Miscellaneous Discourses on the Dharma (Part II)
Chapter 6: On Good Roots and Merit
1. On the Matter of Merit
The merit that a Buddhist practitioner cultivates in the Buddha's teachings, or the merit cultivated for the purpose of spreading the Dharma, is all fixed in quantity and limited in amount. If a limited amount of merit is used more in worldly affairs, then less merit will remain for use in the cultivation and realization of the Dharma; the two are like the two ends of a balance scale—when one goes down, the other goes up. For example, if in worldly affairs one's work compensation improves, one's position rises, one's reputation improves, one's status rises, one gains power and influence, one earns more money, one's interpersonal relationships improve, and so on—in short, you become more and more pleased with yourself and more and more comfortable, and your family relationships and so forth also get better and better—but all of these are drawing upon the merit you cultivated in learning Buddhism and spreading the Dharma. Then the merit is cashed out from the bank of the tathāgatagarbha, and what remains is not much; whether it is enough for use in the cultivation and realization of the Dharma is hard to say.
If the merit for learning the Dharma is insufficient, and one's practice still cannot advance, then one must continue cultivating merit. If the merit cultivated is then used in worldly affairs, and when the practice needs it the merit is still insufficient, then in this cycle, when will one ever cultivate oneself to accomplishment? Therefore, while cultivating merit, one should make vows, designating a certain percentage of that merit for cultivating the Path, and as much as possible not use it in worldly affairs, because it is not worthwhile—once cashed out and used up, it is gone. The more money one earns and the higher one's status, the more merit is cashed out, and the less remains deposited in the tathāgatagarbha. With what, then, will one support one's Path-karma and attain realization through practice?
Do not think that the more money one earns the better, or that the greater one's power and fame the better—unless one earns money for the sake of spreading the Dharma and benefiting sentient beings. Otherwise, as the deposits in one's own tathāgatagarbha bank dwindle, one will be unable to support one's practice. A person who is intelligent and wise always maintains a considerable deposit in the tathāgatagarbha bank, rather than cashing it out for use in worldly affairs. It is enough to just get by in worldly affairs; having food to eat and clothes to wear is enough. The merit used for practice must be guaranteed to be fully sufficient, with abundance to spare; only then can one's practice be smooth and swift.
2. The Principle of Cultivating Merit and Depleting Merit
The merit used for cultivating the Path is insufficient for all sentient beings, so on one hand one must constantly cultivate and create merit, and on the other hand one must economize on merit as much as possible. Merit dissipates very quickly: once enjoyed, the merit is extinguished; boasting about oneself and destroying others, or receiving praise from others, consumes the merit; committing evil karma—anger, jealousy, slander, divisive speech, harsh speech—makes the merit disappear. Of course, doing wholesome karma increases merit: benefiting others and the community increases merit; improving one's moral character and keeping a kind heart increases merit; meditative concentration can increase merit; extensive learning can increase merit; keeping precepts can increase merit; forbearance can increase merit; and of course, various kinds of generosity (dāna) can increase merit even more.
There are also people who rather enjoy practicing generosity extensively; they originally had quite a lot of merit, yet always feel they have no merit, and nothing goes smoothly for them. Why is this? It is actually because this person has heavy afflictions, is habituated to committing evil karma, frequently loses their temper and gives rise to anger, and loves to be jealous of others, always squeezing others out at work and being competitive and contentious. In this way they harm others' interests, and by causing others' interests to suffer, they damage their own merit. Competitive, contentious people find it hard to accumulate merit and will even consume it; being jealous of and squeezing out others and harming their interests are, of course, all things that damage one's own merit.
A kind mind, kind speech, and kind bodily actions are the way to accumulate merit. Conversely, heavy afflictive habits, a narrow mind, unkind speech, a fondness for stirring up conflicts/disputes/gossip, unkind bodily actions that commit evil deeds, and an unkind mind that only seeks self-benefit—these are actions that deplete merit. Afflictions are also called outflows (āsrava); with the outflow of afflictions, wholesome karma is hard to accumulate and merit is hard to build up; whatever little merit one has will leak away because of the afflictions. Therefore merit is always insufficient; troubles arise at the slightest provocation, the mind is uneasy, and the Path is not firm. When people encounter illness and suffering, troubles and disasters, they always think these happen naturally; everyone thinks this way and takes it for granted, never reflecting on why illness, pain, setbacks, and various dissatisfactions arise. Therefore they never learn the lesson to change themselves, and so suffering and distress will continue to accompany them, and nothing goes smoothly for them.
3. What Is Tainted Merit? What Is Untainted Merit?
Merit is divided into tainted merit and untainted merit. Tainted merit cannot carry one to the other shore of liberation; only untainted merit can escort a practitioner to the other shore of liberation. Merit cultivated with expectations toward worldly affairs is tainted merit; merit cultivated with a worldly utilitarian mindset is tainted merit; merit cultivated with a self-regarding mind is tainted merit; merit cultivated in order to obtain worldly rewards is tainted merit. Untainted merit is merit cultivated with a mind that seeks nothing and gains nothing, merit cultivated without a utilitarian mindset, merit cultivated not for oneself and not for worldly rewards.
