How is merit obtained?

So-called merit (puṇya) is what one obtains by doing things for others and for the community, at the cost of one's own effort. As long as one gives outwardly, one will receive a return.

Since giving outwardly benefits others, it is virtue. In Buddhism, the two are often linked together. However, there is still a difference between worldly merit and virtue, and the merit and virtue accrued through studying and practicing the Buddhadharma. For example, Lei Feng cultivated merit by doing good deeds for sentient beings, but such merit can only be enjoyed within worldly dharmas. Because he did not plant wholesome karma or wholesome karmic conditions in the Buddhadharma, he still had no affinity with the Buddhadharma, and thus could not derive benefit from it.

Buddhists, however, plant merit not only in worldly dharmas but also in the Buddhadharma: taking refuge in the Three Jewels, making offerings to the Three Jewels, and diligently cultivating precepts, meditation (samādhi), and wisdom—this is both cultivating merit and cultivating virtue. Such merit and virtue can be enjoyed not only in worldly dharmas but also in the Buddhadharma.

Merit and virtue make our practice in the Buddhadharma progress very rapidly, advancing our Path-endeavor quickly. Merit and virtue are the foundation for our attainment of Buddhahood; they are provisions for the Path, the accumulations of provisions. Without merit and virtue, studying Buddhism and practicing cultivation will accomplish nothing. Therefore, bodhisattvas practicing cultivation must cultivate the bodhisattva's six perfections, and the first perfection is generosity (dāna) to cultivate merit. Before enlightenment, one must practice generosity to cultivate merit; after enlightenment, one must also practice generosity to cultivate merit. Even after entering the first bhūmi, one must still practice generosity to cultivate merit, so that one's Path-endeavor can continue to advance. From this, we can see how important merit and virtue are.

As for generosity, the most essential is giving away one's own stinginess and greed. With a mind of stinginess and greed, one will surely reap the retribution of poverty. Who is the poorest? Of course, the hungry ghosts are the poorest. A hungry ghost's belly is as big as a drum, yet its throat is as small as the eye of a needle; no food or drink can enter its mouth, and it can only starve. When thirsty, it sees a river and wants to go drink, but because its merit is meager (alpa-puṇya), the river water immediately turns into fire, and it cannot get a single drop into its mouth, able only to endure the torment of thirst. With such retribution of poverty, how could one serve as a bodhisattva and practice the bodhisattva path?

Bodhisattvas are people of great merit and virtue; life after life they serve as bodhisattvas among humans and in the heavens, and their retribution is very splendid. Among humans they become human kings; in the heavens they become heavenly kings, wheel-turning kings, or great ghost kings, and they will never fall into the three evil destinies—unless, out of the power of compassionate vows, they wish to deliver sentient beings in the evil destinies. The retribution of bodhisattvas is entirely the result of practicing generosity life after life, kalpa after kalpa.

Therefore, a mind of stinginess and greed does not accord with the bodhisattva mind; a person who has a mind of stinginess and greed, or whose stinginess and greed are heavy, cannot be a bodhisattva. No matter how diligently one engages in Chan investigation, one will not break through and attain enlightenment. Therefore, to be a bodhisattva, one must first practice the conduct of generosity, accumulating one's own merit and virtue, adorning oneself with the provisions of merit and virtue.

A bodhisattva who has well cultivated the conduct of generosity thinks, in every thought, of benefiting sentient beings, considering the other person's needs, and is habituated to giving. If there is a day when he has not given to sentient beings or benefited sentient beings, his mind feels uneasy. Even before meeting sentient beings, such a bodhisattva will think: "What can I bring to them?" Such a bodhisattva is a bodhisattva of great merit and virtue; life after life he enjoys superior material conditions and always serves as the leader of sentient beings. From this it is clear that in cultivation one must never belittle generosity, and must never fail to practice it. Generosity is the most practical form of cultivation, and is therefore called genuine practice. Those who walk the bodhisattva path should examine themselves every day: Have I practiced generosity today? In this way, one's Path-endeavor will advance rapidly.