Only with no mind, no desire, and no seeking can one attain accomplishment.

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

The bhikṣu Vajra-Paryanka 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 greed and desire blaze 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 embolden and incite them, making them continue to crave, crave greatly, crave madly. Only genuine practitioners will frequently encounter Māra's obstructions and be disturbed by Pāpīyas. The dissolute are controlled by Māra and are Māra's kin; Māra hopes that all sentient beings will enjoy the pleasures of the five desires, indulge in the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and not subdue their own minds—the more dissolute 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 cultivation, Māra rejoices, and sentient beings fall into his trap.

For a cultivator, possessing right knowledge and right view is very important, and possessing profound meditative concentration (dhyāna) is also extremely important—being able to skillfully discern Māra's disturbances, not following Māra's intent, and not entering Māra's lair. Meditative concentration can accomplish all the affairs of the Buddha-dharma; without meditative concentration, all endeavors come to naught. Whoever obstructs others from cultivating concentration is a member of Māra's kin; the wise should be adept at discerning Māra. Reciting mantras abundantly and cultivating meditative concentration much will subdue Māra; without meditative concentration, cleverness and wisdom alone are useless and cannot withstand the temptations of afflictions. When one's genuine practice gets on track, even in dreams one is subduing the Māra of the five desires, and one's 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.