user20181: 
What fetters must be destroyed in order to reach the state of stream entry?
Is it possible to reach the state of stream entry in this very life?
Do I need to renounce worldly life in order to reach stream entry?
Can I keep functioning in society by earning bread, and paying my EMI and still reach stream entry?
How will I know that I have reached stream entry once I am there?
Is there a list of instructions that, once followed, will surely take me to the state of stream entry?

Are there any finer details that I need to be aware of start on the journey towards stream entry?
I have been a Buddhist learner since almost a decade, I frequently visit the Buddhist monastery close by, worship the relics of the Buddha, profess my desire to cultivate mindfulness. I am asking the above questions as I have no clue on how to start the journey, how to sustain and how to share the same with my loved ones so that they too can enjoy the fruit and bliss?

user471: 
Q: What fetters must be destroyed in order to reach the state of stream entry?

The fetters are self view or identity view, doubt and grasping at precepts and practices.

And which are the five lower fetters? Self-identity views,
uncertainty, grasping at precepts & practices, sensual desire, & ill
will.
AN 10.13


"In this community of monks there are monks who, with the wasting away
of [the first] three fetters, are stream-winners, steadfast, never
again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening: such are
the monks in this community of monks.
MN 118


Q: Is it possible to reach the state of stream entry in this very life?

Yes, if one meets certain prerequisites.

Someone with five qualities is able to enter the sure path with
regards to skillful qualities when listening to the true teaching.
What five? They don’t disparage the talk, the speaker, or themselves.
They’re wise, bright, and clever. They don’t think they know what they
don’t know. Someone with these five qualities is able to enter the
sure path with regards to skillful qualities when listening to the
true teaching.”
AN 5.152


Someone with five qualities is able to enter the sure path with
regards to skillful qualities when listening to the true teaching.
What five? They don’t listen to the teaching bent only on putting it
down. They don’t listen to the teaching with a hostile, fault-finding
mind. They’re not antagonistic to the teacher, and not planning to
attack them. They’re wise, bright, and clever. And they don’t think
they know what they don’t know. Someone with these five qualities is
able to enter the sure path with regards to skillful qualities when
listening to the true teaching.”
AN 5.153

Also, one must not have committed the five incurable actions (AN 5.129).

"There are these five inhabitants of the states of deprivation,
inhabitants of hell, who are in agony & incurable. Which five? One who
has killed his/her mother, one who has killed his/her father, one who
has killed an arahant, one who — with a corrupted mind — has caused
the blood of a Tathagata to flow, and one who has caused a split in
the Sangha. These are the five inhabitants of the states of
deprivation, inhabitants of hell, who are in agony & incurable."
AN 5.129


Q: Do I need to renounce worldly life in order to reach stream entry?

No.
Lay followers can attain stream entry and higher levels of jhana. An example is Citta, the householder. You can read about him in SN 41.

“But how is a wise lay follower defined?”
“It’s when a lay follower is wise. They have the wisdom of arising and
passing away which is noble, penetrative, and leads to the complete
ending of suffering. Then they’re considered to be a wise lay
follower.”
SN 55.37

But it's unlikely to go beyond stream entry as a lay person, except at their deathbed (see SN 55.54).

Q: Can I keep functioning in society by earning bread, and paying my EMI and still reach stream entry?

Yes, if one takes the right effort.

Q: How will I know that I have reached stream entry once I am there?

Please read "Is stream entry an unmistakeable experience?".

Q: Is there a list of instructions that, once followed, will surely take me to the state of stream entry?

AN 10.92 lists out the criteria for stream entry:

Five forms of fear and animosity are stilled (basically the five precepts)
Four factors of stream entry
Rightly seen and rightly ferreted out the noble method (dependent origination)

And also:

“Sāriputta, they speak of a ‘factor of stream-entry’. What is a factor
of stream-entry?”
“Sir, the factors of stream-entry are associating with good people,
listening to the true teaching, proper attention, and practicing in
line with the teaching.”
SN 55.5

Please read "Into the Stream" by Ven. Thanissaro and also watch the YouTube video talk "Characteristics of a Sotapanna" (by Ven. Dhammavuddho).
The video talk discusses SN 55.5 in detail.

user21432: 
A stream enterer loses the first three fetters: personality view/belief in a personal entity, belief in rites and rituals, and doubt in the Buddha's teachings.

