Cultivate a pure mind and Harvest merits

The first episode:Packed for the mind journey

Cultivate a pure mind and Harvest merits

Some people do not like doing good deeds, not even a wish to offer a little help to others because they think they can’t get any reward from doing good. In fact, they don’t understand that both kind and evil behaviors receive counterforce. Maybe the counterforce is not obvious, but it does exist and will make an impact throughout one’s life. To many people, death means perish from the world without any traces left behind, like a fly whirling in the air and night-blooming cereus blossoming in the midnight

People are very concerned with merits gained. The true merits gained is a reactive force of behavior. If you hit a piece of wood, your hand will feel painful. That’s the way it is. Every result or consequence is caused by behavior. Good deeds deserve good result and bad deeds deserve bad result. As the saying goes well “What goes around comes around.”

Some people do not like doing good deeds, not even a wish to offer a little help to others because they think they can’t get any reward from doing good. In fact, they don’t understand that both kind and evil behaviors receive counterforce. Maybe the counterforce is not obvious, but it does exist and will make an impact throughout one’s life. Known as a great litterateur, Tolstoy had also devoted himself to alms deed. His great personality is reflected in his works, which henceforward made it possible to be handed down from generation to generation. The great achievement can by no means obtained by virtue of writing skills. To many people, death means perish from the world without any traces left behind, like a fly whirling in the air and night-blooming cereus blossoming in the midnight

Guidance from righteous insight is a must to understand this, so does austere practice.

For example, you have a friend who is a liar. When you figure it out and believe that he is a liar, this perception becomes your status of realization. Then you won’t believe in his words any more, which means you have realized extrication. In the same way, when you realize and have no doubt that both world and transmigration are of huge illusion and inconsistence which are like dreams or mirages without self-nature, you will retain the status of realization of the fact. Then there is nothing on earth could  lure you or infatuate your mind any more. This is the righteous insight.

Moreover, the merits gained are generated from a clean heart. When you help others without secular greed or desire, you will gain merits. If your heart is accompanied by a wish to get reward, you can only get some consumable obtaining reward.

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a kind man who provided for a deity every day. The deity was moved by him and swooped down in front of him, asking if he wanted anything. The deity said, I can give you whatever you want, hefty fortune, paramount power or anything else. The kind man said he disliked these and he just hoped to live peacefully in happiness and away from greed. The deity said, what you want is a carefree life which I myself can’t obtain it, so I’m helpless about this. Why? Because to obtain a carefree life does not depend on praying others nor utilization of theurgy. It just comes from our own inner bright and clean heart If you want to realize it, you must surpass worldly attachment and temptation. By achieving this without a whisker of obsession, you will obtain final extrication.

     Real achievers have cut off obsessions, even the wisdom to achieve extrication.

But they will never lose or forget their enlightenment. For example, a person who knows 1 plus 1 equals 2 will never forget the formula at any time. No matter when he breaks wind, sneezes, falls ill or on any occasion, his greatness will by no means affected. A saint is still a saint.

As a Tibetan proverb goes well, no matter how a saint behaves in the secular world, his heart remains sacred. Although he works like ordinary people, he still can be settled in his own bright nature free of worries.

Therefore, it is necessary for a person to cultivate a pure and clean heart so as to obtain merits gained while no obsession to it. We just need manage to perceive our true heart and maintain it. When we maintain duty, each behavior in your daily life reflects the ingenious usage of the true heart, which will bring you corresponding counterforce of goodness. But you must be very careful that don’t treat idle emptiness of nihilism as true heart, let alone try to maintain it. One who has fallen into idle emptiness is like a rock. Even if it could meditate patiently for a hundred or thousand years, it will never obtain any merits gained, nor enter enlightenment.

Many people cannot distinguish the merits gained from obtaining reward. Actually they are totally different. Obtaining reward tends to be utilitarian, such as praying for fortune, reward and life. When we pray, our heart is not clean since we have various desires and obsessions in our mind. For example, some people want to borrow money from Bodhisattva Guanyin, saying “ I want to earn ten million next year” ; some people would pray that his family could live as long as possible. All these behaviors are aimed to get secular reward. If you have no such secular wishes with an extremely clean heart, the accumulated return of your good behaviors becomes merits gained.