Tainted merit can be enjoyed until it is exhausted; once enjoyed in worldly affairs it disappears, and one must constantly cultivate merit in order to have merit to enjoy. Untainted merit cannot be exhausted; once cultivated, it can be preserved until the time of becoming a Buddha, because untainted merit is connected with virtue (guṇa); as long as the virtue is not lost, the merit is not lost. Tainted merit corresponds to worldly afflictions; untainted merit corresponds to the pure great vows of becoming a Buddha and delivering sentient beings. The greater the vow, the greater the merit; making vows generates merit. Tainted merit will strengthen a person's view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and self-grasping, whereas untainted merit is the opposite: it will support a practitioner in eradicating the view of self, eliminating the view of self, and elevating various levels of realization and wisdom.
Beginning Buddhist practitioners all start by cultivating tainted goodness and tainted merit. As the mind becomes more and more empty, more and more non-active (asaṃskṛta-like), more and more without seeking, success comes naturally with sufficient effort, and only at the end can one cultivate untainted goodness and untainted merit. This is the process of practice. In the initial stage of learning Buddhism, one must first cultivate tainted goodness and merit, because sentient beings have evil and unwholesome dharmas in their minds, and wholesome dharmas must be used as antidotes. When one has cultivated to a considerable degree, the mind will then correspond to emptiness, and the evil and unwholesome dharmas in the mind can be completely eliminated. At that point one should no longer cling to wholesome dharmas; with a mind attached to wholesome dharmas, it is not empty and does not correspond to the Path.
We are now all in the stage of diligently studying the Four Right Efforts, all striving to cease evil and cultivate goodness. Only when all evil has been eradicated and goodness no longer needs to be deliberately cultivated, when the mind clings to neither good nor evil, is there true untaintedness. The Four Right Efforts: cause goodness not yet arisen to arise; cause goodness already arisen to increase; cause evil not yet arisen not to arise; cause evil already arisen to be eradicated. Everyone must pass through this stage; the more diligent the practice, the more quickly the Four Right Efforts can be completed, thereby realizing untaintedness.
4. Differences in Merit Lead to Differences in Direct and Circumstantial Retribution
In the three realms and six paths, sentient beings with great merit all enjoy pleasures in the heavenly realms, with a small portion among humans; sentient beings with little merit all suffer in the three evil paths, with a portion suffering among humans. The greater the merit, the longer the lifespan; the smaller the merit, the shorter the lifespan—unless one is suffering, in which case the lifespan is longer. To devas, the human lifespan is at most a few minutes—rapidly perishing within one lifetime, then rapidly being born again, which is very boring; to humans, the lives of animals, especially bacteria, are likewise extremely rapid.
Ants and bees toil their whole lives, living earnestly, with their team cooperation in perfect order; but in the eyes of humans, what meaning is there in it? Humans are the same: toiling their whole lives, living earnestly, pursuing fame, profit, power, and position, various first places and second places—but in the eyes of devas, what meaning is there in it? The various contests among humans are just like ants fighting over ant eggs, like bees fighting over pollen and nectar. Humans think themselves great; bees and ants also think themselves remarkable. Arrogance is nothing more than this—all are limited by one's scope of vision. Merit limits sentient beings' modes of existence and their ideals and morals.
People with insufficient merit all engage in worldly affairs, single-mindedly seeking achievement within worldly matters. People with great merit single-mindedly engage in transcendental dharma, striving for transcendental freedom and liberation. Merit limits people's minds and their ideals and conduct. Some people are given opportunities to cultivate more merit and do virtuous deeds, but because their merit is insufficient, they do not like cultivating merit or doing virtuous deeds. What is lacking is hard to make up; lacking merit, merit is hard to cultivate.
5. The Importance of Merit
Merit is the cornerstone of cultivation and realization in the Buddha's teachings. If merit is insufficient, meditative concentration cannot be cultivated; without meditative concentration or with insufficient concentration, understanding the meaning of the Dharma is very difficult. When merit is insufficient, some things look very easy yet can never be accomplished. One clearly feels that keeping precepts should be easy, yet simply cannot keep them; some dharmas one clearly feels are easy to understand, yet one simply cannot penetrate them in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). Without merit, nothing goes as one wishes, including all kinds of endeavors in worldly affairs. Only when meditative concentration and merit are both complete can contemplative wisdom easily arise in every dharma, enabling us to realize emptiness, with a mind empty of self and of things, liberated and at ease. Practice is also a process of perfecting the various causes and conditions for seeing the Path; only when the causal conditions are complete can one see the Path, attain purity of the Dharma eye, and realize the samādhi of emptiness.
6. The Difference Between Blessings and Merit
Sentient beings gain blessings through generosity, but because the mental attitudes in giving differ, the blessings obtained differ. What is meant by "mental attitude" is whether one gives with a mind of acquisition, a selfish and self-interested mind, a mind of expectation, a greedy mind, and so on. If one practices generosity with such mental activities, attitudes, and ideas, one only gains blessings, not merit. Virtue (de) represents purity of mental conduct: no-self, no selfishness, not seeking reward, nothing sought—or not seeking for personal gain or personal desire, with no impure motives. A pure mind is virtue; a pure, desireless mind is virtue. Only by giving with such a mind can one obtain merit, can one attain the Path, can one have the Path.
With virtue, there is pāramitā, and one can reach the other shore of wisdom; without virtue, there is no pāramitā, one cannot reach the other shore of wisdom, and cultivation of the Path will not succeed. A mind that seeks something has a very small capacity, so the blessing gained is of course small; a mind that seeks nothing has a very great capacity, so the blessing gained is also great, and the virtue is also great.
