Miscellaneous Discourses on the Dharma (Part II)
Chapter Six: On Virtuous Roots and Merit
I. On Merit
The merit cultivated by Buddhists through their practice of the Dharma, or through propagating the Dharma, is finite and limited. If this limited merit is excessively used in worldly affairs, less will remain for Dharma practice and realization. The two are like the two ends of a scale: when one rises, the other falls. For instance, improvements in worldly life—such as better job treatment, higher positions, enhanced reputation, elevated status, greater power, increased wealth, better interpersonal relationships—all signify growing success and comfort, including improved family relations. However, all these consume the merit cultivated through learning Buddhism and propagating the Dharma. Thus, merit is withdrawn from the "Tathagatagarbha bank," leaving little remaining. Whether what's left is sufficient for Dharma realization is uncertain.
If the merit for Dharma study is insufficient, practice cannot advance, requiring further cultivation of merit. But if newly cultivated merit is again used in worldly pursuits, it will still be insufficient when needed for practice. When will one ever attain liberation through such a cycle? Therefore, while cultivating merit, one must make vows: dedicate a certain percentage of this merit to the path of cultivation, avoiding its use in worldly affairs, as it is unwise. Once withdrawn and spent, it is gone. The more wealth one acquires or the higher the status attained, the more merit is withdrawn, depleting the deposit in the Tathagatagarbha. What then will support the path to enlightenment?
Do not assume that more wealth or greater fame and power are always better. Unless wealth is sought for propagating the Dharma and benefiting sentient beings, depleting the deposit in one's "Tathagatagarbha bank" will leave nothing to support practice. The wise and discerning always maintain a substantial deposit in their Tathagatagarbha bank, rather than withdrawing it for worldly use. Worldly life need only be passable—having food and clothing suffices. The merit dedicated to practice must be ample and abundant, ensuring smooth and swift progress.
II. The Principle of Cultivating and Consuming Merit
Sentient beings generally lack sufficient merit for cultivation. Therefore, while constantly cultivating merit, they must also strive to conserve it. Merit vanishes quickly: enjoying it causes it to perish; self-praise, destroying others, or receiving praise from others consumes it; creating unwholesome karma, such as hatred, jealousy, slander, divisive speech, or harsh speech, causes it to disappear. Of course, wholesome actions increase merit: benefiting others and groups increases merit; improving moral character and cultivating a kind heart increase merit; meditation increases merit; extensive learning increases merit; upholding precepts increases merit; patience increases merit; and certainly, various forms of giving greatly increase merit.
Some people enjoy practicing generosity extensively and originally possess considerable merit, yet they often feel devoid of merit and encounter obstacles in everything. Why is this? Actually, it is because such individuals harbor heavy afflictions and are accustomed to creating unwholesome karma. They frequently lose their temper, harbor resentment, envy others, strive to outdo others at work, and exclude others. Such actions harm the interests of others, and harming others' interests damages their own merit. Competitive individuals find it difficult to accumulate merit and instead consume it. Jealousy, exclusion, and harming others' interests are all actions that deplete one's own merit.
Goodness in mind, speech, and body is the way to accumulate merit. Conversely, heavy afflictions and habitual tendencies, a narrow-minded heart, unwholesome speech (such as gossiping), unwholesome bodily actions (such as committing misdeeds), and an unwholesome mind (focused solely on self-benefit) are actions that consume merit. Afflictions are also called "outflows" (āsrava). With these outflows, wholesome karma is hard to accumulate, and merit is hard to amass. What little merit one has leaks out due to afflictions, hence merit is always insufficient, problems arise frequently, the mind is unsettled, and the path is unsteady. When encountering illness, trouble, or disaster, people always assume it happens naturally. Everyone thinks this way, taking it for granted, never reflecting on why pain, setbacks, and various dissatisfactions occur. Consequently, they fail to learn lessons and change themselves, so suffering and distress persistently accompany them, and nothing goes smoothly.
III. What is Tainted Merit? What is Untainted Merit?
Merit is divided into tainted merit (sāsrava-puṇya) and untainted merit (anāsrava-puṇya). Tainted merit cannot reach the shore of liberation; only untainted merit can escort the practitioner to the shore of liberation. Merit cultivated with worldly desires is tainted merit. Merit cultivated with a worldly utilitarian mind is tainted merit. Merit cultivated with a self-centered mind is tainted merit. Merit cultivated to gain worldly rewards is tainted merit. Untainted merit is cultivated with a mind free from seeking and attachment, without utilitarian intent, not for the self, and not for worldly rewards.
