pursuit of stream entry, path vs fruit attainments, sa-k-kāya-diṭṭhi

A friend asked these questions:

have you came across a definitive reference for what marks path vs fruit attainments?

How is everyday life different after stream entry?

what is the connection between dhamma eye and non abiding mind/perception of impermanence?

What is it like to drop sakkayaditthi?

Non abiding might be a Mahayana word but it’s related to the

saying in mn62 meditate like space for space is not established anywhere.

Study the self, forget the self, actualized by all things.

It’s also related to centerlessness and these terms are used to describe stream entry

sakkāyadiṭṭhi defn. from DPD:

view that one is an embodied being; belief in self-identity; 

the view that this mind-body complex is an independent entity [sakkāya + diṭṭhi] ✔

Frankk response:

MN 62 (my slightly annotated version of it)

https://lucid24.org/mn/main/mn062/index.html#62

I would say in MN 62, if you look in context at the all 5 elements (4 elements + space),

all 5 elements, not just space, the Buddha emphasizes one being peaceful and non-reactive to any external stimuli. 

I don't really see it has having any specific tie to stream entry or any higher path + fruit,

but more of an expression of  upekkha (equanimous-observation) and aneñja (imperturbability),

and also khanti (patient-endurance).

The first two are the more dominant elements of 4th jhāna,

and khanti is explicitly tied to sammā-samādhi (all 4 jhānas).

"Be like space" is very similar to how he describes the things upekkha counters in the section on 4 brahma-viharas:

62.4.1.4 (upekkha → remove patigha / irritation)

upekkhaṃ, rāhula, bhāvanaṃ bhāvehi.	"Rāhula, develop meditation on equanimous-observation.
upekkhañhi te, rāhula, bhāvanaṃ bhāvayato	when you do this meditation,
yo paṭigho so pahīyissati.	one's irritation will-be-abandoned.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu has an excellent article on Dhamma-eye and stream-entry here:

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/uncollected/DhammaEye.html

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/uncollected/ThingsAsTheyCanBe.html

But even with his explanation, 

and he seems to have a higher bar and tighter requirement for stream entry among the teachers and interpretations out there,

to me it doesn't give any concrete markers (that one can truly verify for oneself) for any of the specific questions you are asking about.

On the other hand, you read about the drunkard from SN 55 who was declared by Buddha to be a stream enterer,

and that all the people who knew the drunkard were flabbergasted that he was,

which makes stream entry seem not to have such a high bar.

I've never understood people's obsession with pursuing stream entry.

(I understand intellectually that people want the guarantee of having only 7 more births at the most.)

I come at this from a pragmatic point of view.

If a teacher you have confidence in,

if even the Buddha himself were alive and here today to declare you were a stream enterer,

how do you actually know you are?

In the worst case scenario, 7 life times being reborn can still seem an interminably long time of dukkha.

If one's samādhi is not strong enough, 

one doesn't even remember whether one is a stream enterer (from a past life),

or carry clear detailed memories of the Dhamma they've learned so far.

Brahma lifespan is in the aeons, 

Formless beings much much longer.

Those lifespans can be long enough to personally witness the birth and death of more than one Sammā sam-Buddha!

Personally, if I have to live that long, I'd only be satisfied with doing that as a non-returner.

Don't limit yourself

Most people think to themselves privately,

"Having zero defilement is too lofty of a goal, I'm not even close to qualified or capable."

And they come up with all kinds of rationalizations to support that.

"It would be arrogant to think that *I* could possibly become fully enlightened in this lifetime.

"People would see me as not being humble."

If you think that way, you're already defeated before you even get out of starting gate.

How do you know you can't zero your defilements?

Have you tried?

Why limit yourself?

You can decrease your defilements by 0.001% right?

By mathematical induction, 

then you can get it to zero.

Progress is not linear.

Here's a big tip.

Brahmacariya, good diet and exercise are important.

Without that, you can't have strong samādhi.

If you develop strong samādhi,

have a strong store of internal energy built up in your jhāna battery,

you find that your courage,

and ability to tackle great challenges increases immensely.

