<p>To find or identify noble people can be difficult, even impossible, because you yourself must have some idea about the True Dhamma to be able to do this. Therefore, a problem arises similar to the question of: "<em>What occurs 1st, the chicken or the egg?</em>" </p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.095x.nymo.html" rel="nofollow">Canki Sutta</a> provides the following preliminary answer to the question:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>How is truth discovered? There is the case, Bharadvaja, where a monk lives in dependence on a certain village or town. Then a householder
  or householder's son goes to him and observes him with regard to three
  mental qualities — qualities based on greed, qualities based on
  aversion, qualities based on delusion: 'Are there in this venerable
  one any such qualities based on greed that, with his mind overcome by
  these qualities, he might say, "I know," while not knowing, or say, "I
  see," while not seeing; or that he might urge another to act in a way
  that was for his/her long-term harm &amp; pain?' As he observes him, he
  comes to know, 'There are in this venerable one no such qualities
  based on greed, hated &amp; delusion. His bodily behavior &amp; verbal behavior are those of
  one not greedy, hateful or delued. And the Dhamma he teaches is deep, hard to see, hard
  to realize, tranquil, refined, <strong>beyond the scope of conjecture</strong>, subtle,
  <strong>to-be-experienced by the wise</strong>. This Dhamma can't easily be taught by a
  person who's greedy, hateful or delued.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>The <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn20/sn20.007.than.html" rel="nofollow">Ani Sutta</a> also provides possible guidance. It states: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>...in the course of the future there will be monks who won't listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their
  meaning, transcendent, <strong>connected with</strong> <strong>emptiness (sunnata)</strong> — are being recited.
  They won't lend ear, won't set their hearts on knowing them, won't
  regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering. But they will
  listen when discourses that are literary works — the works of poets,
  elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of
  disciples — are recited. They will lend ear and set their hearts on
  knowing them.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Today, many Buddhists claim to study words from the Buddha only but when these individuals explain the core teachings, such as Dependent Origination, their explanations do not accord with a dhamma that "<em>can be experienced for the wise for themselves</em>" (per the <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.095x.nymo.html" rel="nofollow">Canki Sutta</a>) or that are "<em>connected to emptiness</em>" (per the <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn20/sn20.007.than.html" rel="nofollow">Ani Sutta</a>). Instead, their explanations are "<em>within the scope of conjecture</em>", namely, unverifiable speculative theories about an unknowable past &amp; future. </p>

<p>In summary, if you yourself are not a stream-enterer or are not well versed in the teachings of the Buddha, you probably cannot measure if another person is a stream-enterer, regardless of how virtuous that person may appear externally. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-03T22:19:32.000Z
2016-10-03T22:34:18.280Z
2016-10-03T22:34:18.280Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>The stage of enlightenment can be identified by the presence or absence of each fetter. In the case of a Sotapanna, it is the absence of the 1st 3 fetters:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Zpffb.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Zpffb.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_(Buddhism)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fetter (Buddhism)</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-01T14:59:11.997Z
2020-02-01T14:59:11.997Z
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
<p>i thought i remember i read a sutra that say whoever come across this sutra is a sotapanna and now i can't remember where i read it from. but does it matter that much to find a sotapanna? wasn't it better if you concentrate on cultivating yourself because you may have already encounter some in your present life. Stream entrant are said to have unshakeable faith in buddhism , doesn't that mean if the stream entrant has already meet buddhism, you are most likely to meet them where the buddhists assembly will gather?  </p>

<p>i am apologizing if what i wrote here is offending anyone. communication is not my strong point.</p>

<p>Added note: 
if anyone was thinking about reaching sotapanna earlier there is this samanthabadra text that if one listen recite by a qualify person, one can reach the stage of within three lifetimes. so it might be a good idea to listen to this once so that in future lifetimes it will be easier for one to attain the three lifetimes (unless you had a commitment with your guru, you may need to ask your teacher) 
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W91pUTf2Jc&amp;t=37s&amp;list=PLjUJNKDN2ecAZtNHQElrb591QmSj_3z-9&amp;index=41" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W91pUTf2Jc&amp;t=37s&amp;list=PLjUJNKDN2ecAZtNHQElrb591QmSj_3z-9&amp;index=41</a></p>

<p>another two i believe that help me in my buddhist path is both om mani padme hum and tara mantra in which i think tara mantra really helped one in attain spiritual path faster. i was relying on tara mantra to help get out of my bleak circumstances and to see if it can set my wealth path right on the track, although not much changes in my worldly life (but i still think it has probably help me out numerous time in very difficult and challenging situation), my spiritual buddhism path seem to progressing so fast by leaps and bounds as if there is no tomorrow.</p>

