Why Is the Power of Doubt So Great?

Doubt can be deep or shallow. If the doubt is deep and powerful, making it difficult to extricate oneself, it certainly means that the manas (the fundamental mind) deep within has already given rise to doubt, causing both body and mind to be unsettled. If only the conscious mind (mano-vijnana) harbors doubt while the manas does not, such doubt is relatively shallow, and the body and mind remain normal without any change. If the manas gives rise to doubt and disbelief, the Tathagatagarbha, perceiving the mental factor of deliberation within the manas, will counteract all previous mental actions, including the wholesome dharmas and merits that were cultivated. Therefore, heavy doubt is detrimental.

Doubt is a defilement that needs to be resolved and overcome. Doubt and disbelief belong to the category of defilements and fetters, constituting an obstacle that must be gradually removed through cultivation. If doubt remains unresolved, the cycle of birth and death cannot be transcended. Thus, we must find ways to resolve the doubts in our minds. If one has already performed meritorious deeds but then doubts oneself, the quantity and degree of that merit will diminish. When we have genuinely created wholesome karma, we should not doubt our own merit; we should recognize it as wholesome karma, for it will assuredly yield wholesome retribution. Because the Tathagatagarbha operates in accordance with the manas, it knows all the mental activities of the manas. If the manas doubts and disbelieves in those merits, the Tathagatagarbha will counteract the record of these merits, thereby reducing their potency.

Just as, at the time of death, if our thoughts are continuously focused on the unwholesome karma created in this life, the Tathagatagarbha will cooperate to manifest that unwholesome karma, and we will have to undergo retribution according to it. However, we can control such thoughts. We should strive to repent for the unwholesome karma accumulated throughout our lifetime before death arrives. For karma that truly cannot be repented, we should avoid forming strong thoughts about it in our mind near death; we should let it fade away. It is best not to recall it at the moment of death. Then, it is possible that the Tathagatagarbha will not allow that karma to manifest, meaning the conditions for its manifestation will not mature.

The thoughts at the time of death determine our destination in the next life. The Tathagatagarbha strives to comply with the thoughts of the manas; what it thinks is almost invariably what manifests. If it thinks of the Pure Land, it goes to the Pure Land; if it clings to the Saha world, it remains in the Saha world. All dharmas arise solely from the mind. Whatever thought or aspiration the manas holds at death, the Tathagatagarbha will endeavor to cooperate and fulfill that mental force and aspiration. Therefore, at death, as long as our aspiration is wholesome, such as the aspiration for the Pure Land, the Tathagatagarbha will certainly cooperate to enable our rebirth there. If our thoughts at death are unwholesome, corresponding to the unwholesome karma of this life, then the retribution of that unwholesome karma will manifest, and we may fall into the three evil realms. Hence, the thoughts at death are paramount. Having performed wholesome deeds, we should not doubt them. By continuously thinking of and focusing on wholesome karma, there is a great likelihood that we will follow that wholesome karma to receive its good retribution.