Types of the Anagami Persons

Lecture;- Dr. Ven. Bamunugama Santhavimala

Student; Ven. H. Pemarathana

Re.No; PGISH/M.Phil/17/18/107
BST601 – THERAVADA BUDDHIST SOTERIOLOGY
Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
(PGIHS)
University of Peradeniya

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 Introduction
Buddhis has the pure goal. It must be achieved by experiencing. Nibbana is the final goal
so we must have to go step and step with experiencing to attain some kinds of levels. When it is
going to final goal we have to become mainly those steps which it the results and path. There are
four steps in Buddhism which we must be discerned. Those are, Stream enter, once returner,
nonreturner and arhat. In Pali canon has emphasized how we are attained to that level and what
kinds of methods we must be followed. In this paper are illustrated anāgāmi with accordance of
some suttas in pali canon.

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Types of the Anagami

When it studies Buddhism the results is appeared which the nibbana is final goal but, before
the attaining to nibbana it must be fulfilled four stages of enlightenment process. There are many
methods can be experienced to achieve that stages;

First Stage; Stream enter.

Taking nirvana as implying freedom from, the four stages can be defined in terms of what
we progressively become free of. In each case, the four stages signify a break from identification
with a number of fetters. I will stray from traditional descriptions in an attempt to clarify their
phenomenological reading.
The three fetters dismantled during the first stage are;

1. Identity view/self-identity (seeing through the self-making compulsion)

The first fetter is concerned with how we actively view the self: the illusion of a fixed,
permanent self-existing I that is apart from the world. It is the most important fetter to
deconstruct as it forms the basis of all the others. Gaining freedom from this fetter
requires that we break this illusion and see clearly how the self, as we thought it to exist,
is empty of any solid, fixed features and how it is hollow and beset by spaciousness. As
an intrapsychic phenomenon and form of psycho-emotional entrapment, gaining freedom
from it involves a fundamental break from the nucleus of self-identity.
2. Sceptical doubt (specifically regarding the truth of non-self, impermanence and its
implications, the root causes of the suffering-self) The second fetter is sceptical doubt
which typically relates to Buddhist teachings. Shorn of Buddhism as a social construct,
what form does such doubt take if the person is not a Buddhist? That is to say, if a non-
Buddhist gains freedom from this fetter, how does he or she experience it and know it to
be so? Which teachings should we assume are confirmed by this process? Do we include
moral injunctions to avoid oral sex for example? A crude example I admit, but the point
should be clear; doubt in this case has to be towards phenomena that are not restricted to
or by Buddhism. Buddhism articulates well a number of core insights that relate to the
nature of the self. These form the basis of a matrix of insights that are fed by destabilising

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 identification with a phantom core self. To lose doubt towards the veracity of these
insights would imply that they begin to form the basis of the world view held by the
person;
i. The absence of independent selves
ii. The nature of the suffering-self
iii. The impermanence of everything
iv. The need for some form of ethical behaviour if we are to avoid creating
additional suffering
3. Clinging to rites and rituals (gaining sobriety on the nature of external form & its
relationship to actual, direct experience/addressing dissonance) + (losing enamoredness
for solely symbolic forms, or the stabilisers of identity)

The second stage; once returner

'Sakadagami' literally means once returner'. A sakadagami will be reborn only once in the
sense sphere. He will then become an arahat and, after that last life, will be in Nibbana forever.
The cittas that arise in a sakadagami are the same as those which arise in a sotapanna with the only
exception that a sakadagami enjoy sakadagami-phala-samapatti instead of sotapatti-phala-
samapatti Compared to a sotapatti, a sakadagami has less raga, (lust, greed), dosa (ill will, hatred)
and moha (delusion). Thus, he is nobler than a sotapanna.

There are six kinds of sakadagamis, namely:

(1) Those who attain sakadagami in the human world and attain parinibbana in the human world,

(2) Those who attain sakadagami in the human world and attain parinibbana in a heavenly realm,

(3) Those who attain sakadagami in a heavenly realm and attain parinibbana in the heavenly
world.

