne (1999: 143).
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Nanda, A. (2024). The Stage of Non-returning. In: The Theory of the Four Stages of Liberation in Pāli Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55873-3_3
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