The Diamond Sutra: Is "Unreal" Merit Boundless Merit?

Have you ever done a good deed while secretly thinking to yourself, "This must surely bring me great blessings from merit"? The story of Patriarch Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu of Liang in the Diamond Sutra will make you reconsider how you understand merit.

How Great Can Merit Be?

In the seventeenth chapter of the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha asked Subhuti: "If a person filled the entire universe with the seven precious jewels and gave them away as charity, would that merit be great?"

"If merit truly existed, the Tathagata would not speak of merit as great. It is precisely because there truly is no merit that the Tathagata can speak of merit as great."

This statement is truly puzzling. People often understand it passively: "If nothing is real, there is no need to do good deeds." But that is a misunderstanding, and a dangerous one. This is in fact a teaching on transcendent virtue: doing good without clinging to the good, without setting the mind on seeking rewards.

Why Say There Is "No Merit"?

When Emperor Wu of Liang recounted to Patriarch Bodhidharma all his merit from building temples, printing sutras, and ordaining monks, the Patriarch simply replied: "There is no merit at all." The emperor was bewildered upon hearing this, yet the Patriarch regarded the emperor as his own "flesh and blood." The same happens at temples: two people come to make offerings, but the newcomer is warmly welcomed, while the long-time practitioner is treated like family, even asked to go cook the meals. Why? Because the older one needs to have their attachment to merit broken, so that their heart may become pure and advance toward a higher virtue.

One who does good deeds while still keeping an eye on the rewards has not yet attained true virtue. Only when one acts out of reverence for the Buddha's teachings (Dharma), out of love for sentient beings, does that merit become boundless.

When Can One Be Wealthy Without Becoming a Saint?

If in a past life you did good deeds with a mind seeking rewards, in this life you will enjoy the fruits: wealth, success, and good fortune. But because of that intention to gain merit, when enjoying your blessings you spend freely and wastefully. The blessings from merit thus gradually wear away, never accumulating to the infinite. That is why you may be rich and honored, yet never become a saint.

Liberation means accumulating merit and wisdom to the infinite. When blessings arrive, a diligent practitioner usually declines to enjoy them, instead devoting everything to continuing the bodhisattva path. That is the way of the saints.

The Eightfold Reversal of Cause and Effect: A Dangerous Wrong View

Some people, upon hearing "there is no merit," fall into wrong view, believing that cause and effect (karmic law) does not exist. This is the gravest fault. The Baizhang records tell of a meditation master of very high attainment who, when asked, "Having attained the Way, are you still governed by cause and effect?", answered "No." The karmic result was immediate: he was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes.

"If for even a single moment you think that your own practice exempts you from cause and effect, then believe that in your next life you will fall into the animal realm."

The Diamond Sutra is a test. One who teaches this point correctly will protect the law of cause and effect and elevate virtue. One who teaches it wrongly will lead themselves and others into hell. When listening to the Dharma, one must be exceedingly awake.

The Transcendent Virtue of the Diamond Sutra

Doing good must bring its rewards—that is cause and effect (karmic law). But if you help sentient beings while keeping an eye on the rewards, you have not yet attained virtue. Only when you clearly understand cause and effect yet transcend attachment, doing good deeds with a pure mind/heart, does merit become boundless. That is a transcendent virtue for which the world can find no equal.

"Care for the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) out of reverence for the Dharma; help sentient beings out of love for them. Though you know cause and effect exists, pay it no heed—that is true virtue."

So from today, let us practice correctly: whenever doing a good deed, do not cling to thoughts of reward. Transform every action into unconditional love. Then true merit will arise on its own, and the path of liberation will open before your eyes.

Doing good means bringing joy and virtue to sentient beings. Do not use your merit for enjoyment, but use it to practice, to benefit ever more people. That is the boundless meaning of the Buddha's teaching in the Diamond Sutra.