Miscellaneous Topics – 2477
With the Non-returners (
Anāgāmī-puggala
), there are five kinds: Non-returners
extinguished in between (
antarā parinibbāyī-anāgāmī
); Non-returners who cut
the time short (
upahacca-parinibbāyī-anāgāmī
); Non-returners who extinguish
with an intention (
sasaṅkhāra-parinibbāyī-anāgāmī
); Non-returners who
extinguish without an intention (
asaṅkhāra-parinibbāyī-anāgāmī
); Non-
returners who flow upstream to to the highest Brahma realm (
uddhaṁsota-
akaniṭṭha-gāmi-anāgāmī
).
The Non-returners dwell in the five Pure Abodes (
Suddhāvāsa
), out of which
five classes of Non-returners (
Anāgāmī
) dwell in Aviha
realm, five in Atappā
realm, five in Sudassa realm, five in Sudassī realm, and four, those other than
Non-returners who flow upstream to to the highest Brahma realm, thus making
24 classes of Non-returner (
Anāgāmī-puggala
).
The Arahats are of two kinds: the dry-insight (
sukkha-vipassaka
) Arahat and the
coupled with tranquillity (
samatha-yānika
) Arahat. The former refers to those
noble ones (
ariya
) who attain the Arahat fruition (
Arahatta-phala
) without
achieving absorption (
jhāna
) but through insight development alone; the latter
to those noble ones (
ariya
) who use absorption (
jhāna
) and consequent psychic
powers as the vehicle of attaining the Arahat fruition. Adding up the four types
of noble ones (
ariya
), we have: Stream-enterer (
Sotāpanna
), 12 kinds; Once-
returners (
Sakadāgāmī
), 12 kinds; Non-returners (
Anāgāmī
), 24 kinds; Arahat, 2
kinds of attainers, 54 in total.
In gaining path-knowledge (
magga-ñāṇa
), a noble one (
ariya
) may, at the
moment of the arising of path-knowledge (
magga-ñāṇa
), either have his
consciousness led by faith (
saddhā
) or wisdom (
paññā
). Thus there are two basic
categories of noble ones (
ariya
), either of whom make up the above 54 classes.
That is why it is said that there are altogether 108 classes of noble ones (
ariya
).
The Frightful Nature of Sensual Desires
The following account of how detachment from sensual pleasures takes place
(
kāmādīnava-kathā
) is based on the Discourse concerning Potaliya (
Potaliya-
sutta
, MN 54):
1. The five objects of sensual pleasures are less of enjoyment, and more of
suffering and grief (
appassāda-kāmā
).