The Mind Free from Desires Attains the Greatest Blessing

Question: Person A did a good deed for Person B, and Person B received help from Person A. Person A wishes to receive feedback and repayment from Person B. Is it more beneficial for Person A to receive repayment from Person B now, in a future life, or through the natural retribution of karma?

Answer: The most beneficial approach is to act with a mind free from seeking and await the natural repayment of karma. Person A performed a good deed without thinking of repayment; this is acting with a mind devoid of expectation for reward. Although Person A does not seek repayment, the law of karma will naturally produce retribution, and at that time, the karmic fruit will be greatest. Performing virtuous deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest virtuous retribution; performing unwholesome deeds with a conditioned mind yields the greatest unwholesome retribution. Performing virtuous deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest virtuous retribution—the mind is vast, and the retribution is vast. It is not known why the Tathāgatagarbha has such a rule. Those who wish to maximize the karmic fruit of virtuous deeds might try to exploit this loophole. However, the mind that seeks to exploit a loophole is still a conditioned mind, and a conditioned mind is small, while an unconditioned mind is the vastest. Seeking repayment and performing virtuous deeds with a purpose is a conditioned mind, and a conditioned mind is small; not seeking repayment and performing virtuous deeds without personal motive or selfishness means the mind is vast, and a vast mind yields vast karmic fruit.

Performing virtuous deeds for the Three Jewels yields the greatest karmic fruit. If there is selfishness involved—seeking money, fame, status, power, etc.—the merit will be significantly diminished. If virtuous deeds are performed with strong selfish intent, treating the Three Jewels as a transaction and scheming for the benefits they bring, it might turn into an unwholesome deed and incur negative karmic retribution.

If afflictions are too heavy, scheming for benefits from the Three Jewels, and if the scheming fails, leading to resentment and anger, it could result in karmic retribution in the hell realms. All sinful karma arises from afflictions; all afflictions arise from that "self." Therefore, only after severing the view of self can afflictions become slight, or even be extinguished, allowing afflictions to be permanently exhausted, leading to liberation. Everywhere in the world, from the macro level between nations, to the medium level between groups, down to the micro level between individuals, one can observe the greed, hatred, and delusion of sentient beings. It can be said that afflictions are rampant and blazing, making it extremely difficult to rescue beings. After all, this is the Dharma-Ending Age; sentient beings have heavy karma, deep obstructions, and scant merit. Sinful karma far outweighs wholesome karma; negative retribution far exceeds positive retribution. Therefore, in future lives, an immense number of beings will go to the three evil destinies to receive retribution. This is inevitable; death and the suffering of illness are minor matters by comparison.