Why Is the Power of Doubt So Great?

Doubt can be deep or shallow. If doubt is profound, its power is greater, making it difficult to extricate oneself. This certainly means that the manas (mind-root) deep within has already given rise to doubt, causing both body and mind to be unsettled. If only the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna) harbors doubt while the manas does not, such doubt is relatively shallow, and body and mind will remain as usual without significant change. If the manas gives rise to doubt and disbelief, the tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) perceives the mental factor of deliberation within the manas and negates all previous mental actions, including the wholesome dharmas and merits performed. Therefore, heavy doubt is detrimental.

Doubt is a kleśa (affliction) that we must resolve and overcome. Doubt and disbelief belong to kleśas and saṃyojanas (fetters), constituting an obstacle that needs to be gradually removed through cultivation. If doubt remains unresolved, the cycle of birth and death cannot be ended. Thus, we must find ways to resolve the doubt within our minds. If, after having performed meritorious deeds, one doubts oneself, the quantity and degree of merit will diminish. When we have genuinely created wholesome karma, we should not doubt our merit; we should recognize it as wholesome karma, which assuredly yields wholesome retribution. Because the manas is supported by the tathāgatagarbha, the tathāgatagarbha knows all mental activities of the manas. If the manas doubts and disbelieves in those merits, the tathāgatagarbha negates the record of these merits, thereby reducing their meritorious nature.

Just as, at the time of death, if every thought is of the unwholesome karma created in this life, the tathāgatagarbha will cooperate to manifest that unwholesome karma, and we will follow that karma to receive its retribution. However, we can control such thoughts. We should strive to repent for the unwholesome karma created throughout our lifetime before death. For that which we truly cannot repent, we should avoid forming strong thoughts about it near death; we should let it fade from memory. It is best not to recall it at the time of death, so that the tathāgatagarbha may prevent that karma from manifesting, and the conditions for its manifestation may not mature.

The thoughts at the time of death determine our destination in the next life. The tathāgatagarbha strives to comply with the thoughts of the manas; what it thinks almost invariably becomes reality. Think of the Pure Land, go to the Pure Land; dwell on the Sahā world, remain in the Sahā world. All dharmas arise solely from the mind. Whatever thought or aspiration the manas holds at the time of death, the tathāgatagarbha will endeavor to cooperate and realize that mental force and aspiration. Therefore, as long as our aspiration at death is wholesome, an aspiration for the Pure Land, the tathāgatagarbha will assuredly cooperate to enable our rebirth there. If our thoughts at death are unwholesome, corresponding to the unwholesome karma of this life, then the retribution of that unwholesome karma will manifest, and we may fall into the three evil destinies. Hence, the thoughts at the time of death are paramount. Having performed wholesome karma, do not doubt it; dwell on and think of the wholesome karma, and there is a great likelihood of following that wholesome karma to receive its wholesome retribution.