Buddhas teaching helps.

[villkorkarma]

Buddhas teaching example of teaching of not-self i read that one was getting holy of just listening to buddhas teaching of nonself i believe.
How can that have so much effect on us, his teaching.?

[Bonsai Doug]

How can that have so much effect on us, his teaching.?

My contention is, that irrespective of what tradition or lineage you follow, at its core,
Buddhism presents a pure, no-nonsense, time-tested path to a righteous, moral life.

To me, that's a huge effect.

[Euclid]

I don't think I quite understand your question sorry - are you asking how someone can achieve sotapatti fruition (or some higher attainment) from merely hearing a discourse from the Buddha himself, as we encounter quite frequently in the suttas?

[villkorkarma]

Yes.

[Euclid]

Good question, one that I don't know the answer to sorry!

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

There are different ways in which this situation could be interpreted. I have heard the following positions argued at various points in time (none of which I am arguing for or against, by the way)...

* The listeners already had strong sila (morality) or bhavana (mental cultivation) beforehand, and not-self was just like adding the missing piece of the puzzle
* Stream-entry is easier to achieve than later Buddhism would have us believe
* Stream-entry is more about having the Right View that leads us to nibbana, than it is some kind of meditative attainment
* The Buddha tailored his presentations to accommodate the learning potentiality of his audience

Take or leave them as you see fit, and don't shoot the messenger.



Metta,
Retro.

[octathlon]

For someone close to Stream entry, I wouldn't be surprised if just being in the physical presence of the Buddha was enough.