Dear Yong Peng,
I hope you recovered well.
op 03-02-2005 12:00 schreef Ong Yong Peng op ypong001@...:

> I have recently come across someone (online) who addresses himself as
> a sotapanna. Is this not an act or manifestation of attachment and
> pride?

N: Nobody knows about someone else whether he is a sotapanna, unless he is a
sotapanna himself. Also, I learn from the suttas that we only know another
person when we have been in his company for a long time and listened to his
words.
Y.P.: What does the Buddha advise people about giving themselves the

> title sotapanna before their names?

N: I think that we should not have any thoughts about this, because we never
know the real reasons why people act in such or such a way.

Y. P.: Furthermore, should a sotapanna, after realising that s/he has
achieved the first stage of sainthood, seek verification or confirmation
from the ariyans? This may, of course, be a daunting task today.
N: When there is true paññaa there cannot be doubt. It is lokuttara paññaa
that realizes nibbaana at the moment of enlightenment.
Y.P.: I have a separate question. I have long heard that the continuation

> of the Buddhadhamma is possible as long as there are at least four
> arhats living in the world. Where can we find this piece of
> information in the Tipitaka? Thank you.

N: I translated before from Thai Dhamma Issues and these have quotes which
may be of interest:
<The Vinaya, Book of Discipline (V), Cullavagga X, Eight Important Rules for
Nuns (the Brahma-faring will not last long) and the Gradual Sayings, Book of
the Eights, Ch VI, The Gotamid, §1, explain about the endurance and the
disappearance of the true Dhamma (saddhamma) in the Dispensation of the
Buddha Gotama. We read that the Buddha said to Ånanda:
³If, Ånanda, women had not obtained the going forth from home into
homelessness in the dhamma and discipline proclaimed by the Truth-finder,
the Brahma-faring, Ånanda, would have lasted long, true dhamma would have
endured for a thousand years. But since, Ånanda, women have gone forth... in
the dhamma and discipline proclaimed by the Truth-finder, now, Ånanda, the
Brahma-faring will not last long, true dhamma will endure only for five
hundred years....²

The Commentary to the Sutta ³The Gotamid², in the Gradual Sayings, the
Manorathapúraùí, gives an additional explanation:
³The words vassasahassaÿ, thousand years, that are used here, refer only to
the arahats who were endowed with the four analytical knowledges
(paìisambidhas ). But when we take into consideration the following thousand
years, there were only arahats who are sukkha vipassaka (who only developed
insight and did not attain jhåna). In the next period of thousand years (the
third period) there are anågåmis (who have attained the third stage of
enlightenment, the stage of the non-returner). In the next period of
thousand years (the fourth period) there are sakadågåmís (who have attained
the second stage of enlightenment, the stage of the once-returner). In the
next period of thousand years (the fifth period) there are sotåpannas (who
have attained the first stage of enlightenment, the stage of the
streamwinner). Thus, the saddhamma, the true dhamma, of the level of
pativedha, realization, can, according to this reckoning, last for five
thousand years. Evenso pariyatti dhamma (of the level of intellectual
understanding) can endure for five thousand years. Without pariyatti dhamma
there can be no pativedha dhamma. This means that when pariyatti dhamma has
disappeared the monkhood will have changed into something else.²

It can be concluded that at the present time, which is the third period of
thousand years in the Dispensation of the Buddha Gotama, nobody has the
excellent qualities of the degree of the arahat, and the highest attainment
will only be that of the anågåmí. >
Nina.