Therefore, when practicing generosity, try not to have expectations, greed, or a utilitarian mindset. In whatever one does, if there is craving, greed, selfishness, impure motives, or an impure mind, there is no virtue to speak of. A mind that seeks something has a very small capacity, so the blessing gained is of course small; a mind that seeks nothing has a very great capacity, so the blessing gained is also great, and the virtue is also great.
Those who frequently practice generosity should calm down and introspect: what is the purpose of practicing generosity and cultivating merit? Is it pure—only for the sake of the Path-karma or for sentient beings? If one discovers that greed is mixed in, one must constantly purify one's own mind, remove the defilements, and eliminate the coverings. Because such diligent giving only yields blessings without pāramitā, once the blessings are used up nothing remains; the virtue does not exist, and no progress can be made on the Path. Conversely, giving and cultivating merit with a mind that seeks nothing and gains nothing, with an altruistic mind, will yield merit—one will have not only blessings but also virtue, and virtue forever belongs to oneself and will not disappear; it is the capital and provisions for accomplishing the Path-karma.
7. Enjoying Pleasures Is Depleting Merit
Buddhist practitioners should frequently introspect on which aspects they are constantly depleting their merit; after introspecting, they should correct themselves and be careful not to casually waste their merit, so that their Path-karma can advance quickly. Modern society has a developed material life—does this show that sentient beings today have great merit, while sentient beings at the time of the Buddha had little merit? Not at all. The size of one's merit is not judged by superficial luxury or its absence, but by whether one can devote one's energy and merit to the Path-karma and to wholesome karma, whether one can continually open the treasure trove of wisdom, and whether one can keep all one's merit stored in the tathāgatagarbha for cultivating the Path in future lives, rather than squandering it in worldly affairs.
When worldly people's merit is insufficient, they often are born in an age of superficial splendor, easily cashing out their seeds of merit to enjoy worldly pleasures and to display their power and prestige. If Buddhists do not awaken, but instead follow worldly pleasures and casually deplete their own merit, doing useless worldly things and making no plans for the Path-karma, that is a manifestation of lacking wisdom and good roots. People with good roots and wisdom keep their merit for cultivating the Path, not cashing it out for worldly enjoyment and showing off. Many people always take pride in possessing worldly fame, profit, power, and prestige, endlessly haggling over illusory conditioned dharmas, not knowing that wealth and glory are like flowers in the sky, soon to perish—even if present, they are empty. Worldly people find it hard to experience emptiness and only know existence; hence the mentality of seizing pleasure in the moment without thought for future lives.
8. How to Obtain Unconditioned Merit
Most worldly people can enjoy conditioned merit but cannot enjoy unconditioned merit, because most people's minds are conditioned and cannot be unconditioned. Yet unconditioned merit is extremely great, far exceeding conditioned merit. Ordinary people have no experience of the unconditioned and cannot appreciate the difference between the two. A conditioned person's mind in the world is not empty: various mental activities and thoughts, various grasping (upādāna), various fabrications, in constant turmoil, unwilling to stop—extremely toilsome, consuming body and mind at every moment. Although one can enjoy some toilsome conditioned merit, the price is great and the gains do not justify the losses. Therefore one needs to reduce deluded thoughts and rest and recuperate body and mind more; gradually one will obtain some pure, unconditioned merit free of misfortune.
How does one calm body and mind and obtain unconditioned merit? Observe more the emptiness of all dharmas in the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha); move and do less; give rise to fewer thoughts and mental activities about people, matters, things, and principles; have fewer emotional reactions; have fewer emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness that harm the body and mind. Because none of these are necessary: dharmas that arise and perish, that are illusory and impermanent, that appear by relying on causes and conditions—when the conditions cease, the dharmas also cease; grasping them is futile, the result is all emptiness, and it consumes enormous time, energy, and heart's blood. People of great wisdom and great mind should focus on the long term and the eternal, do more effort of no-mind, and reduce emotional reactions. Whatever state one encounters, the mind should remain empty, without other thoughts; gradually the mind becomes calm and pure, consumption decreases, body and mind are healthy, the mind-ground is unconditioned, and the Path-karma also advances.
People with a peaceful mindset and very few thoughts have a relatively simple and kind mind-ground, without complicated schemes; their body and mind are healthy and harmonious, their energy field is good, they have affinity and warmth, their interpersonal relationships are good, and they inadvertently accumulate unconditioned merit. Some people grasp at all worldly dharmas without letting go; their thoughts, emotions, and states of mind change constantly, and both body and mind have suffering; although they can gain some conditioned merit, the price is great. Therefore, being able to keep the mind empty yields unconditioned merit; an empty mind is the greatest enjoyment in the world, the retributive reward of a pure mind-ground.
9. The Relationship Between Merit and Suffering
Many small animals are nocturnal creatures: they sleep during the day and come out at midnight to move about and forage, because they fear light and fear people; when there is light, they try not to come out. This is determined by the mechanism of their physical bodies, and also by their lack of merit, which forces them to steal food since they cannot provide for themselves—in short, it is all brought about by karmic power. Small animals without merit must fear people and fear sentient beings with greater merit than themselves. The same applies among beings of the same kind: those with great merit occupy leadership positions, standing at the head of their kind.
