Only with No Mind, No Desire, and No Seeking Can One Attain Accomplishment in Cultivation

Those who study Buddhism without seeking anything are rare, and those who are without contrivance are even rarer. Seeking means seeking in worldly dharmas; the practice of the Buddha's Dharma must reach the state of no-mind, no-desire, and no-seeking in order to attain accomplishment. Whoever has contrivance and seeking is still a person who has not yet accomplished anything. Whatever one seeks, it is all contrivance—taking the dharma one seeks as real and craving and clinging to it—therefore all of it is wrong. Some people seek many followers, seek prestige, seek power and influence, seek to be the master, seek merit, seek political power, and so on; all of this is misdirected effort, not the conduct of a true practitioner.

The bhikṣu Vajra-vidhi practiced the great prajñā without applying his mind to anything, his mind abiding nowhere. Māra Pāpīyas spied on him for a whole kalpa but could find no opening to harass him, found no opportunity to disturb him, and returned home in frustration. As for those whose craving burns fiercely and who seek many things, they cannot escape the desire realm—they are already Māra's kin. Pāpīyas not only does not disturb them, he even uses great power to bless and incite them, letting them continue craving, craving greatly, craving madly. Only genuine practitioners frequently encounter demonic obstructions and are disturbed by Pāpīyas. The indulgent are controlled by Māra and are Māra's kin; Māra hopes that all sentient beings will enjoy the pleasures of the five desires, indulging the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, without subduing their own minds. The more indulgent they are, the more delighted Māra is. Māra Pāpīyas is also skilled at striking at sentient beings' resolve to cultivate the Way; when they lose their confidence in practice, Māra rejoices, and sentient beings fall for the deception.

For a practitioner of the Way, possessing right knowledge and right view is very important, and possessing profound meditative concentration (dhyāna) is also extremely important—only then can one skillfully discern demonic disturbances, not follow Māra's will, and not enter Māra's lair. Meditative concentration can accomplish all the affairs of the Buddha's Dharma; without meditative concentration, all such endeavors come to nothing. Whoever prevents others from cultivating concentration is a member of Māra's kin; the wise should be adept at discerning Māra. Chanting many mantras and cultivating much meditative concentration can subdue demons. Without meditative concentration, cleverness and intelligence alone are useless—they cannot withstand the temptations of affliction. When one truly gets on the path of practice, even in dreams one is subduing the demons of the five desires; dreams become ever purer, and the mind ever clearer. Lacking meditative concentration, nothing one does will help—it is not genuine practice. Do not always remain at the level of the conscious mind; it will accomplish nothing.