The Conditioned Is Precisely for the Sake of the Unconditioned

Some people say: since all dharmas in the world are illusory false appearances, all unborn, then there is no need for us to strive to do anything anymore, and nothing we do has any meaning. Is this way of speaking correct?

This way of speaking is of course incorrect. Only by relying on false appearances to cultivate can one attain accomplishment; before accomplishment is achieved, one must strive very hard to cultivate upon false appearances. All the wholesome deeds done along the path of learning Buddhism are for the sake of realizing the Way, for realizing the unborn, for realizing the signless and the true reality. Only after realization does one truly know the unborn, and only then can one attain liberation and become a Buddha. The conditioned is for the sake of the unconditioned. Therefore, before one has the ability to be unconditioned, all meaningful conditioned actions that should be done must be diligently carried out. Whatever one does, it is all done for oneself, all brings benefit to oneself—it is oneself harvesting the fruit of the unconditioned. On the surface it may seem that one has benefited others, that others have received one's help, that one has protected and upheld the Three Jewels and benefited the Three Jewels and sentient beings, but in fact it is still oneself who has obtained the greatest benefit. If the Three Jewels do not receive benefit, and sentient beings do not receive benefit, then everything one has done has no benefit and is all useless effort. So-called benefit can only arise on the foundation of having benefited the Three Jewels and sentient beings. If others have not received benefit, one will not gain blessings, merit, or wisdom.

For example, giving to sentient beings brings a return of a thousandfold or more; but if the other party does not accept it, there is not even a singlefold return. The other party has not benefited, so there is no return at all. It is like giving ten thousand yuan to empty space—empty space receives nothing and gains nothing, which is the same as having lost ten thousand yuan oneself. What return is there in losing money? One gets not a single cent of return, let alone a thousandfold or ten-thousandfold return. It is like giving ten thousand yuan to the great ocean—the great ocean receives nothing and gains nothing, and moreover the ten thousand yuan would be destroyed, so one has simply wasted ten thousand yuan for nothing; and deliberately destroying printed banknotes is even an offense. It is like giving ten thousand yuan to a great fire—the fire burns it up; such giving not only brings no benefit but is even an offense.

Some people never forget their own acts of giving, always feeling that they have bestowed kindness on others, when in fact it is precisely the other party who has bestowed kindness on them. If others were not willing to accept one's generous giving, by what right would one obtain a thousandfold or ten-thousandfold return? By what means would one little by little accumulate so much of the merit provisions for seeing the Way? In order to let sentient beings accumulate more blessings and merit, when the Buddha was about to enter parinirvāṇa, He specially asked several arhat disciples to remain in the world, accepting offerings from sentient beings and providing sentient beings with the opportunity to cultivate great blessings and merit. Those arhats actually did not wish to receive offerings from others: first, they found it troublesome; second, it consumed their own blessings and merit. But as the Buddha's disciples, first they had to respect the Buddha's arrangement, and second they had to benefit sentient beings. That is why they did not enter nirvāṇa without remainder but remained in the world.

Some people perform the giving of Dharma—posting a message to guide those with affinities into proper study and practice—and feel as if they were doing work for their master, as if others were the ones who benefited while they themselves contributed time and energy and thus felt they were at a loss. They do not understand what the result of their giving of Dharma is, how supreme it is, and how great the benefit they will finally obtain—perhaps it cannot even be counted or calculated. It is precisely because of these merits and blessings that one has done that one can swiftly accomplish the Buddha Way in the process of study and practice in this life and future lives, sparing oneself the suffering of birth-and-death and saṃsāra for countless kalpas. This retribution cannot be exchanged for treasures as numerous as empty space; the retribution obtained cannot be fully described. Meanwhile, those who received benefit from one's giving of Dharma are far inferior to oneself in blessings, merit, and wisdom. The greater the benefit the Three Jewels and sentient beings receive from one's giving, the greater one's blessings and merit will be, and in the future one's wisdom will be the highest. As long as one's vision is not short-sighted, one should make truthful observation and contemplation, and consider one's own future and greatest benefit.

The blessings and merit of a bodhisattva are ten thousandfold, hundred-millionfold, immeasurably-fold greater than those of an arhat, because bodhisattvas are together with sentient beings life after life; in every gesture and movement they benefit sentient beings, and at the same time they obtain blessings and merit multiplied by thousands, millions, and immeasurable times. Therefore bodhisattvas are wealthy elders whose riches and nobility no one in the world can compare with. When blessings and wisdom are perfectly and completely fulfilled, one will accomplish the Path through the eight signs of becoming a Buddha, becoming the Teacher of Gods and Humans, the World-Honored Buddha.