Therefore, if a person depletes all their merit and also has the karma of the three evil paths, they must go to the three evil paths to suffer. The three evil paths require almost no merit to survive; without merit there is necessarily suffering—merit and suffering are like the two ends of a balance scale: when one goes down, the other goes up. If Buddhists also do not understand to cultivate more merit and deplete less of it, that is truly regrettable—not knowing that merit can be completely used up, and that without merit one suffers great pain; this is ignorance and foolishness. A person unwilling to cultivate merit, unwilling even to do the small favor of a raised hand to benefit others, is definitely not an intelligent person; those who have only themselves in their hearts are none of them intelligent and wise people.
10. Why Is It Said That Virtue Unworthy of One's Position Brings Disaster?
Virtue includes merit, moral character, personality, cultivation, talent, ability, and other usable resources; position includes status, power, fame, titles, retinue, benefits, and so on. Investing these resources to obtain that position—if the resources are insufficient, it is like a high-interest loan; in the end, assets cannot cover the debts, leading to collapse, bankruptcy, and indebtedness, possibly even family ruin and death, repaying debts with one's life. If even one's life is not enough to repay the debt, and the merit is too greatly deficient, one will fall into the three evil paths, even sinking to the very bottom of the three evil paths, from which it is very difficult to rise again.
Everyone thinks worldly fame and power are good and wants them, but their merit is insufficient. If one uses schemes to seize them by force, the high-interest loan will make one pay an enormous price, and in the end one discovers it would have been better to live in obscurity, steady and grounded. What is there to fight for in life? Whatever one obtains requires consuming a corresponding amount of merit; when the merit is used up, even the qualification to be a human being is gone. Therefore do not pursue fame, profit, and offerings; do not demand that others think highly of you or exalt you; do not demand respect and prestige; do not demand to be admired; do not act by any means necessary; do not demand to be above others—being below others brings greater benefit. Humility and yielding generate merit; prudence generates merit.
Conversely, when one's various desires are all fulfilled, merit is depleted; when fame rises, merit is depleted; when one is smug and self-satisfied, merit is depleted. What depletes merit most greatly and quickly is doing evil and committing evil karma: violating precepts and rules are the acts that deplete merit most; violating the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, greed, anger, jealousy, divisive speech, harsh speech, acting as a treacherous villain—all evil thoughts and evil deeds deplete merit enormously. When merit is exhausted, all endeavors in the human world come to an end, and there is no need to be a human anymore.
Gaining depletes merit; losing expiates karma. Being respected by others requires consuming merit; being insulted by others can expiate karma. Therefore forbearance is virtue: forbearance generates merit, forbearance can accomplish great undertakings—and seeing the Path and attaining the Path is the great undertaking, culminating in Buddhahood; when the highest karma is accomplished, there is no more need to practice—great bliss. Therefore forbearance can accomplish great undertakings and great bliss. Do not enjoy blessings to the fullest; insults can be endured to the fullest. One may choose not to enjoy blessings, but insults must be endured. Those with great aspirations should remember this well.
11. Abundant Merit Is Deep and Solid; Meager Merit Is Frivolous
Before planting, seeds must first be soaked in water for a period of time before being planted in the soil; seeds pre-soaked with water sprout quickly once buried in the earth. During soaking, a layer of seeds floats on the water's surface; these seeds are immature and not full—they are shriveled grains that cannot sprout and grow into crops and cannot be used as seeds. Therefore the seeds floating on the surface must be removed and filtered out, and only the solid, sinking ones are planted in the soil. What does this metaphor illustrate? A living person who jumps into the sea may be drowned by it, whereas a dead person in the sea will be buoyed up by the water and float on the surface. What does this metaphor illustrate? In autumn, in the sorghum field, the ripe sorghum grains are full and plump, weighing the sorghum's head down, even bending its stalk; whereas the immature sorghum stands tall and erect, swaying and fluttering in the wind, especially showy. What does this metaphor illustrate?
Those with meager merit cannot suppress their impulsive habits; with meager merit, nothing can be held down, and afflictive habits all float to the surface. Why pretend to understand when one does not, and insist on ordering others around? Why so much restless, frivolous talk every day? People of depth and substance never talk too much.
12. How to Maximize the Merit from Accumulating Goodness
Doing good deeds unknown to others is accumulating hidden virtue; the merit gained when unknown is greater than the merit gained when known and respected—hidden virtue exceeds manifest virtue. Because when known, one is respected and praised, and thus a portion of the merit is already compensated, so the merit gained afterward is less. The reward of respect, praise, and admiration is meaningless; it only provides a good feeling about oneself and strengthens the self-mind—not worth receiving such a reward.
The less people know of the good deeds one does, and the less praise one receives, the greater the merit one will gain in the future. The less the mind cares about its own giving, and the less it harbors a desire to gain merit, the greater the merit one will gain in the future; the more unconditioned the mind, the greater the merit gained. When the Buddha said "unconditioned merit is supreme," this is the meaning: the greater the mind's capacity, the greater the merit; the capacity of a mind that seeks nothing is the greatest, and the merit gained is the greatest.
13. How to Increase Blessings Fastest?
Question: How can one increase blessings fastest? Is single-mindedly reciting the Diamond Sutra and the Śūraṅgama Mantra acceptable?
Answer: Reciting sutras can indeed generate merit; this is the merit of wisdom, the blessing brought by wisdom. Blessing is related to wisdom and manifests and functions mainly in the domain of wisdom. But within what period of time the karmic seeds of blessing from reciting sutras will ripen, when the causes and conditions will be complete, and when the merit will manifest and be enjoyed—this is hard to say. Generally speaking, the realization of the merit of wisdom is not fast and will not appear immediately; it may not even manifest before one's death. Keeping precepts and cultivating meditative concentration can also generate merit; this karmic merit manifests in precepts and meditative concentration, enabling one's mind to be pure and free of afflictions, but it does not necessarily bring the blessings of wealth and fortune, nor necessarily the pleasures of the five desires such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.
