Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
I never said they will certainly attain enlightenment by practicing for a fixed amount of time. Some may take months, some take years, some take decades and may not be enlightened before death. (but that's ok as Buddhist scripture accepts that for some people it will take lifetimes of practice before enlightenment)
It is an eventuality that everyone will become enlightened if they practice and learn the dharma, but each person has individual capacities, ability, talent, etc, much like learning piano varies for person to person. A prodigy may take 1/10 of the time a normal person takes to master piano, while those who are slower may take longer time. Same goes to practitioners, each has different capacities. Some people become enlightened by listening to a verse of dharma, some people take decades of practice.
But I said, they will definitely see results if they practice -- even in the beginning phases of their practice.
That is the question, there are people who tried and never see any results.