Without Satisfying the Conditions of the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment, One Cannot Attain the Fruit and See the Mind.

For those who have never eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) in past lives, and those who have eradicated it only a few times, attaining the first fruit through the initial eradication of the view of self is extremely difficult; the necessary conditions for eradicating the view of self—the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment—are not easy to cultivate. Anyone who practices meditative concentration every day knows that dhyāna is not easy to cultivate, and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in accordance with the Dharma is even harder; to achieve results in contemplative practice, to have the pure Dharma eye and attain the emptiness samādhi, is harder still. Those who eradicated the view of self in past lives belong to a special category of people in this life, yet in the Sahā world there are hardly any such special individuals—they can be said to be as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. 

Some people always think themselves very special, claiming to have become enlightened after studying for merely three to five years. But without eradicating the view of self, one cannot attain enlightenment; enlightenment is far more difficult than eradicating the view of self. So do not casually believe you have become enlightened and seen the mind, that you are already such-and-such a bodhisattva. Publicly proclaiming your own enlightenment brings very bad karmic retribution. This is a special period, and certain special phenomena have appeared, bringing great trouble to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. After this generation passes away, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva will become very busy. Being a bodhisattva is truly not easy: "Until the hells are empty, I vow not to attain buddhahood." Though He clearly possesses the full merit and virtue of a Buddha, He does not take the position of Buddhahood—such is the bodhisattva's mind of emptiness and selflessness. 

So as not to add trouble to Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, everyone should now follow the teachings of our original teacher, Śākyamuni Buddha, cultivate according to the sequence and standards of practice taught by the Buddha, and strictly examine to what degree one's thirty-seven factors of enlightenment have been fulfilled. If even a single one of them is unfulfilled, do not think you have attained realization, seen the mind, and so on. If the most basic thirty-seven factors of enlightenment have not been fully cultivated, one cannot be transformed and reborn anew, cannot leap over the Dragon Gate, and cannot become a sage.