Tainted merit can be exhausted; it vanishes when enjoyed in worldly affairs, requiring constant cultivation to have merit to enjoy. Untainted merit is inexhaustible; once cultivated, it endures until Buddhahood because untainted merit is connected to virtue (guṇa), and virtue, once attained, does not perish, so merit does not perish. Tainted merit corresponds to worldly afflictions, while untainted merit corresponds to the pure great vow to attain Buddhahood and liberate sentient beings. The greater the vow, the greater the merit; making vows generates merit. Tainted merit strengthens a person's self-view (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and self-attachment (ātma-grāha), while untainted merit does the opposite: it supports practitioners in eliminating self-view, eradicating self-view, and enhancing various levels of realization and wisdom.
Beginner Buddhists start by cultivating tainted goodness and tainted merit. As the mind becomes increasingly empty, non-active, and free from seeking, success comes naturally, eventually leading to the cultivation of untainted goodness and untainted merit. This is the process of practice. In the initial stages of learning Buddhism, one must first cultivate tainted goodness and merit because sentient beings harbor unwholesome dharmas in their minds, which must be counteracted with wholesome dharmas. Only when practice reaches a considerable level does the mind correspond with emptiness, and the unwholesome dharmas in the mind vanish completely. At this stage, one should no longer cling to wholesome dharmas, for clinging to goodness prevents the mind from being empty and aligning with the path.
We are currently all in the stage of diligently practicing the Four Right Efforts (samyakpradhāna). We strive to abandon the unwholesome and cultivate the wholesome. Only after all unwholesomeness is abandoned, and goodness is no longer deliberately cultivated—when the mind clings neither to good nor evil—is one truly untainted. The Four Right Efforts are: 1) Prevent unarisen unwholesome states from arising; 2) Abandon unwholesome states that have arisen; 3) Arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen; 4) Maintain and increase wholesome states that have arisen. Everyone must go through this stage. The more diligent the practice, the faster one completes the Four Right Efforts, thereby attaining the untainted state.
IV. Differences in Merit Lead to Differences in Direct and Indirect Retribution
Within the Three Realms (triloka) and Six Destinies (ṣaḍgati), beings with great merit enjoy pleasures in the heavenly realms; a small portion are among humans. Beings with little merit suffer in the Three Evil Destinies (tri-durgati); a portion suffer among humans. Greater merit leads to longer lifespans; less merit leads to shorter lifespans, or longer lifespans filled with suffering if undergoing hardship. To celestial beings, a human lifespan seems like mere minutes—a lifetime swiftly perishes and is swiftly reborn, appearing trivial. Humans perceive the lives of animals, especially microorganisms like bacteria, as similarly fleeting.
Ants and bees toil diligently their entire lives, living earnestly, cooperating in orderly teams. Yet, from a human perspective, what meaning does it hold? Humans are the same: toiling diligently, living earnestly, pursuing fame, profit, power, status, various first and second places. But in the eyes of celestial beings, what meaning does it hold? Human conflicts resemble ants fighting over ant eggs or bees fighting over pollen and nectar. Humans consider themselves great; bees and ants also consider themselves remarkable. Such self-importance is merely the limitation of their perspective; merit restricts the way of life, ideals, and morality of sentient beings.
Those lacking sufficient merit are engrossed in worldly affairs, striving for worldly achievements. Those with great merit dedicate themselves to transcending the world, striving for liberation beyond worldly concerns. Merit restricts the mind, ideals, and actions. Some are given opportunities to cultivate merit and perform virtuous deeds, but if their merit is insufficient, they dislike cultivating merit and performing virtuous deeds. What is lacking is hard to replenish; lacking merit makes it difficult to cultivate merit.
V. The Importance of Merit
Merit is the cornerstone of Dharma practice and realization. If merit is insufficient, meditation (dhyāna) cannot advance. Without meditation or insufficient meditation, understanding the Dharma's meaning becomes very difficult. With insufficient merit, tasks that seem easy become impossible. One might think upholding precepts is easy yet fail to do so; some Dharma teachings seem easy to understand yet one cannot deeply contemplate and practice them. Without merit, nothing goes well, including various worldly undertakings. When meditation and merit are both sufficient, insight and wisdom easily arise regarding every Dharma, enabling us to realize emptiness (śūnyatā), where the mind is empty, without self or objects, leading to liberation and ease. Practice is also the process of perfecting the conditions for realizing the path (darśana-mārga). Only when the causes and conditions are complete can one realize the path, attain the pure Dharma-eye (dharmacakṣu), and realize the samādhi of emptiness (śūnyatā-samādhi).
