What state of mind does “When one seeks nothing, one's character naturally becomes noble” represent?

When a person has no seeking—meaning they do not deliberately pursue any dharma, do not scheme to obtain anything, and apply no mental effort toward anything—that is non-action (wu-wei). A person whose mind is non-action will not resort to any means to scheme for anything; even for legitimate matters, they will not deliberately strive and contend to obtain them, let alone engage in illegitimate affairs using improper means—that is something they would never do. In this way, they do not contend with anyone over anything, are without strife with the world, and do not contend over affairs; having no mind of contention, they certainly have no mind of grabbing, deceiving, or stealing. Seeking nothing in all matters, they pass their days in accord with conditions. Such a person's moral character is supremely noble, and their state of mind is one of complete self-forgetting.

An ordinary person can only occasionally act this way, and only in some particular matter. But if a person can consistently act this way, with their mental conduct always so pure and detached, without desire or seeking, then such a person is no longer an ordinary person. Then what kind of person are they? They must be one who has eliminated the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), with no self in their mind—and moreover, not one of the ordinary stream-enterers or once-returners who have merely eliminated self-view, but certainly a third-or fourth-fruit noble one who has eliminated afflictions. Of course, all arhats are of noble character, their moral cultivation being foremost among humans, even surpassing the devas; they are teachers of humans and devas, worthy of offerings from humans and devas.

If such an arhat can further perform many deeds that benefit sentient beings, deeply harboring the vow to liberate beings within their mind, constantly mindful of the suffering of sentient beings, and deeply wishing to help beings transcend their suffering, then this arhat is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, from the first to the eighth bhūmi. Of course, before the eighth bhūmi, a bodhisattva's mind cannot yet be non-action at every moment, cannot always act naturally and in accord with conditions, cannot be without desire or seeking at all times, and is still influenced by afflictive habits. Only the minds of bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above are non-action at every moment, functioning spontaneously and naturally without deliberate contrivance; their mind is empty and dharmas are empty, their meditative concentration (samādhi) is extremely deep, and their wisdom is also extremely deep. They can forever accord with conditions, naturally accomplishing the work of liberating sentient beings, neither grasping at self nor grasping at dharmas.

Therefore, everyone's moral character is related to their level of realization and cultivation. The higher a person's realization, the emptier their mind; the emptier their mind, the greater their capacity, the more non-action they are, and the nobler their character. The results of cultivation and realization are all manifested within worldly dharmas; their non-action mental conduct is also expressed within worldly dharmas, expressed in the process of liberating sentient beings, and expressed in the carrying out of all endeavors. Therefore, whether a person has realization and cultivation, whether they possess the Path—someone with wisdom can observe and verify this simply by observing their bodily, verbal, and mental actions.