Which is greater: karma created with intention or karma created without intention?

Having intention means having preparation, having a goal, having a purpose — it is deliberate. Having no intention means having no preparation, no goal, no purpose — it is non-deliberate. When karma is created with intention, the mind is not empty; when wholesome karma is created with intention, the karma is small and the merit is small. When good deeds are done without intention, the mind is empty, and the karma is great and the merit is great. When unwholesome karma is created with intention, the mind is unwholesome, and the karma is great and the offense is great. When unwholesome karma is created without intention, there is no unwholesome mind, and the karma is small and the offense is small. Whether there is intention or not must be understood and observed from the standpoint of purpose and mental activity; whether there is a purpose, and what kind of purpose there is, is also crucial. When sentient beings do good deeds with intention and purpose, the goodness is small; when they do good deeds without purpose, the goodness is great. When evil is done without intention, the evil is small; when evil is done deliberately with intention, the evil is great.

Creating karma from the depths of one's heart means that the manas wants to create wholesome or unwholesome karma, and both the wholesome and unwholesome karma are great, because the fundamental mind that is in charge is of a wholesome or unwholesome nature. When sentient beings do good deeds without intention — that is, they originally had no thought of doing good, and their mind was not wholesome, yet by a coincidental convergence of conditions they happened to do a good deed — their merit is small. This is not the same principle as the Buddha's state of no-intention, nor is it on the same level. Doing good deeds without considering the retribution also counts as having no intention, and the merit is great. Because the power of wholesome dharmas is great, it can temporarily prevent the causes and conditions of unwholesome karma from ripening, and great unwholesome karma is never allowed to ripen — this is the power of great vows. Without this power, at the time of death one will inevitably follow the force of unwholesome karma, and most people are like this. The tathāgatagarbha at all times, toward any person or matter, has no intention; it has neither merit nor offense, yet its merit and virtue are the greatest. The Buddha does all things without intention, and His merit is boundlessly great.