The Importance of Mental Engagement When Performing Wholesome Karma

When performing the dāna of Dharma or any other wholesome deed, one should have a good mental engagement (manaskāra), inwardly hoping that others may thereby obtain various benefits. Once such a wish is brought forth, not only will Dharma-protecting deities help bring it to fulfillment, but one's own tathāgatagarbha will also work to fulfill the wish. In this way, the person receiving the giving will have a resonant response, receive the blessing, feel joyful in mind, readily accept the giving, open up the mind's capacity, and give rise to wisdom. Thus a wholesome karmic bond is formed, and one's own merit and virtue will increase accordingly—achieving twice the result with half the effort, benefiting both oneself and others, and bringing the matter to completion.

The mind's intent can change everything. It is similar to dedication of merit (pariṇāmanā): once a person's wholesome thought is sent out, it gains magnetic force, the energy of the mind-field strengthens, and it becomes easy to draw in and embrace others. When the aspiration is utterly sincere, there is blessing power and guiding power, and the other person will have a telepathic resonance; reading becomes light and pleasant, and the effect is good. Blessing wishes and vows serve exactly this function: when others receive blessing and assistance and improve, one's own merit and virtue naturally grow great. This is called benefiting self and benefiting others—those who deliver others are delivering themselves. It is the same with doing anything: add your mind's intent into it, act with utter sincerity, act with a concentrated mind, and anything can be done well—food cooked tastes fragrant, flowers grown flourish, vegetables planted yield abundantly, and enterprises undertaken easily succeed.

Each person's mental application differs, and so the results differ greatly. If you let others feel your sincerity, they will respond to your sincerity, and the return will come quickly. Why is it that some people, in dealing with others, make others like them? Because they have a sincere and concentrated mind; when goodwill is sent out, others can feel it and will respond in kind—this is the effect. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the World-Honored One taught us that when doing anything, one should recite the corresponding mantra, wishing that others obtain wholesome fruits, vowing that others receive the merit and benefit of wholesome dharmas. When the vow is fulfilled, sentient beings benefit, and one obtains the merit and virtue one deserves—benefiting others necessarily benefits oneself.