(4) Those who attain sakadagami in a heavenly realm and attain parinibbana in the human world,

(5) Those who attain sakadagami in the human plane, and after being born once in a heavenly
realm, attain parinibbana in the human plane,

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(6) Those who attain sakadagami in a heavenly realm, and after being born once in the human
plane, attain parinibbana in a heavenly realm.

The three stage; non returner (Anagami)

(The one who never returns). It does involve the third stage of realisation among the
four that the ariyas do reach. 1

As its definition stresses it out , the one who does experience this stage will be reborn
into a specific sphere where do dwell only anagamis or arahantas (unless the stage of arahanta
is reached at dying time), but never more in any any other sphere of existence whatsoever. In
this sphere of anagamis, devoid of any material senses, having nothing else to do save
observing phenomena, all the anagamis become arahantas, and thus enter into parinibbana at
the completion of this existence.

A person who has abandoned the five lower fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of
rebirth (see samyojana), and who after death will appear in one of the Brahma worlds called
the Pure Abodes, there to attain nibbana, never again to return to this world. 2

The anāgāmi (the non-returner, who has attained the third stage of enlightenment) has
eradicated all forms of sensuous clinging, but he still clings to birth. The third stage of this
model points to the elimination of desire and ill will, although frankly the idea that a human can
exist without desire in some form appears deluded. If a human-animal had an absolute absence of
desire, wouldn’t they be reduced to functioning as a human automaton? Isn’t desire also the wish
to be free of physical pain and discomfort and to want the same for others? Desire is clearly a
multifaceted concept. Expressing the want to end pain, to care for another, to learn, to understand,
reach out, connect and so forth, are all positive manifestations of desire as human participation in
the world. If, as has been proposed in the exploration of the first two stages above, awakening to
freedom from suffering is about our ability to be full participants in the moving present and be
devoid of the foundations for emotional and mental suffering, then desire and ill will necessarily
concern the degree to which we participate in an open ended landscape of forms of feeling and

1
Journey to Nibbana: Patthana Dhama
2
Dhamma Dana: Pali English Glossary Non returner.

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thought, and human activity. Our ability to emerge into this open yet finite world is dependent on
the degree to which the phantom, I has been destablished and uprooted.

Stage three may then be envisioned in its foundational result as the destruction of two drives;
impulsive grasping onto what is present or what we desire to be present, and pushing away or
manipulation of what is present. This would make it the completion of the second stage. If there is
a complete absence of these two tendencies, then we are basically left with a quality of sober,
direct engagement with whatever is taking place. At this point, intent arises as a fundamental
decision making apparatus and intelligent choices based on a measured response would ideally
become the standard for engaging with the world. This re-emergence into the world is without the
solipsistic impulse that defines those who are identified with the phantom-I. The question of how
to help remains. If participation is in part to experience fully an unpredictable and un-cordoned
range of sensations, then our experience as beings is immersed in those around us and their
poignant plight: others who, like us, are human animals, all too familiar with suffering, confusion
and the rest.

The third stage of this model may then imply the culmination of a sufficient amount of work on
unknotting the layers of impulsive reactivity to stimuli that we might define in terms of attraction
and aversion. As we release these knots we become increasingly cognisant of how those knots are
formed and how they are linked to a need to sustain the phantom-I. These layers are individual,
and increasingly collective. In peeling away the individual layers of self we find the collective,
historical layers of self that are woven through our being. As we are rebirthed out of this knotty
self, we release the basis for habitual repulsion and pushing away of sensations that do not fit our
previously held list of what was and wasn’t acceptable, becoming less and less concerned about
attempting, or for that matter, needing to maintain any particular state of being that might be
dependent on external circumstances, and allow greater and greater freedom to be a natural
expression of ever fuller participation in the moving and shifting moments and events of the days
of our lives. As we open into that freedom we come to understand that to participate is genuinely
to care and that to respond to the situation of the world is not really a choice. We have a duty to
make this precious human life a meaningful one: one that reduces ignorance and suffering in the
world. Non-returner could be thus understood as leaving the confines of the patterned, atomistic
self behind which is reaffirmed through unconscious cyclical identification with patterns. It could

