How to Check Whether One's Own Merit Is Complete

To check whether one's merit is sufficient or not, one should look at whether one's practice is going smoothly, and whether there are any obstacles; whether one's practice can follow one's own wishes, with ample time and environmental conditions; whether one can take charge of the things one wants to do, without restriction; whether, when one wants to keep the precepts, one can keep them perfectly; whether, when one wants to be diligent, one can be diligent; whether, when one wants to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), there are no obstructing conditions; whether one's wisdom is continuously growing, and whether the dharma one cultivates comes with ease; whether one can endure the profound dharmas one encounters, and whether one feels delight and is willing to follow them.

If a bodhisattva's practice of the six perfections is all smooth and unobstructed, then one's merit is basically sufficient, and one can shift one's energy to other deficient aspects, and conquer the six pāramitās. If one's faith in the Buddha, in the true tathāgatagarbha dharma, and in the true Saṅgha is not yet complete, if there is doubt in one's mind and one cannot be certain, then the conditions for a bodhisattva at the stage of faith have not yet been fulfilled; one still needs to cultivate faith in the Three Jewels, perfect the faculty of faith, and give rise to the power of faith. Only then can one move into the stage of the ten abodes and cultivate the six pāramitās.