The Importance of Cultivating Merit

Individuals with a bodhisattva's disposition attain realization swiftly, which is the result of cultivation spanning many lifetimes. To accelerate our practice, we should all resolve to cultivate the bodhisattva path, benefiting both ourselves and others. The essential nature of a bodhisattva is non-self; aligning with non-self corresponds to bodhi and enables rapid attainment of enlightenment. Self-attachment, conversely, is the root obstacle on the path. If a person practices solely for personal gain, unconcerned with Buddhism, sentient beings, or others, it becomes extremely difficult to accumulate merit and increase wisdom; their practice progresses very slowly. Some individuals, when urged to cultivate blessings, refuse outright. Consequently, even after long study and great effort, their understanding remains pitifully shallow, failing to set them on the right path. Cultivating blessings is the starting point of Buddhist practice and the foundation for realizing the Dharma; it is profoundly important. Yet, some still resist cultivating blessings, mistakenly believing it entails loss. They fail to realize that not cultivating blessings incurs even greater losses.

When practicing generosity and cultivating blessings, choosing where to cultivate them is also crucial. To harvest grain, one must sow seeds in a paddy field; one cannot sow rice seeds in a vegetable plot. Only by cultivating blessings within the Mahayana path can one realize the Mahayana Dharma; only by planting seeds in the genuine Dharma can one reap the fruits of both the Mahayana and Hinayana paths. If one focuses specifically on cultivating merit, one should practice the perfection of giving (dana), which includes the giving of wealth, the giving of Dharma, and the giving of fearlessness.

Dana is not limited to making offerings to the Three Jewels; it also encompasses the three types of giving towards sentient beings: Dana of wealth involves giving money or material goods; Dana of Dharma – even if one has not yet realized the Dharma oneself, one can engage in indirect Dharma giving. This also accumulates merit rapidly, enables more sentient beings to understand the Mahayana Dharma, allows one's own merit to accumulate swiftly, facilitates the rapid establishment of correct understanding, and hastens the realization of the path. Dana of fearlessness alleviates the suffering and anxiety of others, freeing them from worries. By practicing these three types of dana to a sufficient degree, one accumulates enough merit to attain the fruits of practice, realize the mind and perceive its true nature, thereby transcending the ordinary state.