What Kind of Buddhist Practitioners Can Attain the Fruit Here and Now?

The method of contemplation taught in the Zuochan Sanmei Jing (Sūtra on the Meditative Concentration of Sitting Chan) is precisely an instruction in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā); the line of thinking is clear, only somewhat coarse. Meditative concentration combined with contemplative practice leads to the realization of the fruits and the attainment of various meditative absorptions (samādhi), cultivating concentration and wisdom together. It was the same when the Buddha was in the world: after the disciples heard the Dharma, they practiced meditative concentration and contemplative practice, and then realized the fruits. This is the path of cultivation, and it is highly efficient. It was also like this in the Tang and Song dynasties: the Chan masters ascended the hall to give teachings, the assembly cultivated concentration and contemplated through deliberation in Chan, and then saw the mind and realized its nature.

The non-Buddhist practitioners all had skill in meditative concentration. When they met the World-Honored One, as soon as He taught the Dharma, they could immediately contemplate and practice, and realized the fruits. So do not merely look at the final step of their realization—the immediate gaining of wisdom upon hearing the Dharma. Before that, their meditative concentration had already been accomplished, their minds had already been purified, and the thirty-seven factors of the Path had already been cultivated; all that was lacking was correct knowledge and view. When the World-Honored One taught the Dharma, He supplied their correct knowledge and view, and thus they realized the fruits on the spot. Do not only look at the seventh pancake someone eats—look at the fact that they had already eaten six pancakes.

The Chan patriarchs of the past were all masters of cultivating concentration; their disciples all had meditative concentration, and the bodhisattva's six perfections had all been fully cultivated—they had already eaten six pancakes. When the Chan master ascended the hall to give a teaching, the disciples seated below would awaken. Eating the seventh pancake, they were full.

We cannot look only at the results of those who have achieved attainment; the most important thing is to look at the process of their cultivation, including what level they had reached in past lives, how they cultivated, and what kind of spiritual faculties (indriya) they had. Those whose faculties are already excellent can awaken suddenly the moment they hear the Dharma, without needing gradual cultivation, because previously, or in past lives, they had already cultivated gradually, and that stretch of the road had already been traversed. To take only the final segment of a practitioner's path of cultivation is a serious case of quoting out of context, and it does great harm to people.

Those who are new to Buddhism should read more about the Buddha's Jātaka deeds, and consider the path of cultivation the Buddha undertook from the moment He first generated the aspiration; this should be a great inspiration to us. To learn Buddhism means to learn everything from the Buddha.