EAch situation is unique, and there are no hard and fast rules about how or why a stream enterer may act a certain way or what his or her reasoning may be. All we can really say is that they will not break the five precepts (they are incapable), and they will not teach non-Buddhist doctrines to others, because they have removed all doubt in the Buddhas teachings, so if they have no doubt in the Buddha's teachings and won't lie, then why would they teach non-Buddhist doctrine?salmon wrote:All the more they wouldn't claim coz it would increase doubt and not effort. In this instance, I'm assuming the OP's supposition that it is a verbal claim and not one of action.Freawaru wrote: I think there would be only one reason for an aryan to claim "aryanship": if it would increase the effort of people.
In the case of merit making...if you were to make merit to a monk (or laity) BECAUSE he/she was an ariyan, then the merit you will accrue will be very much compromised (like in the case of the Buddha's stepmother).Virgo wrote: There could be a number of reasons that it could happen in a truthful situation. An ariyan could let another Buddhist know because he knows the other Buddhist would use it as an opportunity to amass a great deal of merit through paying respect or making some small offering (even a small offering goes a long, long, way when given to an Ariya). Or, perhaps, if he felt he was being treated unfairly or abused by another Buddhist who had no idea he was an Ariyan, he might let them know out of kindness for them.
An ariyan who wishes to allow others to accrue more merit through them will discreetly allow themselves to be in situation where the merit-maker can gain the most benefits. This is because they have already reached a level where they can understand the workings of a human mind (to which those of lower "enlightenment levels" are blind to).
As for the case about not letting others create more kamma...honestly, if the person you detest told you he/she was an ariyan, would you believe?? The ariyan would excuse himself from being caught in that situation by his wisdom and not claims (like in the case of Maha Moggallana and the bandits).
You said that the merit wouldn't be the same if you know they are a stream-winner. But that doesn't mean you may not have a good motivation to really give to that person. Also, if given with saddha, a great deal of goood kamma can be made.
You said a stream-winner would renounce a situation where some person or persons treated him badly. But with all due respect I think that is overly idealistic. If the stream winner has a renunciate lifestyle, such as that of a monk, or a white robed lay person that is one thing. But what about a stream winner in 2010 who is a layperson? One with a job and even some family ties? They may not always be in situations that they can just leave. Also, there may be other factors. Each situation is very unique. So I don't think we can say there and many hard and fast rules about this.
Just my thoughts
Kevin