There are many channels for generating merit: any wholesome karma or pure karma can generate merit. Therefore merit in all aspects should be cultivated together, without bias. Not only do precepts, concentration, and wisdom generate merit—generosity of wealth, generosity of Dharma, generosity of fearlessness, and all endeavors beneficial to sentient beings can generate merit; all should be cultivated, and no aspect should be neglected. Otherwise the merit will be lopsided and incomplete, still imperfect and flawed, and the karmic rewards cannot fully satisfy one's wishes—let alone attaining realization of the Path. Many people are only interested in reading sutras and studying the Dharma, neglecting and disregarding other aspects; as a result, after years of study they remain as they were. Perhaps it only increases their arrogance, making it worse; only those without merit have afflictions that only increase and never decrease.
In fact, nothing increases merit faster than making the great bodhicitta vow. The World-Honored One exhorted sentient beings to make the bodhicitta vow in many Mahāyāna sutras; this is the secret and the key of practice, and it can directly determine one's destination in future lives. Where one goes in future lives is also determined by karmic merit. Generally speaking, those without merit go to the three evil paths to suffer; those with great merit ascend to heaven to enjoy blessings, or go to the Buddha-lands to cultivate the Path beside the Buddhas; those with middling merit can obtain a human body. Those who make the great bodhicitta vow have great vow-power; if their vow-power, compared with their karmic power, is greater than the karmic power, then at death they will not be dominated by karma or dragged by karma, but will be governed by vow-power, which determines their destination in future lives toward wholesome paths and the Buddha-lands. Therefore the merit gained from making the great bodhicitta vow is the fastest and greatest, and becoming a Buddha is also fastest; no merit can compare with the merit of making the great bodhicitta vow.
14. Small Goodness and Great Goodness
Small goodness leaves traces that can be followed, easily discovered and perceived by people; great goodness is formless, not easily perceived, even less easily discovered, not easily understood, and perhaps even misunderstood. Small goodness has short-term effects and can only take care of the immediate present; great goodness focuses on the root and the ultimate, on the long-term future, disregarding immediate gains and losses. Small goodness is easily regarded as good, while great goodness may be regarded as evil; small goodness can be faked, while great goodness disdains being known; small goodness is praised by all, while great goodness is understood by few, and may even be hated. In short, people without wisdom always hold inverted, wrong views and do not understand correct principles. If the inverted, wrong views of worldly people were taken as the standard, there would be no goodness left in the world!
If one follows the pointing of worldly people, one can only walk toward destruction and saṃsāra; if one turns one's back on the pointing of worldly people, one will surely be reviled by them. Great goodness is hard to practice, and the great road is hard to walk—such is this principle, all obstructed by worldly people. Worldly people have diseased eyes that produce illusory flowers, yet claim others have no pearls, hurling accusations recklessly—this is truly the ravings of consumption. When the disease has reached the vital organs and they refuse to heed the physician's orders, they are hard to save and hard to cure; they can only undergo suffering according to their karma.
15. The Importance of Attention (manaskāra) When Doing Wholesome Deeds
When performing the generosity of Dharma or any other wholesome deed, one should have good attention (manaskāra), inwardly hoping that others may thereby obtain various benefits. Once such a wish is made, not only will Dharma-protecting deities help bring the wish to fulfillment, but one's own tathāgatagarbha will also help bring it to fulfillment. In this way, those receiving the generosity will have a resonance, receive the blessing, feel happy, be more receptive to the giving, open their minds, and give rise to wisdom. Thus wholesome karmic bonds are formed, and one's own merit and virtue will also increase—twice the result with half the effort; both self and others benefit, and the matter is accomplished perfectly.
The mind's intent can change everything, similar to dedication of merit (pariṇāma). Once a person's wholesome thought is emitted, it has magnetic force, the energy of the field is strengthened, and it easily gathers and attracts people. When the aspiration is utterly sincere, there is blessing power and guiding power, and the other person will have a spiritual resonance, reading with ease and joy—the effect is good. Blessing and dedicatory wishes function exactly this way: when others receive blessing and assistance and improve, one's own merit and virtue naturally become great. This is called benefiting self and benefiting others; one who delivers others is delivering oneself. It is the same with doing anything: put your heart's intent into it, do things with a utterly sincere mind, do things with a focused mind, and anything can be done well—the food cooked is fragrant, the flowers grown are luxuriant, the vegetables planted are high-yielding, the undertakings pursued are easily accomplished.
Each person's intent differs, and the results differ greatly. If you let others feel your sincerity, they will respond with sincerity, and the reward will come quickly. Why are some people, in dealing with others, able to make others like them? Because they have a sincere and focused mind; when goodwill is sent out, others can feel it and will respond in resonance—this is the effect. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the World-Honored One taught us that when doing anything, one should recite the corresponding mantra, hoping that others obtain wholesome fruits, dedicating wishes that others obtain the virtuous benefits of wholesome dharmas. When the dedicatory wish is fulfilled, sentient beings benefit, and one obtains the corresponding virtue and merit—benefiting others necessarily benefits oneself.
