The Paticca-Samuppada View

Sotapan: Stream-Entry - Full Enlightenment Assured within 7 Rebirths.

Extinguish the first 3 fetters: See U Kyaw Min's Buddhist Abhidhamma, p. 19

1. The belief in a permanent personality (self)
2. Doubt
3. Clinging to rules and rituals

The Buddha was practical and down-to-earth. What he said required no faith, meaning that each stage of enlightenment had to do with here-and-now, not some distant and post-mortem heavenly experience. Hence all of the stages of enlightenment can be experienced in this very life. This strongly suggests that the rebirths referred to are the births of self or, in modern terminology, the manifestation of a subpersona. A sotapan notes the birth of a personality figuratively once in seven occurrences. What is noting? Ordinarily the births of subpersona occur in a continuous, unconscious flow. By unconscious I mean one inhabits or becomes the subpersona birthed. The subpersona is not seen as a transient bubble of consciousness. The bubble engulfs consciousness such that it is perceived as "I am." Noting is perception detached from transient bubble.

The first time this occurs, especially if the subpersona involves strong addiction to a particularly toxic mind state, is stunning. In December of 1993 I was doing a walking meditation at the Last Resort in Utah when I noted doubt arise as a subpersona. Up to that moment I understood "my self" doubt as a fundamental constituent of me, inseparable from my self image. After 4 days of silence, the gap between the origination of doubt as an object & the merging of doubt with my self image had widened to such an extent that I had a choice. Merge or watch. I chose to watch & to my delight doubt simply passed like a cloud across my mind & disappeared. In addition the belief in a permanent self & all the rules & rituals associated with "my self" doubt weakened. The experience wasn’t stream entry but the first occasion of noting one in seven. As the frequency of noting the birth of subpersona increases to approximately one in seven, the practice makes the process of liberation quite clear, not as an objective to be achieved but as a natural conclusion to the dissolution of all subpersona.

The sotapan's concentration is sufficient to penetrate the veil of maya often, figuratively once in seven occurrences. Strongly configured self-images in the thought forms of doubt and rituals quickly trigger recognition, in the words of Mahasi Sayadaw, the sotapan "notes these configurations of self and the note is followed closely by the dissolution of ignorance or wrong view of false self-image." This is an experience of annata and anicca (impersonal and impermanent characteristics of existence). See Mahasi Sayadaw's The Satipatthana Vipasana Meditation.

Having entered (become aware of) the stream of rebirths, the illusion of the moving picture of self begins to dissolve. Full enlightenment or liberation is assured because the glimpses of freedom are self-reinforcing (inherently directed toward dissolution of the illusion of maya). The practice of anapanasati becomes clearer and more precise (mindful resolution of each breath, each feeling, each mental object and each manifestation of the dharma becomes easier). See Buddhadasa's Mindfulness with Breathing.

Dependent Co-Origination: (paticca-samuppada) Birthing and attachment become clearer and clearer to the sotapan. The connection between the birth of a "self" or subpersona, the illusion of the solidity and the associated unnecessary limitation becomes transparent. The taste of freedom draws one deeper into the stream.