Commentary on the Sutra of the Father and Son Compendium (230)

How Is Merit Exhausted?

Accumulating merit is inherently challenging. If all merit is used solely for oneself, it diminishes over time. If one appropriates or steals others' property, the resulting karmic debt must be repaid at a thousandfold or immeasurable cost, depleting one's merit by such multiples—truly not worth it.

Should one be reborn in the heavenly realms as a sovereign, the merit accumulated over countless lifetimes may be entirely exhausted. If reborn as a human in a position of high authority, such as a minister or official, one’s merit is likewise nearly depleted. Enjoying blessings consumes merit rapidly: receiving a single act of kowtow and worship reduces one’s "merit savings" significantly; employing servants for tasks like washing clothes or cooking diminishes merit further; even being hailed with "long live" exhausts whatever little merit remains.

Merit dissipates bit by bit in such ways. Practitioners of Buddhism must understand the principle of accumulating and cultivating merit, prioritizing spiritual practice and the path to attaining Buddhahood.