The Delusion of Passing Through the Intermediate State and Advancement on the Path

Question: The mystery of the intermediate state (隔阴之谜) can cause someone who was already enlightened in a past life to need to become enlightened anew in this life—can this be understood as a kind of regression in cultivation? Especially when, in a state of ignorance, one creates a great deal of karma.

Answer: As long as one has not attained the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), even if one becomes enlightened in this life, one will not know it in future lives. At the beginning of a future life, one may not necessarily be able to have faith in the Buddha or understand the Buddha-dharma, but by virtue of the roots of goodness and the power of merit cultivated in this life, when the conditions mature in a future life, one can once again enter the gate of Buddhism and cultivate. Moreover, one's cultivation in that future life will be faster than in this life; after cultivating for a period of time, one can likewise see the mind and attain enlightenment, thereby connecting with the cultivation of this life. Such a person may not even need guidance from others in learning Buddhism and cultivating; he can, on his own, follow the manner of cultivation from this life and re-attain enlightenment by himself. Even without the guidance of a good teacher (kalyāṇamitra), he will not go astray, and his level of cultivation will not only connect with that of the previous life but can even surpass the level of realization attained in the previous life.

When we see some people whose cultivation in this life progresses very rapidly and whose faculties are very sharp, we need not doubt that the foundation of their cultivation in past lives was deep and their basis solid—only thus could they achieve such deep and sharp wisdom in their cultivation this life. Those who cultivate very slowly in this life must have failed to lay a solid foundation for learning Buddhism in past lives; their immersion in the Buddha-dharma was not deep enough, so that they cultivated for a long time without results, and may even have gone down a wrong path, immersing themselves in mistaken views without knowing it themselves. Some people, in past lives, learned Buddhism incorrectly and took the wrong path, and in this life they still follow the inertia of their past lives and cultivate the dharma wrongly in the same way, without knowing to repent and reform. Therefore, as long as one cultivates the Buddha-dharma correctly, as long as one has attained realization, there is no need to fear the mystery of the intermediate state. In this life, one should know how to cultivate many kinds of roots of goodness and accumulate much merit, so that in future lives one's progress on the path can advance rapidly.