Only When the Mind Departs from the Mundane and from Marks Can One Attain Liberation

In studying Buddhism and cultivating practice, we study the dharma of no-marks; the mind must gradually detach from the worldly. Only when the mind departs from worldliness and from marks can it gradually attain purity and non-action (asaṃskṛta), corresponding with the unconditioned dharmas that transcend the world. If even the most insignificant festival in the secular world draws our attention and makes us follow the crowd, with the mind bound tightly to worldliness, then without learning to take things lightly, how can we attain liberation? Worldly people are unbearably vulgar, while practitioners must ultimately transcend the ordinary and rise above the mundane. Therefore, we must not cling too closely to worldly dharmas, sinking deep into the secular world unable to extricate ourselves, running contrary to the Path—when would we ever be able to walk the great road of liberation?