Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: The Universal Transformation of the Dharma Realm, Chapter 19

Original: “Subhūti, what do you think? If someone filled the entire great trichiliocosm with the seven treasures and gave them as alms, would that person, on account of this cause and condition, obtain abundant merit?” “Yes, World-Honored One. That person, on account of this cause and condition, would obtain very abundant merit.” “Subhūti, if merit had a real nature, the Tathāgata would not say that the merit obtained is abundant. Because merit has no real nature, the Tathāgata says that the merit obtained is abundant.”

Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think about this matter? If someone took the seven treasures that fill the entire great trichiliocosm and gave them all as alms, would the merit obtained by this person on account of this cause and condition of almsgiving be very great? Subhūti replied: It is very great, World-Honored One. With this almsgiving as cause and condition, the future reward for this person is that the merit obtained is extremely abundant. The World-Honored One said to Subhūti: If the merit obtained by sentient beings had a true nature, I would not say that the merit they obtain is very abundant. Because merit has no true nature, no substance, and no intrinsic self-nature, I therefore say that the merit obtained by this person from giving the seven treasures of the great trichiliocosm as alms is very abundant.

Why does the World-Honored One say that merit has no true nature? To borrow the World-Honored One’s phrasing: So-called merit is not merit; it is merely called merit. Merit belongs to worldly dharmas; it has no self-nature and is merely a name. Let us examine the form in which merit manifests. Almsgiving yields merit, and almsgiving includes the giving of wealth, the giving of Dharma, and the giving of fearlessness. Wealth pertains to material objects, which are form dharmas; the giving of fearlessness pertains to mind dharmas, belonging to the spiritual realm of the consciousness mind, not transcending the realm of the six sense objects. When sentient beings give alms to cultivate merit, the five aggregates body gives the six sense objects—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects—that it possesses to the five aggregates body of the recipient for its enjoyment. Since the six sense objects—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects—belong to worldly dharmas, giving worldly dharmas results in receiving the reward of worldly dharmas as well. This is what is called merit.

What, then, are the rewards of worldly dharmas? They are nothing more than wealth, sex, fame, food, sleep, forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangibles within the three realms of existence. Specifically, they manifest as fame, power, status, retinue, wealth, the enjoyment of the physical body, health, longevity, and other such worldly merits. These worldly merits are such that once they are enjoyed, they disappear; with each bit of enjoyment, a bit of merit vanishes, and ultimately, when all is used up, the merit is completely exhausted. Therefore, worldly merit has a time when its enjoyment ends. Thus, the merit that sentient beings possess and enjoy is of a nature that arises and ceases, and therefore it is not real. What is real is never exhausted, just as the merit of a Buddha is never exhausted, because it is not merely merit within the worldly realm.

The unreality of merit within worldly dharmas can also be understood from another perspective: all merit arises from causes and conditions. Almsgiving is the cause that yields the fruit of merit, and within this so-called cause, there is primarily the true cause of the Tathāgatagarbha. When almsgiving acts as the cause, the Tathāgatagarbha manifests the five aggregates body to carry out the specific actions of giving, while simultaneously storing the karmic seeds of the giving. Later, the Tathāgatagarbha, depending on various conditions—such as the conditions for wealth, power, retinue, longevity, or fame arising for that person—when these conditions are fully present, the Tathāgatagarbha emits the karmic seeds, and that person obtains the corresponding reward of merit.

These rewards are also obtained by the five aggregates body manifested in conjunction with the Tathāgatagarbha, and are enjoyed by the five aggregates body. Every subtle link involves the assistance of the Tathāgatagarbha, and everything is an illusion conjured by the Tathāgatagarbha; each link is false and unreal. Therefore, overall, all the actions of almsgiving and all the processes of obtaining merit—these causes and effects—are conjured and manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha, and thus they are entirely false and unreal. For this reason, the Buddha says that sentient beings who cultivate merit through almsgiving obtain abundant merit; it is only within false dharmas that there is a concept of more or less. In the dharma of ultimate reality, there is no number, no more or less, no large or small, no long or short, no square or round... These merits appear to exist on the surface, but their existence is provisional, merely deceiving the eyes; in essence, they are all the Tathāgatagarbha.

Then, does the merit obtained from the giving of Dharma have reality? Does it possess the nature of merit? Can it be exhausted? What merit is obtained from the giving of Dharma? The merit obtained from the giving of Dharma includes two aspects: one is the acquisition of merit within worldly dharmas, obtaining superior forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects; the other is the acquisition of merit from supramundane dharmas. The merit from supramundane dharmas accumulates continuously until Buddhahood is attained; this merit never disappears and is never exhausted. Through the giving of Dharma, one can obtain supramundane wisdom, realize the supramundane true reality dharma of the Tathāgatagarbha, and thus wisdom continuously advances, progressing stage by stage, ultimately perfecting the fruit of Bodhi. Therefore, a great portion of the merit obtained from the giving of Dharma possesses the nature of merit and has true reality, far surpassing the merit of giving the seven treasures of the great trichiliocosm as alms.