Yes. And it's possible to go further than stream entry in this lifetime.

You can become a stream enterer while being married, having a job, and living as a lay person. You don't need to become a monk. However, you do need to live differently than a regular lay person. You need to keep at least the five precepts and practice the Noble Eightfold Path. Observing uposatha was highly praised by the Buddha.

Uposatha is a day set aside to practice more. It involves taking the Eight Precepts, one of which is celibacy. AN 10.46 and AN 8.41


Yes. You can work a job and become a stream enterer.

This is tricky. It's very easy to think you're a stream winner when you aren't. But when you become a stream winner, you'll know it happened. A sotapanna is a person with Right View. They understand Dependent Origination and The Four Noble Truths. It's direct knowledge. Not an inference, not philosophical reasoning. Stream entry is not a "black out" or some funky druglike experience. It's knowledge at the deepest level. MN 48 goes into some of the behaviors of stream winners. The suttas in SN 25.* and MN 9 go into Right View, which is the specific knowledge gained at stream entry.

How to know you are not a stream winner: The most obvious is doubt. If you ever wonder "was the Buddha an arahant? Was he actually Enlightened?" you are not a stream winner. The subtler delusions are personality view and rites and rituals.
Personality view is about having an identity. There are many ways to have the delusion of personality view. Common ones are "I am my body", or "I am my mind", or "I have an eternal soul".
The fetter of Rites and Rituals means believing anything other than the Noble Eightfold Path leads to Enlightenment. An obvious Rite and Ritual is believing that if you soak in energy from a crystal you will become enlightened.
A subtler but extremely wrong belief is "magic recipe" meditation. Anyone who teaches that they have a special understanding that no one else has is deeply deluded. The Truth, The Dhamma, is timeless. It is discovered, not invented.
Another delusion is believing that meditation must last 3 or more hours to have the possibility of Enlightenment occurring. Meditation is not a recipe, it's a skill. You can't learn to play a sport or an instrument from a flow chart and neither can you learn to meditate from a flow chart. Also, the Noble Eightfold Path is more than only meditating.


The instructions is the Noble Eightfold Path. Also read MN 117


On Teachers:

Someone telling you they're enlightened probably means they aren't, especially if the teacher is a monk as that violates the Vinaya (monastic code). Here are some tips that a teacher is deeply deluded, dangerous, and should be avoided. Someone bragging about how many students they have gotten Enlightened is deluded. Someone who hands out enlightenment "merit badges" and tells people they became a sotapanna is deluded. Sotapanna is knowledge not an experience. It's impossible to know what someone else knows. You can't look at someone and know they understand calculus. Carrying around a math textbook doesn't mean they understand it. A Buddha could know if someone was Enlightened, but he's not around anymore.

It's safest to only learn from monastics. Since they are bound by the Vinaya (monastic code) it's easier to avoid bad teachers. Make sure your teacher(s) has/have good ethics. The Vinaya (monastic laws) can be a bit tricky to understand, but it's easy to know if someone follows the five precepts. You want to learn from someone with perfect or near perfect following of the five precepts.

They never intentionally kill anything, not even a mosquito. They never steal. They don't hurt people sexually and if they're a monk they are celibate. Celibacy means no masturbation and no sex. If a monk has sex it's an expellable offense. A truly celibate monk also practices verbal and mental celibacy. They don't leer, make sexual jokes, or make others feel uncomfortable. They never intentionally lie. While they might talk too fast and say something untrue by accident, never learn from someone who deliberately lies. White lies are still lies. Finally, they should not consume drugs or alcohol. Prescription medication is not a drug, if they are taking it according to their doctor's instructions and not recreationally.


I suggest learning from monks, not lay people. Monks are a safer choice. Good monks have committed their life to the Dhamma and have no financial conflicts. Good monks are not paid; they do not have an income. Financial donations should be handled by lay people on the monasteries behalf. Both cash and a credit cards are money. Money is the ability to buy whatever the monk wants, instead of accepting what the lay community gives. If you ever run across someone who teaches something obviously wrong like "arahants have sex" or "I can drink alcohol because I'm enlightened" run away.