VI. The Difference Between Merit (Puṇya) and Virtue (Guṇa)
Sentient beings gain merit through giving (dāna), but the merit gained differs based on the state of mind during giving. The state of mind refers to whether it involves a mind of gain, selfishness, seeking, greed, etc. If giving is performed with such thoughts, states of mind, or intentions, one gains only worldly rewards (puṇya-phala), not virtue (guṇa). Virtue represents pure mental actions—selfless, without expectation of reward, without seeking, or without seeking for personal gain or desire, without impure motives. A pure mind is virtue; a mind pure and free from desire is virtue. Giving with such a mind gains virtue, enabling one to realize the path and embody the Way.
With virtue, one has pāramitā (perfection), enabling one to reach the shore of wisdom. Without virtue, there is no pāramitā; one cannot reach the shore of wisdom, and cultivation will not succeed. A seeking mind is very limited, so the merit gained is small. A mind free from seeking is vast, so the merit gained is great, and so is the virtue.
Therefore, when giving, try not to seek, not to harbor greed, not to have a utilitarian mind. Whatever one does, if there is greed, desire, selfishness, impure motives, or an impure mind, there is no virtue to speak of. A seeking mind is very limited, so the merit gained is small. A mind free from seeking is vast, so the merit gained is great, and so is the virtue.
Those who frequently practice giving should calm their minds and introspect: What is the purpose of giving and cultivating merit? Is it pure, solely for the path or for sentient beings? If greed is found mixed in, one must constantly purify the mind, remove defilements, and eliminate obscurations. Because such diligent giving only yields worldly rewards, not pāramitā. Once the worldly rewards are consumed, nothing remains; virtue does not exist, and progress on the path is impossible. Conversely, giving and cultivating merit with a mind free from seeking and gain, with the intention to benefit others, yields virtue—not only merit but also virtue. Virtue belongs to oneself forever; it does not vanish. It is the capital and provisions for accomplishing the path.
VII. Enjoyment Consumes Merit
Buddhist practitioners should constantly reflect on the areas where they are continuously consuming merit. Upon identifying them, they should correct themselves, take care not to waste their merit lightly, so that progress on the path can be swift. In modern society, with its developed material life, does this mean sentient beings today possess greater merit than those in the Buddha's time? Not at all. The measure of merit does not lie in superficial luxury, but in whether energy and merit are used for the path and wholesome deeds, whether the treasury of wisdom is continually opened, and whether merit is preserved in the Tathagatagarbha for future cultivation, not wasted on worldly affairs.
When worldly people lack merit, they are often born in times of superficial prosperity, easily cashing out their merit seeds to enjoy worldly pleasures and display their power and status. If Buddhists lack awareness and follow worldly enjoyment, carelessly consuming their merit on meaningless worldly matters without planning for the path, this shows a lack of wisdom and virtuous roots. Those with virtuous roots and wisdom preserve merit for cultivation, not cashing it out for worldly enjoyment and display. Many take pride in possessing worldly fame, profit, and power, constantly calculating within the illusory realm of arising and ceasing, unaware that wealth, honor, and glory are like flowers in the sky—soon to perish, and even when present, are empty. Worldly people find it hard to realize emptiness; knowing only existence, they adopt the mindset of seeking immediate pleasure without regard for future lives.
VIII. How to Attain Non-Acting Merit
Most worldly people can enjoy conditioned merit (merit from action, saṃskṛta-puṇya) but cannot enjoy non-acting merit (merit from non-action, asaṃskṛta-puṇya) because most minds are conditioned (saṃskṛta), not non-acting (asaṃskṛta). Non-acting merit is immense, far greater than conditioned merit. Ordinary people, lacking the experience of non-action, cannot perceive the difference between the two. Conditioned people are not empty-minded in the world; their minds are constantly agitated with thoughts, attachments, actions, and unrest, unwilling to cease. They are perpetually toiling, constantly consuming body and mind. Though they may enjoy some conditioned merit from their toil, the cost is high, and the gain does not outweigh the loss. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce deluded thoughts, calm and rest body and mind more often, gradually attaining some pure, non-acting merit free from calamities.
