The Selfish Heart and the Mystery of the Mafia Bosses

In a crowded dharma talk, a solemn stillness settled over the room as the Teacher began to pose a question that startled many. The lights shone upon the attentive faces of the listeners, among them those who longed for wealth and riches, and those who were searching for liberation.

The Teacher spoke of a particular kind of person: those who give generously, but with a completely different kind of heart. They do not help others out of compassion, but out of a cold calculation.

"If I spend one million dong to give alms to the poor, then three years from now I will win a lottery prize of one billion," a man in the crowd thought to himself, his eyes gleaming with ambition.

The Teacher analyzed this: "When you see someone poor and destitute, instead of feeling deep sorrow, your heart aching at their pain, you rejoice. You rejoice because you see an 'opportunity' to buy merit. You think: 'How fortunate that there is someone for me to give to—thanks to them, I will gain blessings from merit.' That is a selfish heart. You do not love the person; you only love your own future purse."

Many nodded in agreement, admitting that they too had entertained such fleeting thoughts. The Teacher continued, his tone growing more solemn:

"What kind of fruit will this selfish cause bear? In the next life, that person will still be wealthy, still hold power and influence. But along with that wealth come two fateful gifts: Arrogance and Cruelty."

A young Buddhist raised a hand and asked, his voice full of wonder:

"Venerable Teacher, why is this so? Why would doing good deeds give rise to bad qualities?"

The Teacher smiled and pointed out the window, toward the bustling streets:

"Look at the mafia organizations, the organized criminals. They are immensely rich and powerful; they even control politicians. They are intelligent and shrewd, yet they kill without blinking an eye—ruthless and cold. Why? Because in their past lives, they too created merit, they too gave generously, but they gave while seeking blessings from merit. They used a selfish heart to purchase power. That power came from an impure cause, and so it carries with it the darkness of arrogance and cruelty."

The Teacher then emphasized the subtle difference between these two states of mind:

"A person who truly loves, upon seeing someone in suffering (dukkha), gives without expecting anything in return, even forgetting that they gave at all. But the one who seeks blessings from merit makes an entry in the ledger of the soul with every gift: 'I have given you this; now you owe me that.' That heart of debts and claims will, in the next life, become domination, control, and cruelty."

The story closes with a profound piece of advice for all who wish to walk the path of practice: Be careful with your heart when doing good deeds. Do not turn compassion into a business transaction. Only when we help others with a heart that is completely without self-interest, seeking no karmic reward, will the wealth or success that comes to us truly be safe and sound, unaccompanied by the stains of arrogance and cruelty.

The Meaning of the Story

The lesson of this story is that the nature of the heart with which we do good determines the quality of the karmic fruit. Giving with a selfish heart (seeking blessings from merit, expecting repayment) still creates the karmic results of wealth and power, but it drags along negative traits such as arrogance and cruelty, just like the mafia bosses. In contrast, only when we do good with a selfless heart, arising from genuine love and without craving karmic rewards, can a practitioner avoid these negative side effects and draw nearer to complete liberation.

Compiled from a dharma talk by the Venerable Thích Chân Quang