The Reasons Why Returning Practitioners Attain Fruits and See the Mind More Quickly Than Others

Beings of great indriya and beings of extremely great indriya who lived during the Buddha's time could, at the very moment of hearing the principle that the five aggregates are without self, attain the fruit of the fourth-stage arhat without repeated deliberation and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) — the kasaya robe donning their bodies, their hair and beard falling away by themselves, and supernatural powers manifesting before them. For example, Mahākāśyapa, Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others — this was because they had already attained the fourth fruit in previous lives, countless eons ago, even as long as three incalculable eons ago. Their identity may have been that of a Buddha returning again; they were born with meditative concentration (samādhi), born with the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), and born as arhats. Naturally, they could manifest attaining the fruit immediately upon hearing a single sentence. That is because the manas had already attained the fruit countless eons ago; the manas had never ceased to exist and had always known that the five aggregates are without self, so the mind consciousness no longer needed to laboriously impregnate and teach the manas. Although their five aggregates in this life were new, and their mind consciousness was new, upon encountering the Buddhadharma, with just a little deliberation they attained the fruit — this is why attaining the fruit was so remarkably fast for them.

If the mind consciousness possesses the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), it likewise knows from birth that the five aggregates are without self, and need not again eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) to attain the fruit. But in order to deliver and influence sentient beings, it may manifest attaining the fruit: in this life, upon hearing a single sentence of the Buddhadharma, without deliberation, the mind consciousness can attain the realization that the five aggregates are without self. And the manas has always known this. For anyone who attained a fruit in a previous life, attaining the fruit in this life is very fast, without the mind consciousness needing to impregnate and teach the manas again. The more times one attained the fruit in previous lives, the faster one attains it in this life, because the manas no longer has ignorance obstructing the Path. A person whose manas has been impregnated and transformed is extremely sharp; it suffices for the mind consciousness to understand. If one attained the first fruit (srotāpanna) in a previous life, attaining the first fruit again in this life is easy, but attaining the second fruit (sakṛdāgāmin) is not easy, because the manas only corresponds to contemplative wisdom of the level of the first fruit.

For a person who attained the second fruit in a previous life, attaining the second fruit again in this life is relatively easy, but attaining the third fruit (anāgāmin) is not easy, because the manas does not yet correspond to the third fruit; the content of the third fruit must be impregnated and taught again before the mind consciousness and the manas can attain the third fruit. For a person who attained the third fruit in a previous life, attaining the third fruit again in this life is relatively easy, but attaining the fourth fruit is not easy, because the manas does not correspond to the realm of the fourth fruit; the content of the fourth fruit must be impregnated and taught again before the mind consciousness and the manas can attain the fourth fruit. This is the reason why returning ones attain the fruit and see the mind faster than others.