<p>added note 2:
found a sutra that help one to attain stream enterer stage known as sanghata sutra. anyone who can read this sutra is consider rare. and do be open minded when reading this sutra.
<a href="http://fpmt.org/education/teachings/sutras/sanghata-sutra-in-various-languages/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://fpmt.org/education/teachings/sutras/sanghata-sutra-in-various-languages/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-09T09:23:24.170Z
2017-03-08T05:58:55.100Z
2017-03-08T05:58:55.100Z
pheon
<p>In <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.7.02.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Udana 7.2</a>, Ven. Sariputta (the Arahant) tried to teach Ven. Bhaddiya without realizing that he too was an Arahant.</p>

<p>The Buddha saw this and exclaimed the verse, describing Ven. Bhaddiya:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>He has cut the cycle, has gone away to freedom from longing. The
  dried-up stream no longer flows. The cycle, cut, no longer turns.
  This, just this, is the end of stress.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This shows that only a Sammasambuddha has the psychic or supernatural ability to recognize the attainment of others. Even one Arahant cannot recognize another Arahant.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-03T03:47:12.843Z
2018-02-03T03:55:45.100Z
2018-02-03T03:55:45.100Z
ruben2020
<p>I am a sotapanna. When I started my journey in Buddhism 16 years ago I would search the internet looking for confirmation. That yes: this is possible for me. I would go seraching "Enlightened Beings", "Where can I find an Enlightened Being" and such. Sadly, I could find very little. So I was left with reading the suttas. Misinterpreting them. And really left to struggle badly until I came across Mooji on Youtube about 3 years ago. THats where my life took a radical shift. I had always had a serious "spiritual" bent, but I could neveer gain a solid footing in it. It seemed as if any progress I would make would be washed away by the 'world'. So I would spend my evenings building up my 'metta' and it would be washed away by the happenings of the 'worldly people' (I realize now, that it was only my mind that was unstable, but I'm digressing). So I did not really gain a solid footing in spirituality until i met Mooji on Youtube. It was being in the presence of a real live Master that I believe completely shifted my life from an aspirant to 'established'. I felt like I had found a solid ground to rest upon. So when I realized the true nature of reality: That I am Nothing, That everything comes from Nothing Including "Me",That Emptiness the Basis of Everything, I decided that I want to make myself available. I didn't want to hole up in a cave in the Himalayas and meditate till I die. (Although that feels really tempting some days). So here I am</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-02T18:21:14.127Z
2018-02-02T18:21:14.127Z
Alok Karnik
<p>I just wan to know whether there are any measurements advised by the Buddha to identify a stream enterer (sotapanna). I know for a fact that from the stream enterer and above, all four types have given up on self doesn't tell that he/she is enlightened or in this state or not. </p>

<p>So how are we to find these noble people? Are there any instructions and where is it cited? </p>

<enlightenment><nirvana><stream-entry><arahant><sotapanna>
How to identify a sotapanna (stream enterer)
# How to identify a sotapanna (stream enterer)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-03)

I just wan to know whether there are any measurements advised by the Buddha to identify a stream enterer (sotapanna). I know for a fact that from the stream enterer and above, all four types have given up on self doesn't tell that he/she is enlightened or in this state or not.

So how are we to find these noble people? Are there any instructions and where is it cited?

**Tags:** enlightenment, nirvana, stream-entry, arahant, sotapanna


---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-10-03. Score: 2

To find or identify noble people can be difficult, even impossible, because you yourself must have some idea about the True Dhamma to be able to do this. Therefore, a problem arises similar to the question of: "*What occurs 1st, the chicken or the egg?*"

The [Canki Sutta](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.095x.nymo.html) provides the following preliminary answer to the question:

> *How is truth discovered? There is the case, Bharadvaja, where a monk lives in dependence on a certain village or town. Then a householder
> or householder's son goes to him and observes him with regard to three
> mental qualities — qualities based on greed, qualities based on
> aversion, qualities based on delusion: 'Are there in this venerable
> one any such qualities based on greed that, with his mind overcome by
> these qualities, he might say, "I know," while not knowing, or say, "I
> see," while not seeing; or that he might urge another to act in a way
> that was for his/her long-term harm & pain?' As he observes him, he
> comes to know, 'There are in this venerable one no such qualities
> based on greed, hated & delusion. His bodily behavior & verbal behavior are those of
> one not greedy, hateful or delued. And the Dhamma he teaches is deep, hard to see, hard
> to realize, tranquil, refined, **beyond the scope of conjecture**, subtle,
> **to-be-experienced by the wise**. This Dhamma can't easily be taught by a
> person who's greedy, hateful or delued.*

The [Ani Sutta](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn20/sn20.007.than.html) also provides possible guidance. It states:

