Only with the Perfection of Samadhi Can One Swiftly Attain the Fruits of Enlightenment

The accounts recorded in the Āgama Sutras and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra are authentic. Indeed, there were some non-Buddhist practitioners who, after cultivating the four meditations and eight samādhis, listened to the Buddha's teachings, contemplated for only a few minutes, broke the view of self and self-attachment, became fourth-stage Arhats, and then entered parinirvāṇa without residue. These non-Buddhists were extraordinary, and the merits of the four meditations and eight samādhis are extraordinary. Many of us listen to the Buddha Dharma for a lifetime without being able to break the view of self, yet non-Buddhists with the four meditations and eight samādhis need only a few minutes or even less time not only to break the view of self but also to break self-attachment, immediately entering parinirvāṇa without residue. This is beyond comprehension. Consider why they possessed such sharp faculties. The reason is that during their cultivation of the four meditations and eight samādhis, their manas (intellect or the seventh consciousness) had already been subdued; only a single mistaken view in understanding remained unresolved and unbroken. Once this wrong view was eradicated, all afflictions and attachments fell away instantly. This is the merit of the four meditations and eight samādhis. From this, it is evident that subduing the afflictions of manas is intimately connected with the four meditations and eight samādhis. Meditative concentration is profoundly important.