Mentally you really open up,

you don't engage in mentally self-defeating sabotage of speculating what you can't do,

you focus on what you should do,

what you need to do.

Arahant or Bust

The last instruction the Buddha gave before he died, was 

 DN ^16.35 - The Buddha’s Last Words

Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:	Then the Buddha said to the monks:
“handa dāni, bhikkhave, āmantayāmi vo,	“Come now, monks, I say to you all:
vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā”ti.	‘Conditions fall apart. Persist with assiduity.’”
Ayaṃ tathāgatassa pacchimā vācā.	These were the Realized One’s last words.

Essentially, appamāda, assiduity (ass - sit - do -it -ty) means

Sit your ass down until you can do it (realize arahantship).

Deep dive into appamāda:

https://lucid24.org/tped/a/appamada/index.html

See especially AN 9.12, where the Buddha tells the monks he never taught 

anything below striving for arahantship before that occasion,

because he did not want the monks to be negligent (pamāda, the opposite of appamāda/assiduity). 

For lay people, pamāda/negligence would be not having good sīla, being liable to be reborn in woeful states like hell and animal realm,

But for monastics, and serious yogis,  the proper thing to strive for is full awakening,

complete eradication of all defilements.

Otherwise the Buddha considers you pamāda, negligent, a slacker.

From a pragmatic point of view,

You can only truly know any path or fruit for yourself if you develop your samādhi to high degree.

If you develop very accurate psychic powers,

you can see past lives and also see future lives and how many lives you have left.

SN 8.7 gives the impression that less than half of people who become Arahants have that ability (divine eye)

SN ^8.7 of 500 arahants, 60 freed both ways
“There is nothing, Sāriputta, that these five hundred monks have done by way of body or speech that I would criticize.
Imesañhi, sāriputta, pañcannaṁ bhikkhusatānaṁ saṭṭhi bhikkhū tevijjā, saṭṭhi bhikkhū chaḷabhiññā, saṭṭhi bhikkhū ubhatobhāgavimuttā, atha itare paññāvimuttā”ti.  
For of these five hundred monks,
sixty have the three knowledges,
sixty have the six direct knowledges,
sixty are freed both ways,
and the rest are freed by wisdom.”

(180 have supernormal powers and/or formless attainments, 320 only have four jhānas)

From the pragmatic point of view, 

the only measurable qualities I'm interested in developing 

(as opposed to most people's pursuit of path, fruit, stream entry)

is that my defilements are decreasing and heading toward zero as quickly as possible. 

If you are keep brahmacariya, eat and exercise healthily, 

develop strong samādhi,

(IMO people who don't keep brahmacariya put a ceiling on their samādhi at low quality first or second jhāna)

you can see very clearly for yourself if your defilements are increasing or decreasing.

You can notice how fast you recognize a defilement is present,

how easy or not it is to drop it,

whether you're improving, backsliding.

If your defilements are not yet at zero, 

then the job isn't finished.

 

Again, the Buddha's last words:

Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:	Then the Buddha said to the monks:
“handa dāni, bhikkhave, āmantayāmi vo,	“Come now, monks, I say to you all:
vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā”ti.	‘Conditions fall apart. Persist with assiduity.’”
Ayaṃ tathāgatassa pacchimā vācā.	These were the Realized One’s last words.

When you study the suttas carefully, cross reference suttas,

connect the dots,

you find that crucial single word terms have really loaded meanings,

can't be translated with one word (to impart full meaning).

"Appamāda" really means,

Every single moment you give the Dhamma everything you got,

using noble eightfold path every moment,

with the spiritual urgency like your head is on fire.

"Sati" means:

Sati is R.A.D. 

You R)emember and A)pply D)hamma

every moment, 

or you're in grave danger from Māra.

If a specific Dhamma is not given in the context of a sutta passage,

the default value of Dhamma there is the 4 satipaṭṭhāna.

Verify for yourself.

That correct definition of sati works in every single sutta passage,

even unusual ones.

Appamāda

Pamāda