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mean that expressions of being are increasingly spontaneous and unbound. Before such ideas
become new-age fantasy, it is important to remember that we are all bound and confined. Incarnate
beings are by their very nature finite, conditioned, limited. Remember, there is no absolute
freedom. Existence is conditioned and these paths, despite bringing a paradigm shift in the
experience of being a human animal, do not lead to anything else. Anagamis do not reborn into
the human world after death, but into the heaven of the Pure Abodes (Pañca Suddhāvāsa), where
only anāgāmins live. There they attain full enlightenment (arahantship) in 5 stages. In detail, an
Anāgāmin is one who is freed from the bond of craving (kāmayoga) but who is not free from the
bond of existence (Bhavayoga).3

His mind will always be in peace and he will enjoy the ecstatic peace of Nibbana whenever he
wishes by developing anagami-phaIa-samapatti. If he attains all the eight jhanas, he can also enjoy
Nirodha samapatti during which all consciousness and mental activity are temporarily suspended.

The Pali terms for the specific chains or fetters (Pali: saṃyojana) of which an anagami is free
are:

1. Sakkāya-diṭṭhi: Belief in atmān or self

2. Sīlabbata-parāmāsa: Attachment to rites and rituals
3. Vicikicchā: Skeptical doubt
4. Kāma-rāga: Sensuous craving
5. Byāpāda: Ill will

The fetters from which an anagami is not yet free are:

1. Rūpa-rāga: Craving for fine-material existence (the first 4 jhanas)

2. Arūpa-rāga: Craving for immaterial existence (the last 4 jhanas)
3. Māna: Conceit
4. Uddhacca: Restlessness
5. Avijjā: Ignorance

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Kāmayogayutto bhikkhave bhavayogayutto āgāmī hoti āgantā itthattaṃ. Kāmayogavisaññūtto bhikkhave
bhavayogayutto anāgāmī hoti anāgantā itthattaṃ. PTS. It.95,96

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As he yet to undergo training he were experiences fifty types of consciousness; seven immoral,
seventeen rootless, sixteen beautiful moral, and resultant, five form sphere moral, four formless
sphere moral and one fruition sakadagami.

There are 5 classes of Non-Returners, as it is said;

"A being, through the disappearing of the 5 lower fetters (samyojana), reappears in a higher
world (amongst the devas of the Pure Abodes, suddhāvāsa), and without returning from that
world (into the sensuous sphere) he there reaches Nibbāna.

(1) "He may, immediately after appearing there (in the Pure Abodes) or without having gone
beyond half of the life-time, attain the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such
a being is called 'one who reaches Nibbāna within the first half of the life' (antarā -
parinibbāyī).

(2) "Or, whilst living beyond half of the lifetime, or at the moment of death, he attains the
holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called 'one who reaches
Nibbāna after crossing half the life-time' (upahacca-parinibbāyī).

(3) "Or, with exertion he attains the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such
a being is called 'one who reaches Nibbāna with exertion' (sasankhāra-parinibbāyī).

(4) "Or, without exertion he attains the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters.
Such a being is called 'one who reaches Nibbāna without exertion' (asankhāra-parinibbāyī).

(5) "Or, after vanishing from the heaven of the Aviha-gods (s. suddhāvāsa), he appears in the
heaven of the unworried (atappa) gods. After vanishing from there he appears in the heaven
of the clearly-visible (sudassa) gods, from there in the heaven of the clear-visioned (sudassī)
gods, from there in the heaven of the highest (akanittha) gods. There he attains the holy path
for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called 'one who passes up-stream to
the highest gods' (uddhamsota-akanittha-gāmī)."4

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Third Sikkhā Sutta of Aṅguttara Nikāya

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Anāgāmi Sutta of Aṅguttara Nikāya
This sutta explains that without giving up six things one cannot attain the state of non-returner5
(anāgāmin), the six things are:

1. Disbelief (assaddhiyaṃ)
2. Shamelessness (ahirikaṃ)
3. Not being afraid of sin (anottappaṃ)
4. Indolence (kosajjaṃ)
5. Forgetfulness (muṭṭhasaccaṃ)
6. Foolishness (duppaññataṃ)

