“I teach a dharma which is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end.” – The Buddha
I’ve written about the stages of insight leading up to the important spiritual event, which in the Theravada school of Buddhism is called stream-entry. In Zen it might be called kensho and in the Tibetan tradition it’s often referred to as the 1st bodhisattva bhumi. In any case, it’s a pivotal event that marks the first real taste that one has of emptiness or nirvana.1 So, why is stream-entry so important?
It’s often called “stream-entry” as one is said to enter the stream of awakening. The goal in this case is to cross the stream, which is a metaphor for samsara, and get to the other side. The interesting thing about this metaphor is that it hints at why stream-entry is so important, and the reason is two-fold. One is that the stream-winner has touched the water, they’ve had a glimpse of absolute reality, though it hasn’t been completely integrated into their experience (far from it actually). The other interesting thing in this metaphor is that once one has entered a stream they will be impacted by its momentum. In a sense, they are carried by the stream. One of my teachers talks about how stream-entry has to do with the opening of the “dharma eye,” which means that one has seen the truth of the dharma for themselves, but also means that they are now fully open to a process, that is more “doing them” then they are doing it.
Before stream-entry it can take quite a while to traverse the stages of insight, pass through the dark night, and get to the brink of this realization. And if the intensity of investigation and concentration is lessened during that time, it’s not hard to fall back and have to re-trace one’s steps. The journey often takes years of committed effort, and not everyone is successful—though many who really go for it are. But once one has entered the stream, the path really unfolds on its own. Progress will seem to occur—sometimes faster and sometimes slower—but isn’t as much tied to one’s sense of personal effort. Rather, it’s happening just as a result of paying attention to reality. This sense of the path “doing me” versus the other way around deepens from here, but it really finds its beginnings in the moment of stream-entry.
One could liken this process to that of a rocket ship taking off from Earth on its way to another planet. At the beginning of the launch the rocket ship must use most of its fuel to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth. But at a certain point, with enough thrust and momentum, it will achieve what’s called “escape velocity” where the ship is going fast enough and has gone far enough that it has escaped the gravitational pull of the planet. At some point, once it gets far enough into space it takes very little energy and effort to continue moving (as there is much less resistance). Stream-entry is like attaining escape velocity.
In a certain sense, one could go so far as to say that it’s in the bag from here, meaning that full enlightenment is guaranteed once you’ve gotten stream-entry. The traditional descriptions of the various stages of enlightenment have to do with how many re-births it takes until full enlightenment, and for the stream-winner it is said that it will take at most 7 lifetimes. While I think there are a lot of problems with this re-birth model, I do think that there is a hint of truth here, regarding the fact that once you’ve gotten the first glimpse it’s really just a matter of time. The practice from here is about learning to trust, more and more, the process of unfolding spiritual wisdom. The first layer is really the doozy, and though it isn’t always easier afterwards, one can rely more and more on the process of awakening itself.
- not to be confused with the prior experience called the Arising and Passing Away event, which is much easier to stumble upon and which people often confuse as being enlightenment. [↩]
December 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Whatever you do, don not cross the streams! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtPRnbSIkjk
December 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Hey, Vince. Cool entry
I must say the “doing them/doing me” is pretty much like my teacher teaches about “right mindfulness” that mindfulness will arises by itself whether you want to do it or not. It may be said that the process and you are attuned together.
I still don’t understand why tradition says it takes at most 7 lifetimes from the attuning to Oneness.
December 18th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Hi Pongsathorn,
Yeah, I basically think the 7 lifetime thing is a dogmatic remnant from culture that the Buddha came out of. I think the deeper and more useful meaning here, is that the process is doing itself from stream-entry on out and that arhantship is completely achievable from here. As far as I can see there’s no reason it shouldn’t be achievable in this lifetime, for everyone who puts in the requisite effort and who has already, as you put it, attuned to the process.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Right. The stream or “the process” is always already available for everyone.
December 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Thanks for the post. For a beginning meditator like myself (and that should be beginner with a capital B), reading something about this landmark is really useful. I especially benefited from your explanation of the double-meaning of ’stream entry’.
But one question for you: I’ve been reading stories about Buddhist teachers who got caught up in various scandals: financial, sexual, power-manipulation, and so on. Some of the writers discuss how the “institutionalization” of rituals, awakening, dharma transmission, etc., makes students less able to think for themselves and question their teachers. When you describe stream-entry as signifying ‘[awakening] is in the bag’, couldn’t that attitude lend itself to hubris and away from humility? Suppose I’ve had this experience that tells me that awakening (and compassion and loving-kindness, etc.) is now inevitable for me, then I’m a pretty (self-)Righteous Dude, right?
December 27th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Hi Alan,
Thanks for the comment. And for the question. Regarding your question: Will an understanding or interpretation of stream-entry as a landmark that will inevitably lead to a more full realization, lend itself toward hubris and righteousness and thereby encourage unethical behavior?
Not so far as I can tell. The converse seems to be much more true, where open discussions of awakening are largely avoided and people start to believe that awakening isn’t possible at all. This is a kind of false humility or fear of becoming arrogant. Or perhaps it’s a counter-cultural reaction to the achievement-driven neurosis of the mainstream culture in the West. Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s healthy and I think it leads to a lot of disempowered, and honestly “dumb meditators” who know almost nothing about the actual aims and landmarks of contemplative practice.
On the other hand, those people who have actually tasted the fruit of the practice (in this case nirvana) have a direct understanding of selflessness. If that isn’t a good seed for humility, I don’t know what is. Also, the confidence in the process in awakening is also the faith in the process (two sides of the same coin). Faith tends to foster humility. Most of the people I know who have gotten stream-entry tend to have a great respect for the impersonal and amazing nature of the awakening process itself. They have a much more direct experience of them not doing the process, but the process doing itself. They tend to be far less righteous, arrogant, & ridgid about awakening than those who haven’t yet realized what they have. In general.
All of that being said, it’s always possible that humans can co-opt the idea of awakening and use it too boost their neurosis. As far as I can tell awakening and neurosis can co-exist w/o any contradiction whatsoever. Those that are neurotic before awakening, if they manage to get stream-entry will almost certainly be neurotic afterwards. I don’t believe that the view that stream-entry is the 1st step in a very important journey will significantly change that in either direction. I do believe though that more people need to realize that it is possible to wake up, that others have done it, and that this is the whole point of contemplative inquiry.
As a side note I tend to distinguish pretty heavily between ultimate insight and the development of loving-kindness and compassion. There may be some overlap with these things, but compassion and loving-kindness are states of mind which can be cultivated, whereas ultimate insight is a progressive deepening of the understanding of the fundamental emptiness of all mind states. That understanding doesn’t necessarily change any of the states themselves, and so they can’t be equated.
December 28th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Very interesting. Various books and dharma talks have persuaded me that the fruits of meditation (and the entire 8-fold path?) need to be realized through experience, but it is also helpful to have someone talk openly about their experience. Thank you.
December 29th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Yeah, totally true. I’m glad this back-and-forth helpful. Transparent discussion, for me, has been one of the most helpful ways of keeping me inspired and informed on this path.
Best of luck,
-Vince
January 5th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
row, row… gently down the stream, dawg!
i’m immersing myself in Dharma Dan’s writings right now. thanks for the heads up. i could finally relate to your “ascending” tendencies
i have this tendency all along too. that’s why i got attracted to the dharma in the first place 
here’s to kick-ass dharma!
~C
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
I think the process is starting within me, I,m changing and I cant nor want to look back.
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:45 pm
is this stream entry?
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html