Why is it said that sitting in stillness for a single moment surpasses building seven-jeweled stupas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges?

The saying "If a person sits quietly for a single moment, it surpasses building seven-jeweled stupas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges" has a certain validity. Why is this so? Because building seven-jeweled stupas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges is merely the generosity of material things (dāna). Although it can bring immeasurable merit beyond description, only the giver personally gains that merit, and it involves no other sentient beings; moreover, that merit will eventually be exhausted. Furthermore, this is mere merit (puṇya) alone, without the merit of wisdom within it, and thus it cannot eliminate ignorance and afflictions, nor can it bring liberation and great liberation. Merit of wisdom is the accomplishment of wisdom, which can eliminate ignorance and afflictions and bring liberation and great liberation. Only when both merit and wisdom are perfectly accomplished can the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) be attained; lacking either one, one cannot become a Buddha.

Mediative concentration (samādhi) is the most effective path for cultivating the body and mind. Sitting quietly in meditation not only generates the merit of concentration, but also brings the beneficial effects of merit of wisdom. Not only does the meditator personally receive these beneficial effects, but he can also influence the people around him—all those he comes into contact with and connected to will receive the beneficial effects of his merit. This is because there is a certain magnetic-field effect between the bodies and minds of sentient beings, capable of mutual permeation and influence, like the relationship between cold water and hot water: the final result is that the cold and hot water blend together, the heat of the hot water permeating into the cold water, warming it and even melting hard ice. A person with meditative concentration and cultivation is like the hot water, while a person without concentration or cultivation, or one whose cultivation is very shallow, is like the cold water and hard ice. As a result, the merit of the person with concentration is imperceptibly transmitted to those without concentration, so that even those without concentration or cultivation can feel physical and mental joy, reduced afflictions, and a softened mind, and can even eliminate karmic obstructions and distress.

Of course, when the heat of the hot water is transmitted to the cold water and hard ice, the heat will be somewhat dissipated and will grow colder. The person with concentration and cultivation will feel physically and mentally fatigued, afflictions may increase, and suffering from illness may also increase. In this way, the power of cultivation is weakened, and greater effort must be expended to maintain the original state of body and mind, or to deepen concentration and cultivation further. Therefore, practitioners must choose their place of practice well and choose well the people they associate with, staying away from places heavy with karmic obstructions. If one can avoid crowds altogether, that is best. Everyone needs good spiritual friends; if there are none, one has no choice but to remain alone.

However, this does not mean that once one leaves the crowd, sentient beings are no longer influenced by one's merit—the influence remains. It is only that previously the merit was transmitted to the very few people nearby; once these people are no longer around to obstruct it, one's magnetic field and energy will be transmitted even farther, and more people will benefit. There is no need to let a few people block the sunshine and warmth that many people need. A person with immense power of cultivation can influence the surrounding area for a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand li, can influence a city, a province, a country, and can even influence the entire globe and the whole Buddhist world, bearing on the rise and fall, the survival or extinction, of Buddhism. In a group, whether large or small, as long as such a person is present, the group will be harmonious and flourishing; once such a person is gone from the group, the karmic obstructions can no longer be suppressed, conflicts and disputes will arise frequently, and the group will gradually decline.

Sitting quietly for a single moment stills conflicts, disputes, and scattered thoughts; body and mind both become tranquil, purifying one's own magnetic field and that of one's surroundings. Humans and animals, birds, and ghosts and spirits will all feel a moment of harmony and peace, and in that instant, burning vexation is stilled. Such merit and virtue are beyond description; building seven-jeweled stupas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges cannot compare with it. Especially in the present Dharma-ending age, when sentient beings everywhere have blazing afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, karmic obstructions flowing constantly, disasters arising on all sides, and suffering upon suffering—if one can still one's afflictions for a single moment, the merit is beyond description. Of course, this refers to correct concentration (samyak-samādhi); deviant concentration only has a negative influence, because when the mind is deviant, the mind's influence is also imperceptibly very great.