How to Cultivate Without Wasted Effort

The ability to concentrate wholeheartedly on reading, contemplating, and performing tasks is the concentration of the mind consciousness. However, if the mind faculty (manas) lacks interest and remains unsettled in reading or working, failing to focus its attention on the content, can the mind consciousness achieve concentration? It is fundamentally impossible. If the mind faculty is unsettled, the six consciousnesses cannot possibly settle; they will inevitably scatter like a monkey. Even if the mind consciousness continuously applies concentrated attention, it is useless—it will still be led astray by the mind faculty. Therefore, subduing the mind faculty is an extremely crucial point in practice. Hearing, contemplation, practice, and realization must all be applied to the mind faculty; only then will one's effort not be wasted in vain, and results and karmic retribution will surely follow.