the three fetters

developing creativity, clarity and commitment

fetters 1

From Sangharakshita we have inherited a rich tradition, almost as rich as the Buddhist tradition itself. Though it's a great gift it brings its own challenges. One of these challenges is to establish a clear sense of what it is we are attempting to do in our Dharma practice and to be able to chart some progress on our path. For me the teachings on The Three Fetters are a helpful way of doing both those things.

from bondage to freedom

These teachings use the metaphor of bondage and freedom. It is as if we are literally fettered or 'tied down' and in order to become free we first weaken, then break the fetters. In fact there are not three but ten of these fetters that stand between us as we are now, and complete freedom. So why talk of 'three fetters'?

It is the first three of these fetters that are of crucial and urgent importance to us. It is said that if we break these first three then success is assured, over time the other fetters will be broken, and there will be no turning back. It strikes me that this teaching sees the path in terms of momentum, that is, if we can develop sufficient momentum in our practice then we will become unstoppable. Sangharakshita tells us that to break these three fetters is a realistic goal for this lifetime.

entering the stream

Someone who has broken these is referred to as a 'stream entrant'. I am struck by the poetic nature of this term, we will have entered the stream, the centre of the stream, and from that point onwards the current will carry us along. It isn't that no more effort will be required but that we will be swimming with the current rather than against it.

Whether an Order Member, a Mitra or a Friend of the WBO, practicing the dharma we are all in the same boat (to stick to the stream metaphor), we are all working to break these fetters. So what are they?


The traditional translation is usually -

I am going to use Sangharakshita's terms, which I feel are a bit more immediate, along with his positive counterparts to the fetters -

The teachings on the Three Fetters can seem quite simple, yet like most dharma teachings the deeper we delve the more we find. I am keen, on this retreat, for us to discover a more subtle and satisfying understanding of these fetters giving us a framework for understanding our practice and progress.

Rather than give you a whole lot of theory I am just going to share a few personal reflections on each of these fetters.

fetters 3

from habit to creativity

For quite a long time after I came across the dharma I would occasionally have this doubt arise, it would take the form of a question; "Deep down am I really a Buddhist?" It was a question I could never answer, a koan maybe. Until one day the answer came to me. "I don't have a deep down".

There is no deep down, no inner essential me, that is or isn't a Buddhist. I am a Buddhist because I practice the dharma, it is something I do, not something I am. We literally are our actions of body, speech and mind, that is all we are. If we change the way we act, we change the way we are. It is in our actions that our freedom lies.

On the retreat we'll be finding ways of bringing more and more creativity and choice into our lives.

from vagueness to clarity

In my family there is a tradition of Sunday lunch followed by heated discussion. In a debate about the meaning of life, one Sunday, by brother laid his trump card; "Yeah well, what if you die and you find out you are wrong?"

I guess from a Christian perspective it's a good question, but from my perspective it didn't even make sense. The dharma for me has simply seemed like the best way to explore the mystery of life, and death for that matter. It doesn't offer certainties, it just allows me to go deeper into the mystery.

During the retreat we'll get a taste of how the more we let go of 'knowing' the clearer our understanding becomes.

from superficiality to commitment

Years ago, when my Nan was still alive, I used to go and visit her on a Saturday morning. She'd always make me cheese scones, I'd always sit in the same chair, we'd always have the same conversation. It didn't matter that it wasn't exciting, even that it was a little boring, it was important.

Sometimes I can think of this fetter as a state of 'going through the motions'. I can feel like I have to find a way of fully engaging, but actually all I have to engage with is what is actually happening, if I'm bored, engage with the boredom.

The commitment we are looking for is this. The willingness to experience what is actually happening, not the attempt to have a particular experience.

breaking the fetters

We start to see how intimately connected these fetters are. As we explore their meaning more and more, we see how they all feed into one another. So much so that it is said that to break one fetter is to break all three.

creativity, commitment and clarity

fetters 2

Sangharakshita talks of the first three fetters as the 'path of seeing'. So to weaken and break these fetters is a matter of insight, or of understanding. What follows is a complete path of transformation.

The fetters are broken by means of insight or by becoming creative, committed and clear. One then becomes a stream entrant, a true individual, experiences vimutti (freedom). Only the true individual is really free. One becomes a true individual only by developing insight, that is by breaking these three. Sangharakshita

retreat at rivendell
16th-23rd october

The focus of this retreat is the practice of reflection, we'll share and learn different ways of reflecting on the dharma and a substantial part of each day will be in silence. We'll also explore the theme through meditation, ritual, film and poetry as well as dharma talks.

Click here for more details of the creativity, clarity, commitment retreats.