Mahāyāna Sūtra of Revealing Consciousness (85)

Original text: 或为人王。或为辅相。或豪望贵重。或财富自在。或为诸长。或作大商主。或得天身。受天胜果。由识为福资。身获乐报。如彼福胜。天神所著。得胜妙花香。香美饮食。便即欢喜。病者安隐。今得尊贵。豪富自在。当知皆是。由福资识。身获乐果。

Explanation: The Buddha said that those nourished by merit attain happy retribution: they may become kings or emperors, or serve as chancellors and high officials, or be born into families of prominent nobility, or become wealthy elders with abundant riches at their disposal, or become great merchant-lords enjoying prosperity and honor, or ascend to the heavens to enjoy blessings as devas. All of these come about because the Ālayavijñāna holds the karmic seeds of merit; when nourished by merit, the Ālayavijñāna manifests a body of blessed retribution that enjoys happy rewards. Just as with a person of superior merit whom a deva or deity possesses—the person's retribution corresponds with that of the deity—such a person enjoys wondrous and fragrant flowers, delicious food and drink, and feels extraordinary joy within. If a person possessed by a deva or deity has an illness, at that moment the illness disappears, because devas and deities never fall ill and will not allow that person to become sick again. The possessed person now obtains the retribution of honor, wealth, and freedom from want; know that all of this is the result of the meritorious karma one created in the past nourishing the Ālayavijñāna, causing the present five-aggregate body to obtain a happy retribution.