If you can attain the first level of enlightenment, it should give you a lot of encouragement to pursue a higher level of enlightenment

Question: Does a layperson who attains Stream Entry still have desire to earn money? To love his/her partner? Or be bothered by mundane worldly life?

Than Ajahn: He will not be bothered by mundane worldly life such as aging, sickness or death or separation from the loved ones because he has seen the truth of aniccā, that everything rises and ceases. Everything doesn’t belong to anybody, it belongs to this earth. Everything comes from the four elements. However a Sotāpanna has not gotten rid of his sexual desire, he still has sexual desire, so s/he still wants to have a wife or a husband. That’s because he has yet to develop asubha. That’s the next step.

After he has attained Sotāpanna, the next step he has to do is to develop asubha perception. Everything he sees in a body is all the 32 parts of the body, not just the external part but see everything, including the skull, the skeleton, the heart, lungs, intestine, liver, kidneys, blood and everything that contains in the body. This is what a Sotāpanna has to do.

If a Sotāpanna has not developed asubha, he will still have sexual desire to have a wife or to have a husband but he is no longer afraid of death or sickness because he understands that it belongs to the body, it does not belong to the mind, it doesn’t belong to himself. He is in the mind, he is not in the body so whatever happens to the body will not affect him. Therefore he is not afraid of losing his body, losing his livelihood, his status or his wealth because he sees that they are aniccā, anattā, they do not belong to him and if he attaches to them he will become unhappy. So he has let go himself of all these things. 

Question: Can a Sotāpanna disrobe? (if he were a monk)

Than Ajahn: Yes, because he is still has yet got rid of his sexual desire.

Question: I heard from another Ajahn said that if a Sotāpanna is a monk there is no reason for him to disrobe and so he will not disrobe for whatever reason. So can a Sotāpanna disrobe?

Than Ajahn: A Sotāpanna still has sexual desire so it is up to that person whether he is a monk or a layperson, if he still wants to engage in sexual desire, if he is a monk then he will have to disrobe. If he is a lay person he won’t ordain because he still wants to engage in sexual desire. Usually once you are a monk, you already know that you don’t want to engage in sexual desire so what you want to do next after you become a Sotāpanna is that you want to develop asubha contemplation so you can use it to eliminate your sexual desire. In most cases, once you ordain as a monk, you don’t want to go back to become a lay person.

If you can attain the first level of enlightenment, it should give you a lot of encouragement to pursue a higher level of enlightenment rather than go back to be a layperson and engage in sexual activity. So for those who ordain and become Sotāpanna, most likely they won’t disrobe.

But speaking from theory, where a Sotāpanna still has sexual desire and if he still wants to engage in sexual activity he can disrobe, and there is nothing can stop him from doing so. May be he said, oh I want to wait because I still have seven lifes, so I want to use this seven lifes to enjoy this sexual activity. But usually when one becomes enlightened eventhough he is just a Sotāpanna, he starts to see the problem with engaging with his desire because what he wants sometimes might slip away.

Sometimes you want a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but that boyfriend or girlfriend may get mad at you and run away from you, so for someone who has seen the aniccāṁ, dukkhaṁ, and anattā, I don’t think they want to get involve with others, so most likely he won’t disrobe if he is already a monk. If he is a family person, he will still have to live with his family because his family may still need his support. Once he finds out that his family can exist without him, he might go and become a monk so he can develop a higher level of attainment. So it is not fixed whether he is a monk or not, he can disrobe or he may not disrobe, it is up to individual decision.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto