How does talent come into being?

In this world, every profession and every field values talent. What is talent? In plain language, talent seems to be bestowed by heaven, but in fact it is what one brings over from past lives at birth—it is a matter of practiced skill. One is born already somewhat familiar with it, and after coming into contact with it, as causes and conditions ripen, one becomes ever more proficient. This is what sprouts forth from karmic seeds planted in past lives. If no karmic seeds were left from past lives, and one only encounters something for the first time in this life, then no matter how hard one strives, one remains a novice. So those with talent are all, over the long kalpas of birth-and-death in saṃsāra, those who have spent relatively more time in the human realm, been steeped more in the affairs of the human world, and are thus more familiar with them. Being steeped more in certain areas, they planted seeds there, and in later lives they will have talent in those areas. Therefore, if sentient beings in the human realm accumulate virtue, do good deeds, and cultivate merit abundantly, they will be born more often in the human realm, accumulating more seeds of karmic actions in the human world, and will thus have the opportunity to become people of talent.

In the field of learning Buddhism, the notion of talent applies even more so. Within a single lifetime—just a few short kalpas—one cannot learn much; no matter how one studies, one remains like a kindergartner, unable to find the way into practice. But as long as one does not lose heart, there will come a life in which one becomes a practiced hand, a seasoned practitioner, born with talent, becoming an expert, a long-cultivating bodhisattva. Nearly everyone is like this. In the cycle of the six realms, the opportunities encountered differ and the seeds planted differ, so faith in the Buddha and study of Buddhism come early for some and late for others—the difference is merely one of timing. Therefore, so that other sentient beings may encounter the conditions of the Buddha's Dharma sooner, those of us who have already come to believe in and study the Buddha should dedicate more merit (pariṇāmanā) to all sentient beings who have not yet awakened, planting wholesome causes for them; they will then have the opportunity to encounter the Buddha's Dharma in the future and begin to believe in the Buddha, and after believing for a long time, they will come to study Buddhism. Those with such a breadth of mind also grow quickly themselves; by caring for others more, they come to understand more things, and can mature rapidly, before they know it becoming great bodhisattvas.