Commentary on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (228)

Merits Are All Stored in the Tathāgatagarbha

When the Earth had just formed, it was covered everywhere with sweet springs of nectar, and fertile soil grew naturally. At that time, humans had descended from the second dhyāna heaven and possessed great merit. Later, sentient beings developed greed, their merit diminished, and the sweet springs and fertile soil disappeared, after which natural rice began to grow. Later, as blessings dwindled further and the natural rice no longer grew, humans had to plant the five grains, and from then until now, crops have all been cultivated by human labor. There are highly nutritious grains and plants on Earth today whose names we have never even heard—this is the result of our depletion of merit. We now belong to sentient beings of meager merit (alpa-puṇya); beings of later generations will have even thinner blessings than we do, and the delicious grains will all have vanished—they will neither taste nor see them. Therefore, everything in our lives comes entirely from our blessings and merit.

Where are these blessings stored? They are all stored in the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is our bank. If we deplete all the deposits in the bank, we become poor and lowly people; if the merit stored in the bank is not withdrawn, or only a little is withdrawn for our enjoyment, we are wealthy and noble elders. Practitioners should deposit much and use little; after withdrawing merit, they should use it to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings, thereby depositing merit back in again. In this way, the deposits in the bank will grow ever larger, with interest compounding upon interest. When the cultivation of merit is perfected, one can attain buddhahood.