How Do Merit and Wisdom Come About?

Generally speaking, we are all born with a certain amount of merit; the destiny of enjoying blessings in the mother's womb is already predetermined, and after birth one begins to enjoy blessings, or begins to enjoy them at a certain stage of life. This is the merit brought over by the seventh consciousness, the manas; the seeds are stored in the eighth consciousness, and the manas corresponds with those seeds. The mind consciousness comes into existence after birth; it does not come over from a previous life, and during the time in the womb and in youth it has not accumulated merit, so the mind consciousness does not possess merit, but it can enjoy merit. The merit and wisdom one is born with are both brought over by the manas, and are enjoyed by the mind consciousness. In this life, the mind consciousness cooperates with the manas to once again cultivate merit and wisdom; when the karmic seeds ripen, the mind consciousness in this life receives the wholesome retribution of merit and wisdom; when the karmic seeds have not ripened, the mind consciousness of a later life will enjoy the retribution of merit and wisdom.

Likewise, the destiny of being born without merit and without wisdom is also brought over by the manas; the manas corresponds with the seeds of meager merit (alpa-puṇya), and the destiny is one of poverty and lowliness, with profound and heavy suffering, and the retribution is borne by the mind consciousness. If in this life the mind consciousness again cooperates with the manas to commit unwholesome karma, then when the karmic seeds ripen, the mind consciousness in this life will receive the evil retribution; when the karmic seeds have not ripened, the mind consciousness of a later life will receive the evil retribution.