Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (230)

How Is Merit Consumed and Depleted?

Cultivating merit is never easy in the first place. If one's merit is all used on oneself, it dwindles ever less. If, moreover, one takes possession of others' property or steals others' property, one's merit will have to be repaid at a cost of a thousandfold or immeasurably multiplied; merit will be consumed in so many multiples—thinking of it, it is truly not worth it. If one is reborn in the heavenly realms as a deva-king once, the merit accumulated over many lifetimes may well be reduced to zero; if one is reborn among humans as a high official or minister, one's merit is also mostly consumed. While enjoying blessings, merit is depleted extremely fast: each time one receives a prostration and obeisance, one's "savings" diminish considerably; having servants attend to one's washing and cooking reduces one's merit; or being hailed once with cries of "Long live!"—that little bit of accumulated merit is gone. Merit is depleted and exhausted just like this, bit by bit. Buddhist practitioners must surely understand the principle of gathering and cultivating merit, and give more consideration to their practice on the Path and to attaining buddhahood.