The Stream Entrant

In Dhammapada verse 178 we read: Sole dominion over the earth, going to heaven, lordship over all worlds: the fruit of stream-entry excels them.

Pretty cool. So who are the stream entry/winners? One will find various alignments, aggrandisements and assertions from ignorance, experience and attainment. As someone who swims up as well as down from the Far Shore, I like to drown in the dharma ocean as much as any fishy character.

To enter the Buddha dharma stream one has to be good. the Sotāpanna stream winner is traditionally incapable of committing the five worst actions 1. Murdering your mother. 2. Murdering your father. 3. Murdering an Arahant. 4. Maliciously injure a Buddha (if you can find her) to the point of drawing blood. 5. Deliberately creating a schism in the monastic community.

So far so good? Maybe the symbolism of mother has a deeper symbolic meaning for you . . . maybe not . . .