Different Retributions of Giving

Question: What is the karmic retribution of deliberately giving with intentional resolve?

Answer: When one gives deliberately and proactively for the sake of cultivating personal merit, the retribution in future lives is of course the attainment of blessings. In doing so, one neither infringes upon nor harms the interests of others, nor obstructs others from gaining benefits, and moreover the recipients of the giving also benefit, so the result is a win-win situation. If one resolves to cultivate merit for the sake of attaining buddhahood, or cultivates merit in order to save and liberate sentient beings, then the merit in this and future lives will be even greater. If one does it for nothing at all, seeking nothing whatsoever, but simply encounters an occasion where giving is needed and gives in accordance with conditions—giving that accords with conditions, with the mind empty—this merit is even greater. Merit of nonaction is the greatest, as the Buddha stated in the Diamond Sutra.

Cultivating the practice of giving (dāna) proceeds in stages: first, one practices giving in order to gain blessings for oneself; when the mind grows a bit vaster, one practices giving so that sentient beings may gain benefit—this giving then has pāramitā, capable of reaching the other shore of liberation; when the mind grows vaster still, empty and without longing, what is cultivated is nonaction giving, which can earn the Buddha's prediction of future buddhahood. Whether the mind is vast or not is determined by merit: when merit is small, the mind is small; when merit is great, the mind becomes vast. Therefore, being able to bring forth the bodhi mind and make great vows also relies on the support of merit. When merit is great, one's vision is broad and far-reaching, and one's wisdom becomes vast and unobstructed.