How to calm body and mind to attain non-acting merit? Observe the emptiness of all dharmas in the five aggregates (skandhas) and the world. Act and do less. Generate fewer thoughts and reactions towards people, affairs, and objects. Experience fewer feelings, fewer emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness that harm body and mind. Because it's all unnecessary: dharmas that arise and cease, are illusory and impermanent, appearing dependent on causes and conditions, vanishing when conditions cease. Clinging to them is futile; the result is ultimately empty, yet it consumes immense time, energy, and effort. The wise and broad-minded should focus on the long term and the eternal, do more "mindless" work, reduce emotional reactions. Whatever realm is encountered, the mind should be empty, without other thoughts. Gradually, the mind becomes calm and pure, consumption decreases, body and mind are healthy, the mind is non-acting, and progress on the path is made.
Those with peaceful minds and very few thoughts possess relatively simple and kind hearts, without complex thoughts. Their body and mind are healthy and harmonious, their aura is good, they have affinity, good interpersonal relationships, and unintentionally accumulate non-acting merit. Some cling relentlessly to all worldly dharmas; their thoughts, emotions, and mental states are constantly changing; body and mind suffer. Though they may gain some conditioned merit, the cost is high. Therefore, achieving an empty mind brings non-acting merit. An empty mind is the greatest enjoyment in the world, the karmic reward of a pure mind.
IX. The Relationship Between Merit and Suffering
Many small animals are nocturnal beings, sleeping during the day and emerging at night to move and forage because they fear light and humans, avoiding activity when it's bright. This is determined by their physical mechanisms and also because, lacking merit, they cannot sustain themselves and must steal food—ultimately, it is caused by karmic force. Small animals, lacking merit, must fear beings with greater merit, including humans. Among beings of the same kind, those with greater merit occupy leadership positions, standing at the forefront.
Therefore, if a person exhausts their merit and possesses karma for the Three Evil Destinies, they must go to the Three Evil Destinies to suffer. The Three Evil Destinies require almost no merit to survive, but lacking merit inevitably brings suffering. Merit and suffering are like the two ends of a scale: when one rises, the other falls. If Buddhists also fail to understand the need to cultivate more merit and consume less, it is truly regrettable. They do not know that merit can be exhausted; lacking merit brings great suffering—this is ignorance and folly. A person unwilling to cultivate merit, even refusing to perform small acts benefiting others, is certainly not wise. Those whose minds are filled only with themselves are not intelligent or wise.
X. Why Does Virtue Not Matching Position Inevitably Bring Calamity?
Virtue (de) includes merit, moral character, personality, cultivation, ability, talent, and other usable resources. Position (wei) includes status, power, fame, reputation, family, benefits, etc. Investing these resources to obtain a position is like taking out a high-interest loan if the resources are insufficient. Ultimately, liabilities exceed assets, leading to collapse, bankruptcy, debt, possibly family ruin and death, repaying with one's life. If even life is insufficient to repay the debt—if the deficit in merit is too great—one will fall into the Three Evil Destinies, even sinking to the lowest depths, making return extremely difficult.
Worldly fame and power seem good to everyone, and all desire them. But if one lacks sufficient merit and resorts to schemes to seize them by force, the high-interest loan will exact a heavy price. Ultimately, one may find it preferable to live an obscure yet stable and substantial life. What is there to fight for in human life? Whatever is obtained requires consuming corresponding merit. Once merit is exhausted, the qualification to be human is lost. Therefore, do not pursue fame, profit, or favor. Do not seek others' high regard or flattery. Do not seek respect, power, or admiration. Do not resort to unscrupulous means. Do not seek to be above others. Being below others brings greater benefit. Humility and yielding generate merit; caution generates merit.
Conversely, when one's various desires are fulfilled, merit is consumed. When fame arises, merit is consumed. When one becomes complacent and satisfied, merit is consumed. The fastest and greatest consumption of merit comes from committing unwholesome deeds and creating unwholesome karma. Violating precepts and rules are the actions that consume merit the most—transgressing the Five Precepts and Ten Wholesome Deeds, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, greed, hatred, jealousy, divisive speech, harsh speech, acting as a treacherous villain—all malicious thoughts and actions consume immense merit. Once merit is exhausted, all human endeavors cease, and one need no longer be human.
Gain consumes merit; loss consumes karma. Being respected requires consuming merit; being insulted consumes karma. Therefore, patience is virtue; patience generates merit; patience accomplishes great deeds. Realizing the path and attaining the Way is a great deed; ultimately attaining Buddhahood is the supreme accomplishment, requiring no further cultivation—supreme bliss. Therefore, patience accomplishes great deeds and great bliss. Do not exhaust your merit through enjoyment; you can exhaust insults through endurance. You may choose not to enjoy merit, but you must endure insults. Those with great aspirations, remember this.
XI. Thick Merit is Solid, Thin Merit is Frivolous
Before planting seeds, they must first be soaked in water for a period and then planted in the soil. Seeds soaked in water beforehand, buried in soil, sprout quickly. During soaking, a layer of seeds floats on the water's surface. These are immature, unfilled seeds—blighted grains that cannot sprout or grow crops, unsuitable for planting. Therefore, the floating seeds must be removed and filtered out; only the solid, sinking ones are planted in the soil. What does this metaphor signify? A living person jumping into the sea might be submerged, while a dead body floats on the sea's surface. What does this metaphor signify? In autumn, in the sorghum field, mature sorghum grains are full and heavy, bending the sorghum stalks low, even breaking their backs; immature sorghum stands tall and straight, swaying proudly in the wind, showing off. What does this metaphor signify?
Thin merit cannot restrain impulsive habits; thin merit cannot restrain anything—afflictions and habits float to the surface. Why pretend to understand and dictate to others? Why so much frivolous speech every day? Those who are substantial never speak excessively.
XII. How to Maximize Merit from Accumulating Goodness
Performing good deeds unknown to others accumulates hidden merit (yin de). Merit gained without others knowing is greater than merit gained through being known and respected. Hidden merit is greater than manifest merit (yang de). Because being known leads to respect and praise, consuming part of the merit's reward, leaving less merit for the future. The reward of respect, praise, and envy is meaningless—it only provides a sense of self-satisfaction, strengthening the sense of self. Gaining such a reward is not worthwhile.
The less known a good deed is, the less praise received, the greater the merit gained in the future. The less one minds their own giving, the less the desire for merit, the greater the merit gained in the future. The more non-acting the mind, the greater the merit gained. This is what the Buddha meant by "non-acting merit is supreme" (as in the Diamond Sutra). The vaster the mind, the greater the merit. A mind free from seeking is the vastest, gaining the greatest merit.
XIII. Small Goodness and Great Goodness
Small goodness leaves traces, easily discovered and perceived. Great goodness is formless, hard to perceive, harder to discover, hard to understand, and may even be misunderstood. Small goodness has short-term effects, addressing only the immediate. Great goodness focuses on the fundamental and ultimate, on the long-term future, regardless of immediate gain or loss. Small goodness is easily recognized as good; great goodness may be mistaken for evil. Small goodness can be feigned; great goodness scorns being known. Small goodness is praised by all; great goodness is rarely understood, even despised. In short, the unintelligent always hold inverted, wrong views, failing to understand correct principles. If one follows the inverted views of worldly people, the world will be devoid of goodness!
Following worldly guidance leads only to destruction and rebirth. Turning away from worldly guidance invites their scorn. Great goodness is difficult to accomplish; the great path is hard to tread—this is the principle, obstructed by worldly people! Worldly eyes, clouded, see flowers where none exist, yet accuse others of blindness, hurling baseless accusations—truly a symptom of terminal illness. Afflicted beyond cure, distrusting the doctor's advice, they are beyond help, only to suffer according to their karma.
XIV. What is the Karmic Retribution of Deliberate, Intentional Giving?
Deliberate, active giving to cultivate personal merit results in gaining merit in future lives. Such giving does not infringe upon or harm others' interests, nor does it obstruct others from gaining benefit. Moreover, the recipient of the giving also benefits. Thus, the outcome is win-win. If the motivation is to cultivate merit for attaining Buddhahood or for liberating sentient beings, the merit gained in this and future lives will be even greater. If one gives without any purpose or aim, simply encountering the opportunity to give and acting accordingly with an empty mind, this merit is the greatest. Non-acting merit is supreme, as the Buddha stated in the Diamond Sutra.
Cultivating the practice of giving has stages. Initially, one gives to gain merit for oneself. When the mind broadens a little, one gives to benefit sentient beings. This giving then has pāramitā, enabling one to reach the shore of liberation. When the mind broadens further, becoming empty and wishless, the giving performed is non-acting giving, enabling one to receive a prediction of Buddhahood (vyākaraṇa). The breadth of the mind is determined by merit. Little merit means a small mind; great merit allows the mind to become vast. Therefore, the ability to generate bodhicitta and make great vows also relies on the support of merit. With great merit, vision becomes broad, seeing far into the future; wisdom becomes vast and unobstructed.
