The Power of Zen Meditation and the Path Must Be Complete to Discern and Dispel Maras

During the Buddha's lifetime, Mara was already exceedingly rampant. Fortunately, practitioners had eradicated afflictions such as greed and attachment, their minds were free from bonds, and they possessed spiritual powers and the strength of the Way, enabling them to avoid, subdue, and eliminate demons. Now, in this Dharma-ending age, sentient beings possess very little merit, virtue, and good roots. They lack meditative concentration, lack the power of the Way, and lack the wisdom to discern demons. Even those with slight merit and good roots, on the verge of achieving something, face even greater demonic disturbances. Yet sentient beings remain unaware, possessing not a shred of wisdom to discern demons. They fail to realize they are being harassed by demons and completely yield to the demonic will.

Today, so-called Mahayana practitioners look down upon the Hinayana, considering themselves Mahayana practitioners, superior to the Hinayana. They disdain the Hinayana practices of precepts, meditation, and wisdom, seeking instead a unique path, bypassing precepts, meditation, and wisdom. They imagine themselves to possess great ability, yet they are like clay bodhisattvas—unable to touch water, incapable of crossing the river, let alone recognize, discern, avoid, or expel demons? They can only sit and wait to be captured.