> *...in the course of the future there will be monks who won't listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their
> meaning, transcendent, **connected with** **emptiness (sunnata)** — are being recited.
> They won't lend ear, won't set their hearts on knowing them, won't
> regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering. But they will
> listen when discourses that are literary works — the works of poets,
> elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of
> disciples — are recited. They will lend ear and set their hearts on
> knowing them.*

Today, many Buddhists claim to study words from the Buddha only but when these individuals explain the core teachings, such as Dependent Origination, their explanations do not accord with a dhamma that "*can be experienced for the wise for themselves*" (per the [Canki Sutta](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.095x.nymo.html)) or that are "*connected to emptiness*" (per the [Ani Sutta](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn20/sn20.007.than.html)). Instead, their explanations are "*within the scope of conjecture*", namely, unverifiable speculative theories about an unknowable past & future.

In summary, if you yourself are not a stream-enterer or are not well versed in the teachings of the Buddha, you probably cannot measure if another person is a stream-enterer, regardless of how virtuous that person may appear externally.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-01. Score: 0

The stage of enlightenment can be identified by the presence or absence of each fetter. In the case of a Sotapanna, it is the absence of the 1st 3 fetters:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Zpffb.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Zpffb.png)

Source: [Fetter (Buddhism)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_(Buddhism))


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-02-09. Score: 0

i thought i remember i read a sutra that say whoever come across this sutra is a sotapanna and now i can't remember where i read it from. but does it matter that much to find a sotapanna? wasn't it better if you concentrate on cultivating yourself because you may have already encounter some in your present life. Stream entrant are said to have unshakeable faith in buddhism , doesn't that mean if the stream entrant has already meet buddhism, you are most likely to meet them where the buddhists assembly will gather?

i am apologizing if what i wrote here is offending anyone. communication is not my strong point.

Added note:
if anyone was thinking about reaching sotapanna earlier there is this samanthabadra text that if one listen recite by a qualify person, one can reach the stage of within three lifetimes. so it might be a good idea to listen to this once so that in future lifetimes it will be easier for one to attain the three lifetimes (unless you had a commitment with your guru, you may need to ask your teacher)
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W91pUTf2Jc&t=37s&list=PLjUJNKDN2ecAZtNHQElrb591QmSj_3z-9&index=41>

another two i believe that help me in my buddhist path is both om mani padme hum and tara mantra in which i think tara mantra really helped one in attain spiritual path faster. i was relying on tara mantra to help get out of my bleak circumstances and to see if it can set my wealth path right on the track, although not much changes in my worldly life (but i still think it has probably help me out numerous time in very difficult and challenging situation), my spiritual buddhism path seem to progressing so fast by leaps and bounds as if there is no tomorrow.

added note 2:
found a sutra that help one to attain stream enterer stage known as sanghata sutra. anyone who can read this sutra is consider rare. and do be open minded when reading this sutra.
<http://fpmt.org/education/teachings/sutras/sanghata-sutra-in-various-languages/>


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-02-03. Score: 0

In [Udana 7.2](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.7.02.than.html), Ven. Sariputta (the Arahant) tried to teach Ven. Bhaddiya without realizing that he too was an Arahant.

The Buddha saw this and exclaimed the verse, describing Ven. Bhaddiya:

> He has cut the cycle, has gone away to freedom from longing. The
> dried-up stream no longer flows. The cycle, cut, no longer turns.
> This, just this, is the end of stress.

This shows that only a Sammasambuddha has the psychic or supernatural ability to recognize the attainment of others. Even one Arahant cannot recognize another Arahant.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-02-02. Score: -1

I am a sotapanna. When I started my journey in Buddhism 16 years ago I would search the internet looking for confirmation. That yes: this is possible for me. I would go seraching "Enlightened Beings", "Where can I find an Enlightened Being" and such. Sadly, I could find very little. So I was left with reading the suttas. Misinterpreting them. And really left to struggle badly until I came across Mooji on Youtube about 3 years ago. THats where my life took a radical shift. I had always had a serious "spiritual" bent, but I could neveer gain a solid footing in it. It seemed as if any progress I would make would be washed away by the 'world'. So I would spend my evenings building up my 'metta' and it would be washed away by the happenings of the 'worldly people' (I realize now, that it was only my mind that was unstable, but I'm digressing). So I did not really gain a solid footing in spirituality until i met Mooji on Youtube. It was being in the presence of a real live Master that I believe completely shifted my life from an aspirant to 'established'. I felt like I had found a solid ground to rest upon. So when I realized the true nature of reality: That I am Nothing, That everything comes from Nothing Including "Me",That Emptiness the Basis of Everything, I decided that I want to make myself available. I didn't want to hole up in a cave in the Himalayas and meditate till I die. (Although that feels really tempting some days). So here I am


---

