Oof: smells like sotapanna

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katy steger,thru11615 with thanks, modified 12 Years ago at 6/23/12 3:10 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 6/23/12 3:10 PM

Oof: smells like sotapanna

Posts: 1740 Join Date: 10/1/11 Recent Posts
Yeah, I have to wonder if Gotama had a sense of humor that just ekes out through the suttas 2,000 years later.

A monastic reminded me (hmmm, I wonder why? ;) a few weeks ago of the Khemaka Sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya . This sutta analogically compares this constantly arising "I am" (which can be subtle, such as faintly laying some claim on the increasingly dependable practice) as like a washed garment that still smells of its deeply saturated odor of cow-dung.

If analogies knew no limits, then maybe sotapanna can be welcomed, "Congrats. Um, you smell like sh*t. Keep washing."
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fivebells , modified 12 Years ago at 6/23/12 3:27 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 6/23/12 3:27 PM

RE: Oof: smells like sotapanna

Posts: 563 Join Date: 2/25/11 Recent Posts
One of my favorites.
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katy steger,thru11615 with thanks, modified 12 Years ago at 6/24/12 7:32 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 6/24/12 7:26 AM

RE: Oof: smells like sotapanna

Posts: 1740 Join Date: 10/1/11 Recent Posts
And just so nobody thinks the suttas say a sotapanna smells like dung, to be clear, my humor here is definitely taking (dis)advantage** of the Khemaka sutta, which describes cleaning a dirty cloth using three ingredients to remove a stain from the cloth (the ingredients are salt, lye and cow dung); the smell of these cleaning agents remains after the cleaning. It is to say while "I am" practicing to understand/to see the characteristic anatta, for example, the agent doing the practice and invesigation "I" exists and must be allowed to air out/dissolve away after even cravings are handled.

Soooo, the analogy goes on to say that the full end of the smells are handled this way: "The washerman gives it to the owners, the owners put it away in a scent-infused wicker hamper, and its lingering residual scent of salt earth, lye, or cow-dung is fully obliterated." An the agent "I am" is comparably dissipated as follows "As he keeps focusing on the arising & passing away of these five clinging-aggregates, the lingering residual 'I am' conceit, 'I am' desire, 'I am' obsession is fully obliterated."


**Edit

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