XV. Great Merit Subdues Demons
If one does not diligently cultivate merit and wisdom, lacks sufficient faith roots, and lacks sufficient wholesome roots, demons will eventually possess them during practice, and the person will not realize they are possessed. The ninth volume of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra describes many cases of demonic possession; one should compare and reflect. When demons possess someone, initially they bestow many worldly benefits: making the body and mind happy and joyful, granting meditative concentration, bestowing wealth, curing illnesses and restoring health, granting seemingly supernatural powers, making one feel remarkable. Actually, all are demonic powers, not one's own attainment. Once the demon has used you up and you have no more value, the demon, weary, abandons you. What are you then? Your true form is revealed, and after death, hell awaits.
The Buddha said those who attain human birth are as few as the soil under a fingernail; those not attaining human birth are as plentiful as the soil of the earth. Is the Buddha's statement entirely accurate? Observing sentient beings today, those with wholesome roots and merit are exceedingly few. Even among Buddhists, countless afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion cling to their minds, so countless practitioners still fall into the Three Evil Destinies upon death. Only those who truly eliminate self-view (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) can avoid the Three Evil Destinies. Yet how many can truly eliminate self-view? Extremely few. If one slanders the Buddha or Dharma, it's not an ordinary Three Evil Destiny; it's the Avīci Hell (the unintermitted hell), enduring torment for immensely long kalpas, without hope of escape. Sentient beings are indeed pitiable, but the pitiable have hateful aspects.
When a portion of sentient beings diligently study the Dharma, their ignorance and afflictions lessen, and their merit increases. This inevitably changes their personal receptacle-world (individual environment). Simultaneously, the Tathagatagarbha of sentient beings sharing collective karma will resonate with this, manifesting a beautiful and abundant receptacle-world. The world will appear to become more beautiful, and various resources will become plentiful. As the world becomes increasingly beautiful and abundant, sentient beings with corresponding wholesome roots and merit will be reborn here, influencing and leading the world towards greater beauty and brightness. Sentient beings lacking merit will not correspond with this world, and those with unwholesome karma will decrease. This is a virtuous cycle. Conversely, it becomes a vicious cycle: unwholesome beings increase, wholesome beings decrease, Bodhisattvas are unwilling to come to this world, and the living environment deteriorates.
XVI. The Importance of Planting Wholesome Roots
Icchantikas (those cut off from wholesome roots) do not merely disbelieve in the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature). Rather, while disbelieving, they add malicious speech, commit heavy slander, causing very negative influence. Those who disbelieve in Tathāgatagarbha are the majority, but true Icchantikas are not numerous; they are a tiny minority. Otherwise, the Avīci Hell could not contain them all.
Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva taught Mahāyāna Dharma to five hundred bhikṣus. While disbelieving, the bhikṣus rose and left, harboring resentment, particularly towards Mañjuśrī for teaching. This offense is many times greater than harboring resentment towards ordinary people, so they fell into hell to suffer. Mañjuśrī foresaw this. Śāriputra asked Mañjuśrī why he taught them Mahāyāna knowing the outcome. Mañjuśrī replied that although they fell into hell, their wholesome roots matured. In hell, realizing their error, they repented. With one thought of repentance, their hellish karma was eradicated, and they were reborn in heaven. Later, returning to the human realm, they studied Mahāyāna and ultimately realized the path. Had he not taught them Mahāyāna, they would not have fallen into hell, but neither would they have planted wholesome roots and merit, nor had the opportunity to study Mahāyāna and realize the path.
Therefore, some things seem unwholesome or unfavorable temporarily but bring great benefit in the long run. Great Bodhisattvas have vast vision, seeing long-term benefits; their actions always benefit sentient beings. Ordinary people see only immediate benefits, unable to see far, hence their vision is short-sighted.
Since Buddhists are learning the Buddha's way, they should read more sutras, learn more about the Buddha's practice over three asamkhyeya kalpas, learn more about the practice of great Bodhisattvas, learn more about the great wisdom and actions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This provides immense guidance for their own practice, preventing aimlessness. The sutras explain things comprehensively and ultimately, with rich and detailed content. Reading them extensively will surely bring great benefit. It lays a foundation for future lives and grants the discerning eye to recognize Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, to distinguish whether Dharma teachers are virtuous friends (kalyāṇa-mitra) or evil teachers, preventing deception, avoiding wrong paths, and enabling swift attainment of Buddhahood.
