How to Maximize the Retribution of Wholesome Deeds?

Answer: With a mind that seeks nothing, waiting for cause and effect to repay naturally is the most advantageous. Person A did a good deed but never thought of repayment; this is acting with a mind that expects no reward. Although A does not seek recompense, the law of cause and effect will still naturally produce a repayment, and at this time the karmic retribution is greatest. When one does good deeds with an unconditioned mind, the wholesome retribution is greatest; when one does evil deeds with a conditioned mind, the unwholesome retribution is greatest. Doing good deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest wholesome retribution—the mind is great, so the retribution is great. No one knows why the tathāgatagarbha has such a rule. Those who wish to maximize the karmic retribution of their good deeds may exploit this loophole. But if there is a mind that wants to exploit the loophole, there is still a mind; with a mind, the mind is small; without a mind, the mind is greatest. If one wants repayment and does good deeds with an agenda, there is a mind, and with a mind the mind is small; if one does not want repayment and does good deeds without personal aims, without selfish intent, the mind is great, and when the mind is great, the karmic retribution is great.

Doing good deeds for the Three Jewels yields the greatest karmic retribution. If there is selfish intent within it—for the sake of money, fame, status, power, and so on—the merit will be greatly discounted. If one does good deeds harboring intense selfish intent, treating the Three Jewels as a business, scheming for the benefits the Three Jewels bring, it may even turn into an evil deed and bring unwholesome retribution.

If one's afflictions are too heavy, and one schemes for the benefits the Three Jewels bring, and the scheme fails, giving rise to anger and resentment, the result could be retribution in hell. All sinful karma arises from afflictions, and all afflictions come from that "self." Therefore, only after the elimination of self-view (ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-parityāga) can afflictions become mild, and one may even be able to extinguish afflictions, bringing them to permanent cessation and attaining liberation. Everywhere in the world—from the large scale of relations between nations, to the middle scale of relations between groups, down to the small scale of relations between individuals—one can see sentient beings' afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion. It can be said that afflictions are blazing and rampant, and beings are very hard to save and draw out (of suffering). The Dharma-ending age is, after all, the Dharma-ending age: sentient beings have heavy karma, deep obstructions, and meager merit (alpa-puṇya); their sinful karma far exceeds their wholesome karma, and their unwholesome retribution far exceeds their wholesome retribution. Therefore, in future lives an extremely large number of people will go to the three evil destinies to receive their retribution—this is absolutely unavoidable, and death and the suffering of illness are minor matters by comparison.