16. What Is the Karmic Retribution of Deliberate, Intentional Giving?
Deliberate, proactive giving, done to cultivate merit for oneself, naturally yields blessings as the karmic reward in future lives. Since it neither infringes upon nor harms others' interests, nor obstructs others from gaining benefits, and moreover the recipients of the giving also benefit, the result is a win-win. If the merit is cultivated with the aspiration to attain Buddhahood, or to save and deliver sentient beings, then the merit in this and future lives will be even greater. If it is for nothing at all, seeking nothing, simply encountering an occasion requiring generosity and giving in accordance with conditions—giving that accords with conditions, with an empty mind—this merit is even greater; unconditioned merit is the greatest, as the Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra.
Practicing generosity has its sequence: first, one practices giving to gain blessings for oneself; when the mind broadens a bit more, one practices giving so that sentient beings gain benefit—this giving has pāramitā and can reach the other shore of liberation; when the mind broadens further, empty and without vows, what is cultivated is unconditioned giving, which can earn the Buddha's prediction (vyākaraṇa). Whether the mind is broad or narrow is all determined by merit: with small merit, the mind's capacity is small; when merit is great, the mind's capacity becomes vast. Therefore being able to make the bodhicitta vow and make great vows also relies on the support of merit. When merit is great, one's vision is broad, one sees far, and one's wisdom is vast and unobstructed.
17. Great Merit Can Subdue Māras
If one does not diligently cultivate merit and wisdom, if the faculty of faith is not complete and the good roots are not complete, then as one practices along, māras will possess the body, and the person will not even know they are māra-possessed. Volume nine of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra describes many cases of demons possessing bodies; examine yourself against them often. When a demon possesses a body, at first it gives you many worldly benefits, making your body and mind pleasant and happy, letting you attain meditative concentration, letting you gain wealth, letting your illness recede and your health improve, making you seem to have supernatural powers, making you feel you are remarkable—but it is all māra's power, not your own attainment of the Path. When the demon has used you up and you no longer have value to it, the demon's mind grows weary and abandons you; then what are you? Your true form is exposed, and after death—the hells.
The Buddha said that those who obtain a human body are as few as the soil in a fingernail, while those who do not obtain a human body are as many as the soil of the great earth. Is the Buddha's statement entirely accurate? Observe sentient beings today: those with good roots and merit are far too few; even among those who study Buddhism, countless greed, anger, and delusion afflictions adhere to their minds, so countless Buddhists still receive retribution in the three evil paths at death; only those who have truly eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) can be spared the three evil paths. Yet how many people can truly eradicate the view of self? Extremely, extremely few. If one slanders the Buddha and slanders the Dharma, it is no ordinary three evil paths—it is the Avīci hell, an extremely long eon of torment with no end in sight. Sentient beings are indeed pitiable, but the pitiable must have hateful aspects.
When a portion of sentient beings diligently study and practice the Buddha's teachings, their ignorance and afflictions lessen and their merit increases; this will inevitably transform their own container world (bhājana-loka). At the same time, the tathāgatagarbhas of sentient beings sharing collective karma will resonate with it and manifest a beautiful and abundant container world, and the world will appear to become beautiful, with all resources becoming abundant. When the world becomes increasingly beautiful and abundant, sentient beings with good roots and merit corresponding to it will be born into it, thereby influencing and leading the world to become even more beautiful and bright. Sentient beings with insufficient merit do not correspond to this world, and beings of evil karma become fewer and fewer. This is a virtuous cycle. The reverse is a vicious cycle: beings of evil karma increase and beings of wholesome karma decrease; even bodhisattvas are unwilling to come to this world, and the living environment of this world will become harsh.
18. The Importance of Planting Good Roots
An icchantika's severance of good roots does not refer to ordinary disbelief in the true suchness mind, the tathāgatagarbha, but rather to coupling that disbelief with abusive language and extremely grave slander, with very bad influence. Those who disbelieve in the tathāgatagarbha are the majority, while icchantika sinners are not many, an extreme minority—otherwise the Avīci hell could not contain them all.
When Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī expounded the Mahāyāna Dharma to five hundred bhikṣus, the bhikṣus, in their disbelief, rose and left, with anger in their minds—especially anger at Mañjuśrī's exposition of the Dharma. This offense is many times greater than anger toward ordinary people, so they went down to the hells to suffer. Mañjuśrī had foreseen all this. Śāriputra asked Mañjuśrī: since he knew this outcome, why did he still expound the Mahāyāna Dharma to them? Mañjuśrī said: although they went down to the hells, their good roots had already matured; after arriving in the hells they would know repentance, and with a single thought of remorse their hellish offenses would be extinguished; they would then ascend to the heavens, then return to the human world to study and practice the Mahāyāna Dharma, and finally attain realization of the Path. If he had not expounded the Mahāyāna Dharma to them, although they would not have fallen into the hells, they also would not have planted good roots and merit, and would have had no opportunity to study the Mahāyāna and attain realization.
Therefore, some matters may appear unwholesome and disadvantageous in the short term, but in the long run bring great benefit. Great bodhisattvas have broad insight and far-reaching vision, able to see long-term benefits, and whatever they do can benefit sentient beings. Ordinary people can only see immediate benefits and cannot see far ahead, hence their short-sightedness.
