The Reasons Why Returning Ones Attain the Fruits and Awaken the Mind More Swiftly Than Others

During the Buddha's lifetime, beings with the highest and most profound capacities could, upon hearing the doctrine that the five aggregates are without a self, immediately realize the fourth fruition of Arhatship without the need for repeated contemplation and practice. The monastic robe would naturally drape over their bodies, their hair would fall out, and spiritual powers would manifest. Examples include Mahākāśyapa, Śāriputra, and Subhūti. This was because they had already attained the fourth fruition countless kalpas ago, even three immeasurable kalpas ago. Their identities might have been Buddhas returning, born with meditative concentration, born with the knowledge of past lives, born as Arhats. Naturally, they could manifest the realization of the fruition immediately upon hearing a single phrase of the Dharma. This is because the mental faculty (manas) had realized the fruition immeasurable kalpas ago; it had never ceased, always knowing that the five aggregates are without a self, without the need for the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna) to laboriously perfume and instruct the mental faculty anew. Although their present-life five aggregates were new, and their conscious minds were new, upon encountering the Buddha Dharma, with just a little contemplation, they realized the fruition. This is why their realization was extremely swift.

If the conscious mind possesses the knowledge of past lives, it would similarly know from birth that the five aggregates are without a self, and there would be no need to again sever the view of self to realize the fruition. However, for the sake of liberating beings and influencing them, they could manifest the realization of the fruition. The present-life conscious mind, upon hearing a single phrase of the Dharma, could realize that the five aggregates are without a self without contemplation. The mental faculty, however, has always known this. Anyone who realized the fruition in a past life will realize it very quickly in the present life, without the conscious mind needing to again perfume and instruct the mental faculty. The more times one realized the fruition in past lives, the faster one realizes it in the present life, because the mental faculty no longer has ignorance obstructing the Path. A mental faculty that has been perfumed and transformed is extremely sharp; it only requires the conscious mind to comprehend. If one attained the first fruition (Sotāpanna) in a past life, it becomes easier to again attain the first fruition in the present life, but attaining the second fruition (Sakadāgāmin) is not easy, because the mental faculty only corresponds to the contemplative wisdom of the first fruition.

For one who attained the second fruition in a past life, it is relatively easy to again attain the second fruition in the present life, but attaining the third fruition (Anāgāmin) is not easy, because the mental faculty is not yet in accord with the third fruition. The content of the third fruition must be perfumed and taught again before the conscious mind and mental faculty can realize it. For one who attained the third fruition in a past life, it is relatively easy to again attain the third fruition in the present life, but attaining the fourth fruition (Arhat) is not easy, because the mental faculty is not in accord with the state of the fourth fruition. The content of the fourth fruition must be perfumed and taught again before the conscious mind and mental faculty can realize it. This is the reason why those who return (once-returners or Buddhas/Pratyekabuddhas returning to teach) realize the fruition and comprehend the mind faster than others.