Be safe. Trust yourself. Bad teachers are dangerous. If you notice something is harming you, stop! It is possible to have serious and long lasting problems from practicing too hard or in the wrong way, such as damaged knees or a mental breakdown. It's better to be cautious than risk having an injury.


What to know about the suttas:

Sutta means thread. There is no one sutta that contains the complete picture of everything. It's only by taking many threads and weaving them together than you complete a tapestry. Once you read many suttas you will start to see how they connect and relate to each other.
The teachings were originally given orally. They were a talk. The Buddha was teaching to the specific audience in front of him at that moment. Keep this in mind. Talks for lay people and monks would be different. The core concepts are the same, but different things are emphasized.
You don't have to take suttas on blind faith. For example, if you don't believe in rebirth or past lives, take a teaching you can try out and treat it as an experiment. See if your life gets better or worse. If your life improves, then you gain confidence that the teachings that other teachings could be true.
Think of the suttas as a set of instructions.


20181: <ul>
<li>What fetters must be destroyed in order to reach the state of stream entry?</li>
<li>Is it possible to reach the state of stream entry in this very life?</li>
<li>Do I need to renounce worldly life in order to reach stream entry?</li>
<li>Can I keep functioning in society by earning bread, and paying my EMI and still reach stream entry?</li>
<li>How will I know that I have reached stream entry once I am there?</li>
<li>Is there a list of instructions that, once followed, will surely take me to the state of stream entry?</li>
</ul>
<p>Are there any finer details that I need to be aware of start on the journey towards stream entry?</p>
<p>I have been a Buddhist learner since almost a decade, I frequently visit the Buddhist monastery close by, worship the relics of the Buddha, profess my desire to cultivate mindfulness. I am asking the above questions as I have no clue on how to start the journey, how to sustain and how to share the same with my loved ones so that they too can enjoy the fruit and bliss?</p>
 471: <blockquote>
<p>Q: What fetters must be destroyed in order to reach the state of stream entry?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The fetters are self view or identity view, doubt and grasping at precepts and practices.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And which are the five lower fetters? Self-identity views,
uncertainty, grasping at precepts &amp; practices, sensual desire, &amp; ill
will.<br />
<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.013.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 10.13</a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;In this community of monks there are monks who, with the wasting away
of [the first] three fetters, are stream-winners, steadfast, never
again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening: such are
the monks in this community of monks.<br />
<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 118</a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Q: Is it possible to reach the state of stream entry in this very life?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes, if one meets certain prerequisites.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Someone with five qualities is able to enter the sure path with
regards to skillful qualities when listening to the true teaching.
What five? They don’t disparage the talk, the speaker, or themselves.
They’re wise, bright, and clever. They don’t think they know what they
don’t know. Someone with these five qualities is able to enter the
sure path with regards to skillful qualities when listening to the
true teaching.”<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/an5.152/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 5.152</a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Someone with five qualities is able to enter the sure path with
regards to skillful qualities when listening to the true teaching.
What five? They don’t listen to the teaching bent only on putting it
down. They don’t listen to the teaching with a hostile, fault-finding
mind. They’re not antagonistic to the teacher, and not planning to
attack them. They’re wise, bright, and clever. And they don’t think
they know what they don’t know. Someone with these five qualities is
able to enter the sure path with regards to skillful qualities when
listening to the true teaching.”<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/an5.153/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 5.153</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Also, one must not have committed the five incurable actions (<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.129.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 5.129</a>).</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;There are these five inhabitants of the states of deprivation,
inhabitants of hell, who are in agony &amp; incurable. Which five? One who
has killed his/her mother, one who has killed his/her father, one who
has killed an arahant, one who — with a corrupted mind — has caused
the blood of a Tathagata to flow, and one who has caused a split in
the Sangha. These are the five inhabitants of the states of
deprivation, inhabitants of hell, who are in agony &amp; incurable.&quot;<br />