Since Buddhists are learning from the Buddha, they should read the Buddhist sutras more, learn more about the Buddha's cultivation experiences through three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, and also learn more about the cultivation journeys of the great bodhisattvas, learning more about the great wisdom and conduct of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas; this will have immense guiding significance for one's own practice, so that one is not left groping in ignorance. What the Buddhist sutras teach is both comprehensive and ultimate, rich and detailed in content; reading them much will surely bring great benefit. It lays a foundation for future lives, and one also gains the wisdom eye to discern Buddhas and bodhisattvas, able to recognize whether each Dharma teacher is a good teacher (kalyāṇamitra) or a false teacher, not being deceived by others, not straying onto wrong paths, and attaining Buddhahood quickly.
19. How to Maximize Forming Karmic Bonds and Accumulating Merit
Every step of practice requires an enormous amount of merit to support it. Accumulating merit is inseparable from sentient beings—apart from sentient beings there is no merit to be gained; and attaining Buddhahood also requires the support and protection of vast numbers of sentient beings—apart from sentient beings there is no Buddhahood to be attained. Therefore forming wholesome karmic bonds with sentient beings as much as possible is extremely important. How can one maximize forming wholesome bonds with sentient beings? Forming bonds with sentient beings through the physical body in actual locations is, after all, very limited, with a narrow range of contact; but forming bonds with sentient beings through thoughts of the mind is both numerous and fast, and the merit accumulated is both plentiful and great, unrestricted by the physical body.
There are two methods to maximize forming bonds with sentient beings and accumulating provisions of merit. The first method is dedication of merit (pariṇāma), called "universal dedication" (the great dedication to all) in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra: dedicate all the wholesome dharmas and virtue one has cultivated to all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm—the three realms and six paths, the twenty-five forms of existence, the womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born, all flying and crawling creatures, all sentient beings possessing consciousness. The principle of dedication is to dedicate daily, or to promptly dedicate any unfixed wholesome dharmas cultivated each time. In this way, the beings to whom merit is dedicated receive the wholesome dharma and virtue, receive the blessing, and form wholesome bonds with oneself; one thereby not only forms wholesome bonds with sentient beings but also obtains the merit and virtue gained from helping sentient beings. Thus constantly accumulating karmic connections and merit, one's provisions for practice will grow ever greater, and one's path of practice will become ever smoother. Therefore, for the sake of our own Path-karma, we should dedicate merit every day, dedicate regularly, practice the bodhisattva path more, benefit sentient beings more, and vow to attain Buddhahood together with all sentient beings.
The second method is offering food to spirits and other beings of the dark realms. Beings of the spirit realm are extremely numerous, pervading the realm of empty space and pervading the worlds of the ten directions; as long as the power of one's mental intention can reach the ten-directional worlds, the spirits of all ten directions can benefit and form bonds with one. For the power of mental intention to be strong, one's meditative power and power of visualization must be strong, and at the same time one's compassionate heart and aspirations must be brought forth; in this way the beings gathered and received are many and widespread, and with many wholesome bonds, one's merit gradually becomes vast.
The specific procedure for offering food was explained before; here is a brief supplement. The food-offering liturgy at ordinary monasteries is somewhat complicated, but it can actually be simpler and quicker: take seven grains of rice, raw or cooked, or other kinds of food and drink equivalent in size to seven grains of rice, and place them in an open, spacious area. Recite aloud: "You assembly of spirits, I now offer you this offering; this food pervades the ten directions, shared by all spirits." After reciting, recite the food-offering mantra seven times: Oṃ, mu-li-ling svāhā. Then snap your fingers three times; at this point the spirits can partake of the food and drink. No hand mudras are needed, and there is no need to summon the spirits to come to your side; instead, let the food and drink automatically appear before the spirits of the ten-directional worlds. In this way you will not be troubled or entangled by the spirits.
The most important thing here is the visualization while reciting the mantra seven times. If the visualization is done well, the food becomes superb and wondrous and pervades all places in the ten directions, so that all spirits can obtain food. How to visualize? First one must understand the meaning of "this food pervades the ten directions": the ten directions are the worlds of empty space in the ten directions centered on the Sahā world, and the food being offered must pervade all these places.
Even just the locations of this one trichiliocosm of the Sahā world are immeasurable and boundless, including one billion of each of Jambudvīpa in the south, Uttarakuru in the north, Aparagodānīya in the west, and Pūrvavideha in the east; one billion great oceans, seven golden mountains, hells, Mount Sumeru, moon palaces, and sun palaces; and one billion each of the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, the Yāma Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Nirmāṇarati Heaven, the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, and the First Dhyāna Heaven of the form realm, plus the Second Dhyāna Heaven up to the Heaven of Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception. The Buddha-lands as vast as the Sahā world throughout the ten-directional worlds are even more immeasurable and boundless. If one can visualize the food and drink pervading the empty space of so many worlds so that all spirits can partake of it, that merit is simply enormous, and the karmic bonds with sentient beings are extremely extensive.
Then how can one visualize all of them? This requires training one's power of visualization bit by bit. While reciting the mantra seven times, the visualization in the mind should expand gradually from the district and county where one is located; how far it can expand depends entirely on the power of visualization—when the mantra stops, the visualization stops. Generally, the places spirits frequent are mostly by rivers, at the foot of mountains, around forests, at crossroads, on plains, among mountains and rivers, in empty space, and so on; one should visualize the food appearing in these places. As long as the mind's thought can quickly flash to these places, the food will appear in these places.
