Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son

Original text: 大王。彼无边称王。复更思惟。以我所有。善根力故。令四天下。降雨黄金。作是念已。于四天下。皆雨黄金。所以者何。皆由无边称王。于往昔时。与诸众生。共修善业。之所获得。

Parents and children also share common karma. If parents and children had no common karma—for example, if the parents were destined to receive the retribution of poverty while the child was destined to enjoy the retribution of wealth and honor—then when the child grew up and left home, he would prosper and become wealthy elsewhere, and the parents would not get to enjoy it; this shows they had no common karma. Sentient beings live together on Earth, so all humans on Earth have common karma; or those living in a small city—the people of that small city also have common karma. Therefore, if we wish to obtain the retribution of wealth and honor, we need not go begging for it; we only need to genuinely practice generosity (dāna) and cultivate merit. Whoever cultivates it obtains it; whoever does not cultivate it does not obtain it. Wholesome karma has no bounds and no limits. It is not the case that if you cultivate this karma of wealth and honor, then I will have none of it. Whoever cultivates obtains it; if all people cultivate it, all people obtain it.

Therefore, common karma can bring sentient beings together in one place, while non-shared karma separates them from one another. For the sentient beings in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī), their common karma causes heavenly garments and heavenly food to exist naturally, with the seven treasures everywhere and gold paving the ground—that is the common karma of the sentient beings of the land of bliss—whereas people on Earth treat gold as a treasure and wear it on their bodies. When the people of Earth have enjoyed nearly all of their blessings, the best thing on Earth will be iron; at that time, humans who obtain a piece of broken iron will treasure it and wear it on their bodies, because sentient beings will have no blessings left. The common karma of being without blessings will summon forth vile things, with no treasures at all.

When the Earth first formed, sweet springs were everywhere, and natural earth essence grew of itself. At that time, humans descended from the second dhyāna heaven and had great merit. Later, sentient beings developed greed, their blessings diminished, and the sweet springs and earth essence disappeared, and only then did natural rice begin to grow. Later, when blessings diminished further and even the natural rice no longer grew, humans had to plant the five grains, and from then until now, crops have all been planted 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 consumption of blessings. We now belong to sentient beings of meager merit (alpa-puṇya), and sentient beings of the future will have even thinner blessings than we do; the delicious grains will all have vanished, and they will neither taste them nor see them. Therefore, everything in our lives comes entirely from our blessings.

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