Why Must an Anagami Not Have the Thought of Being an Anagami?

Original text of the Diamond Sutra: "Subhuti, what do you think? Can an Anagamin have the thought, 'I have attained the fruit of Anagamin'?" Subhuti replied, "No, World-Honored One. Why? Anagamin means 'non-returning,' yet there is truly no such thing as non-returning. Therefore, it is called Anagamin."

Literal translation: The Buddha said to Subhuti, "What do you think of this? Can an Anagamin have the thought 'I have attained the fruit of Anagamin'?" Subhuti answered, "An Anagamin cannot have such a thought. Why is this? Because 'Anagamin' means 'non-returning,' yet in reality, there is no such dharma characteristic as 'non-returning.' That is to say, the attainment of the Anagamin fruit is merely a conventional designation.

Those who attain the third fruit have minds even more free from attachments than those of the second fruit. They certainly do not entertain thoughts like 'I am such-and-such.' Therefore, they would not dwell on the notion 'I am an Anagamin.' If they did, their minds would not be free from attachments, and they would not have truly attained Anagamin. Because Anagamins possess meditative concentration at the level of the first dhyana or higher, after death they are reborn in the Five Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) of the form realm to continue their practice. There, in the Five Pure Abodes, they attain the fourth fruit of Arhatship and directly enter Parinirvana without returning to the human realm. Hence, it is called the 'fruit of non-returning' or 'fruit of non-coming.' In truth, there is no such thing as 'not coming to the human realm'—neither coming nor not coming truly exists, as both are illusory appearances. This illusory appearance is then conventionally designated as 'Anagamin' or 'third fruit.' Therefore, one must not believe there truly exists an Anagamin fruit to be attained, nor regard a third-fruit practitioner as a real entity. One must not give rise to a grasping mind or an arrogant mind. To do so would mean one is not a true third-fruit practitioner.