Dear Yufen,

I got these passages from Ven. K. Nananandas works, which are very
enlightening when it comes to such difficult terms. Hope these quotes are
not too long for your short question:




Now there is this term SA - UPAADISESA NIBBAANA DHAATU. Tak­ing the
term at its face value, some might think that the clinging is not yet over
for the arahants - that there is still a little bit left. The ara­hant,
though he has attained release and realized Nib­bàna, so long as he is
living in the world, has to relate to the ex­ternal objects in the world
somehow through his five senses, making use of them. Seeing it, some might
conclude that it is because of some residual clinging. But we have to
un­derstand this in the light of the simile of the worn-out skin. In the
case of the arahant, too, the sloughed off skin is still hanging on.

As a sidelight we may cite a remark of Venerable Sàriputta: Iminà påtikàyena
aññiyàmi haràyàmi jigucchàmi. "I am har­assed and repelled by this body, I
am ashamed of it". This is be­cause the body is for him something already
abandoned. All this goes to show that the arahant has an unattached,
unclinging at­titude.

Linguistic usage, which is a special feature of existence, is enli­vened by
the cravings, conceits, and views with which it is grasped. Worldlings
thrive on it, whereas the arahants are free from it. This is the upshot of
the above discussion on the terms anusaya and nis­saya.





ON THE STREAM-ENTERER:



Though it may be so in the case of the Arahant, what about the
stream-winner, the sotàpanna, one may ask. There is a gen­eral belief that
in the case of a sotàpanna the vision of Nibbàna is like a glimpse of a
distant lamp on a road with many bends and the sotà­panna has just
negotiated the first bend.

But in accordance with the Dhamma it may be said that the norm of immediacy
is applicable even to the knowledge of the first path. One who attains to
the fruit of stream-winning may be a beggar, an illiterate person, or a
seven year old child. It may be that he has heard the Dhamma for the first
time. All the same, a long line of epithets is used with reference to him in
the suttas as his qualifications: Diñ­ñhadhammo pattadhammo viditadhammo
pariyogàëhadhammo tiõõa­vicikiccho vigatakathaükatho vesàraj­jap­patto
aparappaccayo sat­thusàsane.

Diññhadhammo, he is one who has seen the Dhamma, the truth of Nibbàna. It is
said in the Ratanasutta that along with the vision of the first path, three
fetters are abandoned, namely sak­kàyadiññhi, the self-hood view,
vicikicchà, sceptical doubt, and sãlabbataparàmàsa, attachment to holy vows
and ascetic prac­tices. Some might argue that only these fetters are
abandoned at this stage, because it is a glimpse of Nibbàna from a distance.
But then there is this second epithet, pattadhammo, which means that he has
reached the Dham­ma, that he has arrived at Nibbàna. Not only that, he is
vidi­ta­dham­mo, he is one who has understood the Dhamma, which is

Nibbàna. He is pariyogàëha­dhammo, he has plunged into the Dhamma, he has
dived into the Dhamma, which is Nibbàna. He is tiõõavicikiccho, he has
crossed over doubts. Vigatakathaükatho, his waverings are gone.
Vesàrajjappatto, he has attained to proficiency. Aparappac­cayo
sat­thusàsane, in regard to the dispensation of the teacher he is not
de­pendent on others. And that is to say that he could at­tain to Nib­bàna
even without another's help, though of course with the teacher's help he
would attain it sooner.

So this string of epithets testifies to the efficacy of the realiza­tion by
the first path. It is not a mere glimpse of Nibbàna from a distance. It is a
reaching, an arrival or a plunge into Nibbàna. For purposes of illustration
we may bring in a legend connected with the history of Sri Lanka. It is said
that when King Gajabàhu invaded India, one of his soldiers, Nãla, who had
Herculean strength, parted the seawater with a huge iron bar in order to
make way for the king and the army. Now when the supramun­dane path arises
in the mind the power of thought is as mighty as the blow of Nãla with his
iron bar. Even with the first blow the sea-water parted, so that one could
see the bot­tom. Similarly the sweeping influxes are parted for a moment
when the transcen­dental path arises in a mind, enabling one to see the very
bot­tom - Nibbàna. In other words, all preparations (saïkhàras) are sti­lled
for a moment, enabling one to see the cessation of prepara­tions.


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