What Kind of Giving Brings the Greatest Merit?

When Śāriputra makes offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha, versus when Śākyamuni Buddha makes offerings to Śāriputra, who gains the greater merit? If two people each give one dollar to the same person, who gains the greater merit? If one person gives one dollar to each of two people, to whom should he make the offering to gain the greater merit? How should these merits be measured? When one person makes an offering to the same person with different states of mind, when does he gain the greater merit?

When practicing generosity (dāna), the more the mind is unconditioned and free of seeking, the greater the merit gained. When the Buddha practices generosity, His mind is the most empty and free of all seeking, so He gains the greatest merit. Although Śāriputra makes offerings to the Buddha, the most supreme field of merit, this still does not surpass the merit gained through an empty mind—all noble sages differ by virtue of the unconditioned dharma. The unconditioned realized through the Small Vehicle's dharma and the unconditioned realized through the Great Vehicle's dharma differ greatly in their levels of unconditionedness. Even among those who have realized the Great Vehicle's dharma, their levels of unconditionedness also differ according to the degree of their wisdom. All the differentiated appearances in the world are just the differences of the mind. As long as one cultivates the mind well, nothing else needs attending to—it comes about naturally. The less one seeks to gain, the more one gains; the more one seeks to gain, the less one gains.