Is cultivating merit considered spiritual practice?

The aim of cultivation is to increase precepts, meditation, and wisdom, to subdue afflictions, and to extinguish greed, hatred, and delusion; if it is not like this, it does not count as cultivation. The same applies to cultivating blessings through generosity (dāna): it depends on what kind of mind one cultivates blessings with. If one does not do it for one's own greed and other desires, nor seeks to repay favors with gratitude owed, but purely for the benefit of sentient beings, cultivating blessings with a bodhi mind, then it can aid one's practice of the Path and give rise to precepts, meditation, and wisdom—only such cultivation of blessings counts as cultivation. Whereas cultivating blessings without generating the bodhi mind can ultimately only increase greed, hatred, and delusion and strengthen ignorance; that does not count as cultivation.

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 Parinirmita-vaśavartin Heaven. Because in his past life he did not generate the bodhi mind, and cultivated blessings not for the sake of the Path but to satisfy his greed and desires, he used this great blessing to control the beings of the six realms in order to satisfy his desire for retinue. So that beings would not escape his control, he constantly destroys the Buddha's Dharma, leaving beings no opportunity to leave the desire realm, let alone transcend the six realms, so that life after life they remain his māra retinue, indulging in greed and desires alongside him, transmigrating through birth and death. Therefore, cultivating blessings without generating the bodhi mind may lead to committing great evil karma after obtaining blessings—it would be better not to cultivate blessings at all. Another example is Hitler. Hitler's blessings were also extremely great, and because of his great blessings, there was nothing to obstruct him from committing great evil karma. The number of people he killed was the greatest in the Saha world, and having fallen into hell, it will truly be difficult for him to ever emerge. If he had not cultivated blessings, the world would have been at peace, and sentient beings would not have had to suffer the suffering of birth and death.

Cultivating various wholesome dharmas without generating the bodhi mind is māra's work. Regarding this principle, some people still refuse to accept it in all sorts of ways, but the facts are right there—what is there left to refuse? Could a person without blessings have the capability to commit many of these great evil deeds? When blessings are great, power and influence are great, and when committing evil karma no one can stop it and no one can compare—such blessings are a misfortune for sentient beings.