The Difference and Connection Between Merit (puṇya) and Virtue (guṇa)

Question: Emperor Wu of Liang built Buddhist temples and made offerings to the monastic community, yet Patriarch Bodhidharma said there was no merit (puṇya) in it—so that would be merit (福德, worldly blessings) instead. How can one have true merit (功德, spiritual merit)?

Answer: Spiritual merit is a virtue of the nature (性德), a virtuous capacity inherent in the mind's nature. For example, subduing afflictions is spiritual merit; cultivating until the mind becomes untainted is spiritual merit; attaining wisdom is spiritual merit; when precepts, samādhi, and wisdom all advance and tend toward perfection, that is spiritual merit; or when they are fully perfected, so that one can personally avail oneself of them and also bring benefit to others—this is spiritual merit. Generally speaking, spiritual merit is not easily lost, and its benefits are inexhaustible, all the way to buddhahood. Worldly blessings (福德), on the other hand, are mostly for one's own enjoyment; they can be exhausted, can be destroyed, are not ultimate, and there is no guarantee that one will not use those blessings to commit unwholesome karma. Spiritual merit, however, can gradually purify the mind, and it also causes worldly blessings to grow. If worldly blessings and spiritual merit are obtained simultaneously, the blessings become firm and continuously increase.

Even so, one must still cultivate worldly blessings; if blessings are insufficient, spiritual merit is also difficult to manifest—the two complement each other. However, the blessings one cultivates should not be spent on worldly enjoyments; do not seek the karmic rewards of humans and gods, but dedicate all of these blessings entirely toward the accomplishment of the Buddha's path. If you wish to cultivate more spiritual merit, you must diligently cultivate precepts, samādhi, and wisdom, extinguish greed, hatred, and delusion, broadly practice the bodhisattva path, receive, uphold, read, and recite the Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of scriptures, engage in Chan meditation and cultivate samādhi, practice śamatha and vipaśyanā in tandem, maintain the equal cultivation of samādhi and prajñā, eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), aspire to seeing one's true mind and attaining enlightenment, progress from bhūmi to bhūmi, and perfect the fruit of buddhahood. All of these are spiritual merit—and indeed great spiritual merit—up to the perfection of all merit.