The Gap Between the Eradication of Self-View and the Eradication of Self-Attachment

The distance between the Stream Enterer who has severed the view of self and the fourth-stage Arhat who has eradicated self-attachment is vast indeed. The reason why self-attachment cannot be severed immediately after cutting off the view of self is that the understanding of selflessness attained at the Stream Enterer stage remains shallow in degree and narrow in scope, preventing the manas from suddenly severing self-attachment. After attaining Stream Entry, one must continuously contemplate the principle of selflessness in the five aggregates. As this contemplation deepens progressively, the realization of selflessness becomes increasingly profound. When the first dhyāna arises and afflictions are eliminated, self-attachment gradually thins out, and clinging grows weaker and weaker, enabling the complete eradication of self-attachment in a short time.

With the support of the four dhyānas, self-attachment can be severed simultaneously with the cutting off of the view of self. This is because dhyāna can subdue all afflictions, leaving only subtle clinging to the body—lacking only the wisdom to negate the five aggregates as self. Once the wisdom recognizing the five aggregates as without self is attained, self-attachment is completely eradicated, and one becomes a fourth-stage Arhat. This was precisely the path followed by non-Buddhist practitioners during the Buddha's lifetime. If the view of self is thoroughly severed, that in itself constitutes the eradication of self-attachment.