A lot of people have made a big fortune in their lives and have done many good things, but they can’t obtain merits gained, since they do things for rewards. When he maintains a clean heart and pursue neither merits nor reward, then his behaviors deserve merits gained. Tolstoy did not wish to get any reputation when he was engaged in education affairs, but he did get it. This is also the counterforce of behavior.

You might get merits gained if your heart is extremely clean when doing things. Merits are used to help us get enlightened, but we do not practice in pursuit of merits gained vice versa. The real practice itself is the purpose. When you desire to get something, it is just about obtaining reward, which is known as health, safety, fortune, etc. If you are not obsessed with it under the guidance of your clean heart, and if you make a wish to help all the sentient beings, you will have a chance to obtain merits gained.

However, sometimes obtaining reward is also necessary because it can help you accumulate beneficial karma for future practicing Buddhism. For example, in terms of offering and providing, it seems as if one gives out his own belongs to others, but in fact, he still maintains what he has donated due to Karma effect - the reactive force of his behavior.

Then, how to determine whether your behavior has brought merits gained or not?     The symbol of merits gained is as follows: First, less obsessions. Secondly, less greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and jealousy. Third, a clean heart. Fourth, more kindness and benevolence. There is another version: First, a wiser mind. Second, stronger concentration capability. Third, no longer allured by secular affairs..

The most important is to shatter the secular obsession, which leads to real merits gained. Blessing and Morality appears in the form of obtaining rewards, such as fortune rolling in opportunities, smooth and satisfactory working experience. Merits Gained manifests itself in the form beyond the secular world: no obsession to anything done before. For instance, you will try to fulfill a task, but you won’t feel sad if you fail to complete it.

Let’s take another example of worshiping, if your do not have the concept of  provider, the person who is provided or the behavior of providing, nor obsessed with the merits gained, you will get merits as a matter of course. So whatever you do, don’t exact the result.

Disposition enlightenment and wisdom emergence during practice are epitome of merits. Although some people do not seek merits, their behaviors are inclined to be beneficial to others. Then he will get the merits gained as well as blessing and morality. But if you are fixated to seek nothing but merits, your behaviors will bring you only obtaining reward.

For example, there is a writer who does not pursue merits or blessing and morality, but his books have made significant influence on encouraging kind behaviors and purifying people’s heart by means of cuddling up to truth. Under the counterforce of the kind behaviors and all kinds of refreshing feelings, the writer of this book will obtain merits and blessing and morality at the same time. If the kind behavior continues for a long time, it will cause Matthew Effect, which will bring him more and more merits as well as blessing and morality.

Notice

Translated by non-professional volunteers, there would be some inaccuracies in the translation. You are welcome to offer us some advice for emendation. Please feel free to contact us.We also look forward to you joining our voluntary translation team.

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第一辑：为心灵之旅收拾行囊

心清净，才能生起功德

有些人不行善甚至不肯帮助别人，因为他们觉得这对自己没什么好处，其实他们不明白，善有善的反作用力，恶有恶的反作用力，也许它们不太明显，但它们确实是存在的，并且会影响人的一生。很多人，死了就是死了，跟虚空中飞过的苍蝇和半夜盛开的昙花一样，都留不下任何痕迹。

人们常说功德，真正的功德是一种行为的反作用力。用力打木头，你的手也会痛，这就是行为的反作用力。一切都由行为引起，行善得善果，做恶得恶果。正如俗话中所说的“种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆”。

有些人不行善甚至不肯帮助别人，因为他们觉得这对自己没什么好处，其实他们不明白，善有善的反作用力，恶有恶的反作用力，也许它们不太明显，但它们确实是存在的，并且会影响人的一生。就像托尔斯泰，他是个大作家，同时也做了很多善事，他的伟大人格反映在作品中，使这些作品成为了传世之作，这是无法单凭文学技巧达到的。而很多人，死了就是死了，跟虚空中飞过的苍蝇和半夜盛开的昙花一样，都留不下任何痕迹。

明白这一点，需要正见的指引，苦修也需要正见的指引。

举个例子，你有一个朋友，他是个骗子。你发现并坚信他是个骗子的时候，这就是你的见地。你拥有这个见地之后，就不会相信他说的任何话，那么这时候，你就已经解脱了。同样道理，当你发现并坚信世界和轮回都是巨大的幻化与无常，没有自性，如梦如幻的时候，你便拥有了这个见地，那么这个世界就对你构不成什么诱惑，你也没什么好执著了。这就是正见。

