Why Did Non-Buddhists Realize Fruition, Even the Fourth Stage, Upon Initially Hearing the Buddha's Dharma?

Heterodox practitioners have cultivated the four dhyanas and eight samadhis, subduing and eliminating defilements of varying degrees, lacking only the wisdom of insight into the Four Noble Truths to fulfill the conditions for attaining the path of seeing. This is like the saying, "Everything is ready except the east wind." The "east wind" here refers to the causes and conditions for attaining the path of seeing. Once these conditions arise, one immediately attains the path of seeing, and the condition for this is the Buddha's exposition of the Four Noble Truths. When the conditions for the first fruition are complete, one attains the first fruition; when the conditions for the second fruition are complete, one attains the second fruition; when the conditions for the third fruition are complete, one attains the third fruition; and when the conditions for the fourth fruition are complete, one attains the fourth fruition. Thus, when people listen to the Buddha's teachings, the fruition they attain differs based on the varying conditions for attaining the path of seeing. 

Attaining the path of seeing is like eating the seventh pancake. Heterodox practitioners have already eaten six pancakes and are seventy to eighty percent full, but not completely satiated. Upon hearing the Buddha explain the Four Noble Truths, they eat the seventh pancake and become fully satiated. The first six pancakes serve as the foundation, filling the stomach partially, and the seventh pancake completes the satiety.

Do not merely look at the final result others achieve; observe the arduous process of their spiritual cultivation and the sweat they have diligently shed. Had they not paid a tremendous price, had they not diligently cultivated the four dhyanas and eight samadhis, they would lack the foundation of the six pancakes. Even if given another six pancakes, they likely still could not attain satiety and realize the path. Some say that during the brief exchanges of questions and answers between the Buddha and his disciples, the disciples attained the path of seeing in an instant—a matter of mere minutes, seemingly effortless and without hardship. But do they realize that the merit of attaining the path in those few minutes was accumulated through the immeasurable wholesome roots and merits of the Buddha's disciples? How long did each spend consuming those six pancakes? How much hardship did they endure? What price did they pay in past and present lives?

Many people envy athletes who win gold medals in a single competition—international or national golds—thinking them incredibly lucky, completely overlooking their years of relentless struggle, the sweat and tears they shed, the rest and leisure they sacrificed, the physical toll they paid, even the cost to their life and health, and the hardships they endured, all to seize that gold medal in the competition. How could anything in the mundane or supramundane world be so easy? Could attaining fruition be as simple as eating cabbage? After countless eons of birth and death, with evil karma piled up like mountains and entangling them, how could they possibly eradicate so many eons of karmic obstacles to birth and death, and eliminate the karma leading to the three evil destinies, in just a few minutes or hours? One wouldn't even dream of such good fortune. Otherwise, why would there be boundless sentient beings trapped in birth and death, rather than boundless Buddhas?