When the visualization is not yet proficient, recite the mantra more slowly; the visualization should add locations in sequence according to one's meditative power—from the nearby district and county to the city and province, then to the whole nation, then to the entire earth, then to the four great continents and the four great oceans beneath Mount Sumeru, then to a thousand such small worlds, then to the trichiliocosm, and finally to the ten-directional worlds. At the beginning, when one's visualization and meditative power are insufficient, visualizing only the empty space, mountains, rivers, and earth of one's city, province, and nation is also acceptable; as the visualization ability improves, gradually expand the scope until it reaches the empty space of the ten-directional worlds. As for the food, try to visualize it as exquisite and fine, but also proceed according to one's own ability—this is an excellent way to cultivate one's power of visualization.
Visualization is extremely important in Buddhist study and practice; the final accomplishment of the Buddha's teachings depends to a large extent on visualization. The worlds of the ten directions are all produced by thought—why not make good use of thought to make the world more perfect? In fact, we already use visualization when receiving precepts: for example, during the three rounds of karman ritual when receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts of the Brahmajāla Sūtra, one must visualize three times the Buddhas and bodhisattvas emitting light that shines down, the Buddha-light pouring in from the crown of the head through the whole body. When the visualization is accomplished, one receives the blessing of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and obtains the substance of the bodhisattva precepts; from then on, with the precept-substance protecting the body, one can prevent wrongs and stop evils. When circumstances for violating precepts arise, one can evade them in time, not violate the bodhisattva precepts, and preserve the precept-substance; then practice will be free of obstructions, smooth and swift. Furthermore, the samāpatti described by the Buddha in the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment is precisely using visualization to accomplish the Buddha's Dharma. In short, practice cannot be separated from visualization.
20. Merit of Meditative Concentration Alone Is Not Enough for Practice
Whether in worldly life or in the practice of transcendental dharma, merit in meditative concentration alone is far from enough. Non-Buddhists only cultivate meditative concentration and have only the merit of concentration, without the merit of wisdom, without the merit of having made the great bodhicitta vow, without the merit of generosity. Such merit can only be enjoyed within meditative concentration: no matter which heaven they dwell in, they enjoy blessings in samādhi, and after emerging from samādhi there is nothing at all. Śākyamuni Buddha's non-Buddhist teachers had only the merit of meditative concentration, without the merit of wisdom; they cultivated to the highest samādhi in the three realms, the samādhi of neither perception nor non-perception. When they emerge from samādhi after many kalpas in future lives, they will commit evil karma in accordance with the evil vows they once made, and then, following the conditions of that evil karma, fall into the hells to receive retribution. Therefore the merit of meditative concentration alone is still tainted and not ultimate; it cannot guarantee liberation and freedom, cannot guarantee entering nirvāṇa and attaining Buddhahood. Buddhists should cultivate merit in many aspects; only when merit is complete in all respects will the path of practice become smoother and go further, without limitation.
Even if one has the merit of concentration, or great merit in other respects, one should not casually squander and waste it in daily life, nor use it all in worldly living; it should be kept for cultivating the Path. Once the Path is accomplished, worldly blessings count for nothing. Merit plays too great a role in cultivating the Path—short by even a little merit, one cannot cross a step in practice. Therefore practitioners must have lofty aspirations and far-reaching goals, must not covet low-grade enjoyments of the present, and must not take conditioned, arising-and-ceasing dharmas seriously; only then can they reach the unborn and unceasing eternal.
21. Does Cultivating Merit Count as Practice?
The aim of practice is to increase precepts, concentration, and wisdom, to subdue afflictions, and to extinguish greed, anger, and delusion. If it is not like this, it does not count as practice. It is the same with cultivating merit through generosity: it depends on what kind of mind the merit is cultivated with. If it is not for one's own greed and other desires, nor with expectation of repayment for favors, but purely to benefit sentient beings, cultivating merit with a bodhicitta mind, then it can aid the Path-karma and give rise to precepts, concentration, and wisdom—only such cultivation of merit counts as practice. Cultivating merit without making the bodhicitta vow can ultimately only increase greed, anger, and delusion and strengthen ignorance—that does not count as practice.
An obvious example is Māra Pāpīyas. In a past life, Pāpīyas built monasteries and made offerings to pratyekabuddhas, gaining great blessings that made him the lord of the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven. Because in his past life he did not make the bodhicitta vow, and cultivated merit not for the Path-karma but to satisfy his greed, he uses this great blessing to control the beings of the six paths to satisfy his desire for retinue. To prevent beings from escaping his control, he constantly sabotages the Buddha's Dharma, depriving beings of the opportunity to leave the desire realm, let alone transcend the six paths, so that life after life they remain his māra retinue, accompanying him in greed, transmigrating through birth and death.
Therefore, cultivating merit without the bodhicitta vow may lead to committing great evil karma after obtaining blessings—it would be better not to cultivate merit at all. Another example is Hitler. Hitler's blessings were also extremely great; because of his great blessings, there was nothing to obstruct his committing great evil karma. The number of people he killed was the greatest in the Sahā world, and having fallen into the hells, he truly has little hope of emerging. If he had not cultivated merit, the world would have been at peace, and sentient beings would not have had to suffer the pain of birth and death.
Cultivating various wholesome dharmas without the bodhicitta vow is māra's work. Regarding this principle, some people still refuse to accept it in various ways—but the facts are right there; what is there left to dispute? Could a person without merit have the power to commit many of those great evil deeds? With great blessings, great power, and great influence, evil karma can be committed with no one able to stop it and no one able to match it—such blessings are a misfortune for sentient beings.
