A Stream-Enterer is Worth More Than Being a Wheel-Turning Monarch

Monks, although a Wheel-Turning Monarch, having exercised supreme sovereign rulership over the four continents, with the breakup of the body, after death, is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world, in the company of the heavenly beings of the heavenly realm, and there in the Nandana Grove, accompanied by an entourage of heavenly nymphs, he enjoys himself supplied and endowed with the five cords of heavenly sensual pleasure, still, as he does not possess four things, he is not freed from hell, the animal realm, and the realm of afflicted spirits, not freed from the plane of misery, the bad destinations, the nether world.

Although, Monks, a Noble Disciple maintains himself by lumps of almsfood and wears rag-robes, still, as he possesses four things, he is freed from hell, the animal realm, and the realm of afflicted spirits, freed from the plane of misery, the bad destinations, the nether world.

What are the four?

(1) Here, Monks, the Noble Disciple possesses confirmed confidence in The Buddha thus: The Tathāgata is an Arahant, Perfectly Enlightened, accomplished in true wisdom and conduct, fortunate, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, Teacher of heavenly beings and humans, The Enlightened One, The Fortunate One.

(2) He possesses confirmed confidence in The Teachings thus: The Teachings are well expounded by The Perfectly Enlightened One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise.

(3) He possesses confirmed confidence in The Community thus: The Community of The Perfectly Enlightened One’s disciples is practicing the wholesome way, practicing the straight way, practicing the true way, practicing the proper way; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals - this Community of The Perfectly Enlightened One’s disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respectful salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

(4) He possesses the virtues (moral conduct) dear to the Noble Ones - unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unblotched, liberating, praised by the wise, not misunderstood, and leading to concentration.

He possesses these four things. And, Monks, between the obtaining of sovereignty over the four continents and the obtaining of the four things, the obtaining of sovereignty over the four continents is not worth a sixteenth part of the obtaining of the four things.

(Reference: SN 55.1)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a Practitioner attaining the first Stage of Enlightenment as a Stream-Enterer is more beneficial than a Wheel-Turning Monarch.

A Stream-Enterer would have needed to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings to develop wisdom and improve the condition of the mind to eliminate the first three (3) fetters of The Ten Fetters. They would be able to observe that the condition of their mind has significantly improved from progressing on The Path to Enlightenment.

A Wheel-Turning Monarch is an individual who is a leader of a large population of people who chooses to guide them based on The Teachings of The Buddha.

During the lifetime of The Buddha, these were actual Kings.

Today, we could think of a President, Prime Minister, Kings, Queens, politicians, and others who lead a large population of people through wise decision making based on The Natural Laws of Existence shared in The Teachings of The Buddha.

A Wheel-Turning Monarch is a leader of a population of people who decides to implement rules for the population based on these Teachings. With their influence to be able to set rules and guidelines for the population, it is seen as beneficial to guide a population of people through these good wholesome Teachings.

These individuals have deep wisdom of The Teachings and choose to practice them for their own life while also making decisions about their leadership of a large population of people based on The Natural Laws of Existence, specifically, The Natural Law of Kamma.

They are a role model of these Teachings, in that they are setting an example for others to observe that benefits the population of people through more closely understanding how to practice The Teachings in daily life through the example displayed by the “Wheel-Turning Monarch” or today, a leader of a large population of people.

The Natural Laws of Existence are a much higher law than any laws that could be created by human beings. Therefore, for a King or leader to function through these Natural Laws of Existence, this would lead to wholesome outcomes for large groups of people. A Wheel-Turning Monarch has significant influence to help large populations of people through structuring their Kingdom and how it operates based on these natural laws as this would help individuals in the population more readily progress towards Enlightenment.

But, The Buddha shares that a Practitioner attaining the first Stage of Enlightenment is more beneficial than one who is guiding an entire population of people based on rules for society that are based on these Teachings.

Here, The Buddha is sharing how your attainment of increased levels of training and results from the training is the ultimate goal and what is more beneficial.

A Stream-Enterer will be able to benefit a Community of Practitioners in that their wisdom is able to be shared with others who will then be able to experience the same results of significantly reduced discontentedness and the other benefits mentioned in Volume 5 - Chapter 21. While it would be most wise to seek guidance from a Teacher who has attained Enlightenment, having a Stream-Enterer or any other Practitioner who has attained any of The Four Stages of Enlightenment would be highly beneficial to a population of people as they could gain insight and understanding of The Teachings from those Practitioners.

In this Teaching, The Buddha explains that a Stream-Enterer is more beneficial, or more helpful, than a “Wheel-Turning Monarch”.

Detailed explanation of the first Stage of Enlightenment is available in this same book series found in the book “The First Stage of Enlightenment (Stream-Enterer)” (Volume 5).