Sotāpanna

In the Pali Canon, the qualities of a sotāpanna are described as:[23]

…those monks who have abandoned the three fetters, are all stream-winners, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening. This is how the Dharma well-proclaimed by me is clear, open, evident, stripped of rags.

— Alagaddupama Sutta

The three fetters which the sotāpanna eradicates are:[24][25]

1. Self-view — The view of substance, or that what is compounded (sankhata) could be eternal in the five aggregates (form, feelings, perception, intentions, cognizance), and thus possessed or owned as 'I', 'me', or 'mine'. A sotāpanna doesn't actually have a view about self (sakkāya-ditthi), as that doctrine is proclaimed to be a subtle form of clinging.[26]
2. Clinging to rites and rituals - Eradication of the view that one becomes pure simply through performing rituals (animal sacrifices, ablutions, chanting, etc.) or adhering to rigid moralism or relying on a god for non-causal delivery (issara nimmāna). Rites and rituals now function more to obscure, than to support the right view of the sotāpanna's now opened dharma eye. The sotāpanna realizes that deliverance can be won only through the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path. It is the elimination of the notion that there are shortcuts to perfecting all virtues.
3. Skeptical doubt - Doubt about the Buddha, his teaching (Dharma), and his community (Sangha) is eradicated because the sotāpanna personally experiences the true nature of reality through insight, and this insight confirms the accuracy of the Buddha's teaching. Seeing removes doubt, because the sight is a form of vision (dassana), that allows one to know (ñāṇa).

According to the Pali Commentary, six types of defilement would be eventually abandoned by a sotāpanna, and no major transgressions:[27]

1. Envy
2. Jealousy
3. Hypocrisy
4. Fraud
5. Denigration
6. Domineering

A sotāpanna will be safe from falling into the states of misery (they will not be born as an animal, ghost, or hell being). Their lust, hatred and delusion will not be strong enough to cause rebirth in the lower realms. A sotāpanna will have to be reborn at most only seven more times in the human or heavenly worlds before attaining nibbāna.[28] It is not necessary for a sotāpanna to be reborn seven more times before attaining nibbāna, as an ardent practitioner may progress to the higher stages in the same life in which he/she reaches the Sotāpanna level by making an aspiration and persistent effort to reach the final goal of nibbāna.[29]

According to Buddha, there are three types of sotapannas classifiable according to their possible rebirths:

1. "If a man, after the disappearance of the 3 fetters (the samyojana: personality-belief, skeptical doubt, attachment to rules and rituals), has entered the stream (to Nibbāna), he is no more subject to rebirth in lower worlds, is firmly established, destined to full enlightenment. After having passed amongst the heavenly and human beings only seven times more through the round of rebirths, he puts an end to suffering. Such a man is called 'one with 7 births at the utmost' (sattakkhattu-parama).
2. "If a man, after the disappearance of the 3 fetters.... is destined to full enlightenment, he, after having passed among noble families two or three times through the round of rebirths, puts an end to suffering. Such a man is called 'one passing from one noble family to another' (kolankola).
3. "If a man, after the disappearance of the 3 fetters.... is destined to full enlightenment, he, after having only once more returned to human existence, puts an end to suffering. Such a man is called 'one germinating only once more' (eka-bījī).

[30]

A sotāpanna will not commit six wrong actions:[31]

1. Murdering one's own mother.
2. Murdering one's own father.
3. Murdering an arahant.
4. Maliciously injuring the Buddha to the point of drawing blood.
5. Deliberately creating a schism in the monastic community.
6. Taking another Teacher [besides Buddha].[32]

The Buddha spoke favorably about the sotapanna on many occasions, and even though it is (only) the first of ariya sangha members, he or she is welcomed by all other sangha-members for he or she practices for the benefit and welfare of many. In the literature, the arya sangha is described as "the four" when taken as pairs, and as "the eight" when taken as individual types. This refers to the four supra-mundane fruits (attainments: "phala") and the corresponding four supra-mundane paths (of those practicing to attain those fruits: "magga").[33]

"The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have practiced well... who have practiced straight-forwardly... who have practiced methodically... who have practiced masterfully — in other words, the four types [of noble disciples] when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types — they are the Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world."

— Anguttara Nikaya, 11.12

This is called "the recollection of the Sangha" (sanghanussati). It can also be interpreted as, "They are the Blessed One's disciples, who have practiced well, who have practiced directly, who have practiced insight-fully, those who practice with integrity (to share what they have learned with others). They give occasion for incomparable goodness to arise in the world because gifts to them bear great fruit and benefit to the giver. The fifty-fifth Samyutta of the Samyutta Nikaya is called the Sotāpatti-saṃyutta, and concerns sotapannas and their attainment. In the discourse-numbers (of that chapter) 1–4, 6–9, 11–14, 16–20, 22–36, 39–49, 51, 53, 54, sotapannas are praised as Sangha members by and to: the sick, lay followers, people on their deathbed, bhikkhunis, bhikkhus, and devas, and end up becoming the well-being and benefit of many.

From Dhammapada verse 178:

Sole dominion over the earth,

going to heaven,

lordship over all worlds:

the fruit of stream-entry

excels them.