Lay Anāgamin Persons

The Sirivaḍḍa sutta explains thus “Venerable Sir, of the five lower fetters which the Exalted
one has expounded as giving rise to rebirth in the sensuous planes. I cannot detect any in me which
I have not abandoned”6. “Householder, you have been very fortunate; you have gained much.
Householder, what you have stated is the attainment of Anāgāmiphala.”7

Commentator Venerable Buddhaghosa in the Paññābhāvanānisaṃsa-niddesa of

Visuddhimagga the five type of anāgāmins. It is explained by the Buddhaghosa: an
antarāparinibbāyī attains nibbāna after re-appearing anywhere in the pure abodes (suddhāvāsa)
without reaching the middle of his life span there. The Upahacca parinibbāyī attains Nibbāna after
the middle of his life span. The Asaṃkhāra parinibbāyī generates the highest path without
prompting, with little effort. The Sasaṃkhāra parinibbāyī generates the highest path with
prompting, with effort. The Akaniṭṭhagāmī passes on upwards from wherever he is born (in pure
abodes) to the reals of the highest gods (akaniṭṭhabhava) and attains emancipation there8.

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Cha bhikkhave dhamme appahāya abhabbo anāgāmiphalaṃ sacchikātuṃ. Katame cha: Assaddhiyaṃ, ahirikaṃ,
anottappaṃ, kosajjaṃ, muṭṭhasaccaṃ, duppaññataṃ. PTS. AN. III, p. 421
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Yānicimāni bhante, bhagavatā pañcorambhāgiyāni saṃyojanāni desitāni, nāhaṃ tesaṃ kiñci attani appahīnaṃ
samanupassāmīti. PTS. SN. V, p. 177
7
Lābhā te gahapati, suladdhaṃ te gahapati, anāgāmiphalaṃ tayā gahapati, byākatantī. ibid
8
Vism, p. 612

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 Conclusion
In Buddhism third level is the anāgāmi (nonreturner) which must be fulfilled to attain nibbana.
According to canonical discourses who the anāgāmi person will not born again in human world
after the death but he will be born in pure abodes ( Suddavasa brahma world). The most prominent
fact is he must be overcome the first five fetters among the ten fetters Then he can attain to that
level. There are mainly five ways to refer where is going that. Those five persons can identity as
the anāgāmi persons.

Reference
Primary Sources:
• AN. Vol. III. Anāgāmi Suttaṃ (PTS)
• AN. Vol. III. Tatiya Sikkhā sutta (PTS)
• AN. Vol. V. Pabbajjā Suttaṃ (PTS)
• AN. Vol. VI. Satta Purisagati Sutta (PTS)
• DN. Vol. I. Mahāli Suttaṃ (PTS)
• DN. Vol. II. Mahāparinibbāna Suttaṃ (PTS)
• DN. Vol. III. Sampasādanīya Suttaṃ (PTS)
• DN. Vol. III. Saṅgīti Suttaṃ (BJT)
• KN. Iti. 45-48 (PTS)
• KN. Dhammapada. XVI. (PTS)
• MN. Vol. II. Brahmāyu Suttaṃ (PTS)
• SN. Vol. V. Sīla Suttam (PTS)
• SN. Vol. V. Sirivaḍḍa Suttaṃ (PTS)
• SN. Vol. V. Tatiya Saṅkhitta Suttaṃ (PTS)

Secondary Sources:
• Bhikkhu Nyanamoli (trans.), the Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga, Buddhist
Publication Society, Kandy 2011.

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 • Malalasekera, G. P. (Gunapala Piyasena). Ceylon. Ministry of Cultural Affairs. (1961).
‘Anāgāmin’. Encyclopedia of Buddhism: edited by G. P. Malalasekera. [Colombo]:
Govt. of Ceylon.

Bibliography
• Jaini, Padmanabh (2001). Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies. New Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass Publ.
• Anasaki, Mahasaru (1912) "Ethics and Morality (Buddhist)," Hastings Encyclopedia of
Religion and Ethics, Volume 5.
• Gomez, Luis O. (1991), Purifying Gold: The Metaphor of Effort and Intuition in
Buddhist Thought and Practice. In: Peter N. Gregory (editor)(1991), Sudden and Gradual.
Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
Private Limited.

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