<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.129.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 5.129</a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Q: Do I need to renounce worldly life in order to reach stream entry?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Lay followers can attain stream entry and higher levels of jhana. An example is Citta, the householder. You can read about him in <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn41-cittavagga" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 41</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“But how is a wise lay follower defined?”</p>
<p>“It’s when a lay follower is wise. They have the wisdom of arising and
passing away which is noble, penetrative, and leads to the complete
ending of suffering. Then they’re considered to be a wise lay
follower.”<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn55.37/en/sujato?layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 55.37</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>But it's unlikely to go beyond stream entry as a lay person, except at their deathbed (see <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn55.54/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 55.54</a>).</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Q: Can I keep functioning in society by earning bread, and paying my EMI and still reach stream entry?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes, if one takes the right effort.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Q: How will I know that I have reached stream entry once I am there?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Please read &quot;<a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/3656/471">Is stream entry an unmistakeable experience?</a>&quot;.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Q: Is there a list of instructions that, once followed, will surely take me to the state of stream entry?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.092.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 10.92</a> lists out the criteria for stream entry:</p>
<ul>
<li>Five forms of fear and animosity are stilled (basically the five precepts)</li>
<li>Four factors of stream entry</li>
<li>Rightly seen and rightly ferreted out the noble method (dependent origination)</li>
</ul>
<p>And also:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Sāriputta, they speak of a ‘factor of stream-entry’. What is a factor
of stream-entry?”</p>
<p>“Sir, the factors of stream-entry are associating with good people,
listening to the true teaching, proper attention, and practicing in
line with the teaching.”<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn55.5/en/sujato?layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 55.5</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Please read &quot;<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/into_the_stream.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Into the Stream</a>&quot; by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%ACh%C4%81nissaro_Bhikkhu" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ven. Thanissaro</a> and also watch the YouTube video talk &quot;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI3dT4aXkfM" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Characteristics of a Sotapanna</a>&quot; (by <a href="http://www.dhammavuddho.com/bhante-hye/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ven. Dhammavuddho</a>).</p>
<p>The video talk discusses SN 55.5 in detail.</p>
 21432: <ul>
<li><p>A stream enterer loses the first three fetters: personality view/belief in a personal entity, belief in rites and rituals, and doubt in the Buddha's teachings.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Yes. And it's possible to go further than stream entry in this lifetime.</p>
</li>
<li><p>You can become a stream enterer while being married, having a job, and living as a lay person. You don't need to become a monk. However, you do need to live differently than a regular lay person. You need to keep at <em>least</em> the five precepts and practice the Noble Eightfold Path. Observing uposatha was highly praised by the Buddha.</p>
<ul>
<li>Uposatha is a day set aside to practice more. It involves taking the Eight Precepts, one of which is celibacy. <a href="https://suttacentral.net/an10.46/en/sujato?layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 10.46</a> and <a href="https://suttacentral.net/an8.41/en/sujato?layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AN 8.41</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>Yes. You can work a job and become a stream enterer.</p>
</li>
<li><p>This is tricky. It's very easy to think you're a stream winner when you aren't. But when you become a stream winner, you'll know it happened. A sotapanna is a person with Right View. They understand Dependent Origination and The Four Noble Truths. It's direct knowledge. Not an inference, not philosophical reasoning. Stream entry is not a &quot;black out&quot; or some funky druglike experience. It's knowledge at the deepest level. <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn48/en/sujato?layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin%20g" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 48</a> goes into some of the behaviors of stream winners. The suttas in <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn25?view=normal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 25.*</a> and <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn9/en/sujato?layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 9</a> go into Right View, which is the specific knowledge gained at stream entry.</p>
<ul>
<li>How to know you <strong>are not</strong> a stream winner: The most obvious is doubt. If you ever wonder &quot;was the Buddha an arahant? Was he actually Enlightened?&quot; you are not a stream winner. The subtler delusions are personality view and rites and rituals.</li>