再者，功德是从清净心中生起的。当你行善的时候，内心清净，就会生起功德，不清净就只能得到福德。

一个故事里这样说道：有个善人，每天都供天神。天神被感动了，下界来问他需要什么。天神说，你求啥都成，荣华富贵，惊天权势，都成。善人说，他不喜欢这样，只希望能清清净净的，有种无求的快乐。天神说，你求的，叫清福，连我都得不到，更无法给你。为什么呢？因为那清福，不加外求，也无关神通，仅仅源于自己光明清净的内心。想要实现它，你必须超脱外物及欲望。超脱外物及欲望，没有一丝执著，你就会得到终极解脱。

真正的成就者没有任何执著，甚至对解脱的智慧也不执著，但是他们对于自己所证悟的，永远不会失去，也不会忘记。比如有人知道1＋1＝2，那么无论何时都不会忘记它，放屁时知道1＋1＝2，打喷嚏时也知道1＋1＝2，生病时还是知道1＋1＝2。无论示现如何，都不会影响他的伟大，他仍然是圣者。

藏族里有一句话：圣者行了凡间事，他的心仍然是圣洁的。虽然他可能像一般人那样劳作，他却仍然融在自己的光明本性中，了无牵挂。

所以说，一个人必须要有清净之心才能生起功德，但对清净心也同样不能执著。我们只要见到真心，然后保任真心就可以了。保任真心的时候，你的行住坐卧都是真心的妙用，自然会为你带来许多善的反作用力。但你要特别小心，不要把虚无主义的顽空当成真心，更不要去保任它。堕入顽空的人就像是一块石头，就算静静待了百年或千年，依旧没有任何功德，也永远不能觉悟。

很多人常把“福德”和“功德”混淆，其实它们是两回事。福德多带有功利色彩，比如求福、求报、求寿，求这些时心并不清净，因为有各种欲望和执著。比如有的人向观音借库，祈祷说“我来年要赚一千万”，有的人则祈愿全家人长命百岁，这都是在求福报。如果你不求这些，而且心很清净时，善行所积累的就是功德。

很多人一生很富有，也做了许多善事，却生不起一点功德，就是因为他们心有所求。当清净心生起，功德与福德都不求时，其行为才会有功德。托尔斯泰办学时没有想过要得到后世的美誉，但他确实得到了。这也是行为的反作用力。

做事的时候心要是非常清净，就可能生起功德。功德是帮助我们证悟的。但我们修行并不是为了求功德，真正的修行本身就是目的。有求的时候你得到的是福报，福报就是健康、平安、财富等世俗所说的好报；如果这时你的心仍然很清净，不执著于它，并能发起利众大愿的话，就可能生起功德。

不过，有时候，福德也是必要的，因为它可以为你的修道积累一种“资粮”。比如说一个人经常布施和供养，看上去他把东西都给别人了，但实际上因为“业力”――行为的反作用力，他仍然拥有自己所布施和供养的一切。

那么，如何判断自己的行为有没有生起功德呢？功德生起的外现是：第一，执著少了；第二，贪、嗔、痴、慢、妒少了；第三，心清净了；第四，利众的慈悲心增长了。还有一种说法是：第一，智慧变得越来越清明；第二，定力逐渐增强；第三，不会再让世间的东西诱惑心灵。

在这些中间，最主要的是执著的破除，因为真正的功德就是执著的破除。以世间福报的形式出现的是“福德”，比如说最近财运很好，工作也很顺利；以出世间形式出现的叫“功德”，对于自己所做的一切都不执著，比如说会去努力做某事，但是假如这个事没做成的话，也不会烦恼难过。

我们举个例子，以“供养”而言，如果你的心中并没有供养者、被供养者、供养这些概念，也就不执著于某种功德，这时就自然会生起功德。所以，无论做什么事，都不要执著。

心性的明白和修行过程中间智慧的出现，也都是生起功德的体现。一些人在不求功德的情况下有了利众行为，功德就能产生，同时福德也有了。但是，如果你一心求功德，就只能产生福德。

比如说，一个作家不求功德和福德，但他写的书产生了许多善的行为，带给世人诸多清凉，让人们受到真理的感染。当这种善的行为和诸多清凉产生一种反作用力的时候，书的作者就能同时拥有功德和福德。当这种善行一直持续下去的时候，就会产生一种“马太效应”，他就会拥有更多的功德与福德。

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