What is the psychology behind liking false stages of realization?

Reincarnated persons who do not have the mystery of the intermediate state are born as sages, unconfused about all dharmas, knowing themselves the fruit of their cultivation and the degree of their wisdom. Because their manas already realized it in a previous life, although the mind consciousness in this life is new, they possess the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), and the Buddhadharma realized in previous lives they still know in this life, without the slightest confusion. Since neither the sixth nor the seventh consciousness is confused, both possessing wisdom, they remain connected with their previous lives; therefore they are born as sages and need not realize it anew.

If in a previous life only the mind consciousness realized it but the manas did not, and the manas remains confused, then in this life the manas is confused and the mind consciousness is also confused. When both consciousnesses are confused, they must together cultivate meditation, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), and deliberation in preparation for realizing the fruit. But because the manas did not realize it in the previous life, it has not the slightest impression of the non-self of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), and it is extremely difficult to steep the manas in this. The mind consciousness is also new and has no impression of the previous life's cultivation, so it must start from the beginning. In that case, a very long time of repeated cultivation is needed, which is by no means easy.

For reincarnated persons who do have the mystery of the intermediate state, to realize the fruit and see the true mind again in this life still requires several years of extremely diligent study and cultivation. So how could ordinary beings with no foundation from past lives realize the fruit after merely two, three, or five years of encountering the Buddhadharma in this life? What kind of spiritual faculties (indriya) would that take? Faster than reincarnated practitioners?

The Buddha said that the prerequisites for realizing the fruit and seeing the true mind are the complete possession of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, the complete possession of the bodhisattva's six perfections, and the complete possession of precepts, meditation, and wisdom; only when these conditions are fulfilled, along with the necessary causes and conditions, can the fruit be realized. But now it is no longer so. The Buddha's words have become empty talk: no need to laboriously cultivate the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment and the bodhisattva's six perfections, no need to cultivate precepts, meditation, and wisdom; the precepts need not be received or kept, meditative concentration (samādhi) need not be cultivated, Chan investigation need not be investigated—just "understand" a little, know some shallow principle, and the fruit is in hand. The less meditative concentration one has, the heavier one's afflictions, and the less able one is to keep the precepts, the easier it is to realize the fruit; while those who step by step honestly cultivate according to the World-Honored One's instructions find it harder to realize the fruit. Such is the chaos of this topsy-turvy age.

The tathāgatagarbha is the true master, while the manas falsely regards itself as the master. This false master takes all dharmas as "I" and "mine," takes the functions of the eighth consciousness as its own, and takes the functions of the six consciousnesses as its own. If one eliminates the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), yet this master does not eliminate the self-view, what use is it for the six consciousnesses to follow along and eliminate it? The master, the manas, is all day long "I, I, mine, mine"—if He is not allowed to eliminate the self-view, what use is it to let His advisors, errand-runners, assistants, subordinates, and followers eliminate it?

Those who still cannot wake up to this really ought to check their brains—has some part of them rusted? Is there any way to apply some rust remover to the brain? I have explained the principle that the manas and the mind consciousness must realize the fruit and see the true mind together, over and over again, until I am quite weary of it and almost unwilling to speak of it any further. Yet there are still some who insist that it is enough for only the mind consciousness to realize the fruit and see the true mind. Why exactly is the wisdom of these people so inferior that they cannot even work out such a simple problem? What karmic obstructions are blocking their own minds, making them cling to their false fruit-attainment and refuse to advance a single step? Because it is easy for the mind consciousness to realize the fruit, and realizing the fruit with the mind consciousness consoles the mind; compared with the manas realizing the fruit, which seems indefinitely far off, it still offers a little comfort.

Loving a fruit-attainment, loving others looking up to and worshipping oneself, loving mutual flattery—"you are a bodhisattva, I am a bodhisattva, we are all bodhisattvas"—this is still a self. If this self is not removed, can such a person be one who has eliminated the self-view? This mind of self is far heavier than the self of worldly people; it has one more self than worldly people—a self that has realized the fruit and attained enlightenment—so one feels extraordinary, incomparable to worldly people. This self is even harder to abandon than the self-conceit steeped into worldly people.