<li>Personality view is about having an identity. There are many ways to have the delusion of personality view. Common ones are &quot;I am my body&quot;, or &quot;I am my mind&quot;, or &quot;I have an eternal soul&quot;.</li>
<li>The fetter of Rites and Rituals means believing anything other than the Noble Eightfold Path leads to Enlightenment. An obvious Rite and Ritual is believing that if you soak in energy from a crystal you will become enlightened.</li>
<li>A subtler but <strong>extremely wrong belief is &quot;magic recipe&quot; meditation.</strong> Anyone who teaches that they have a special understanding that no one else has is deeply deluded. The Truth, The Dhamma, is timeless. It is discovered, not invented.</li>
<li>Another delusion is believing that meditation must last 3 or more hours to have the possibility of Enlightenment occurring. Meditation is not a recipe, it's a skill. You can't learn to play a sport or an instrument from a flow chart and neither can you learn to meditate from a flow chart. Also, <strong>the Noble Eightfold Path is more than only meditating.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>The instructions is the <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn45.8/en/bodhi?reference=none&amp;highlight=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Noble Eightfold Path.</a> Also read <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn117/en/bodhi?reference=none&amp;highlight=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 117</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>On Teachers:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Someone telling you they're enlightened probably means they aren't, <strong>especially</strong> if the teacher is a monk as that violates the Vinaya (monastic code). Here are some tips that a teacher is deeply deluded, dangerous, and should be avoided. Someone bragging about how many students they have gotten Enlightened is deluded. Someone who hands out enlightenment &quot;merit badges&quot; and tells people they became a sotapanna is deluded. Sotapanna is knowledge not an experience. <strong>It's impossible to know what someone else knows. You can't look at someone and know they understand calculus. Carrying around a math textbook doesn't mean they understand it</strong>. A Buddha could know if someone was Enlightened, but he's not around anymore.</p>
</li>
<li><p>It's safest to only learn from monastics. Since they are bound by the Vinaya (monastic code) it's easier to avoid bad teachers. Make sure your teacher(s) has/have good ethics. The Vinaya (monastic laws) can be a bit tricky to understand, but it's easy to know if someone follows the five precepts. You want to learn from someone with perfect or near perfect following of the five precepts.</p>
<ul>
<li>They never intentionally kill anything, not even a mosquito. They never steal. They don't hurt people sexually and if they're a monk they are celibate. Celibacy means no masturbation and no sex. If a monk has sex it's an expellable offense. A truly celibate monk also practices verbal and mental celibacy. They don't leer, make sexual jokes, or make others feel uncomfortable. They never intentionally lie. While they might talk too fast and say something untrue by accident, never learn from someone who <em>deliberately</em> lies. White lies are still lies. Finally, they should not consume drugs or alcohol. Prescription medication is not a drug, <em>if</em> they are taking it according to their doctor's instructions and not recreationally.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p>I suggest <strong>learning from monks, not lay people</strong>. Monks are a safer choice. Good monks have committed their life to the Dhamma and have no financial conflicts. Good monks are not paid; they do not have an income. Financial donations should be handled by lay people on the monasteries behalf. Both cash and a credit cards are money. Money is the ability to buy whatever the monk <strong>wants</strong>, instead of accepting what the lay community <strong>gives</strong>. If you ever run across someone who teaches something obviously wrong like &quot;arahants have sex&quot; or &quot;I can drink alcohol because I'm enlightened&quot; run away.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Be safe. Trust yourself. Bad teachers are dangerous. <strong>If you notice something is harming you, stop!</strong> It is possible to have serious and long lasting problems from practicing too hard or in the wrong way, such as damaged knees or a mental breakdown. It's better to be cautious than risk having an injury.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>What to know about the suttas:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sutta means thread. There is no one sutta that contains the complete picture of everything. It's only by taking many threads and weaving them together than you complete a tapestry. Once you read many suttas you will start to see how they connect and relate to each other.</li>
<li>The teachings were originally given orally. They were a talk. The Buddha was teaching to the <strong>specific audience</strong> in front of him at that moment. Keep this in mind. Talks for lay people and monks would be different. The core concepts are the same, but different things are emphasized.</li>
<li>You don't have to take suttas on blind faith. For example, if you don't believe in rebirth or past lives, take a teaching you can try out and treat it as an experiment. See if your life gets better or worse. If your life improves, then you gain confidence that the teachings that other teachings could be true.</li>
<li>Think of the suttas as a set of instructions.</li>
</ul>
