功徳を積むことは容易ではない
Accumulating merit is no easy feat
2024-06-23 21:00:00
Even for the most intelligent person, accumulating merit is not easy.
This is because merit is not accumulated simply by performing specific actions.
To explain this subtlety, it might be easier to describe the act that accumulates the most merit.
The act that allows a Buddhist practitioner to accumulate the most merit is:
"Helping others come closer to enlightenment is itself the greatest accumulation of merit."
In other words, merit can only be accumulated when your actions become a definite catalyst for a change in the other person's behavior—in reality, a change in the fundamental direction of their heart.
Therefore, it is not enough for the other person to merely consider, "Maybe I should give it a try."
Nor is it sufficient if the other person starts performing actions that are generally said to accumulate merit.
The possible fundamental change necessary to accumulate merit is something as significant as changing a person who primarily eats bread to someone who primarily eats rice.
Of course, this is not the only way to accumulate merit; there are also ways to accumulate merit that are closed off to oneself.
However, even in such cases, a significant change akin to becoming a lover of Western cuisine from a lover of Japanese cuisine is necessary.
Originally, merit, as taught by the Sixth Patriarch of Zen, Huineng Buddha, refers to "being skillful in perceiving one’s true nature and a sincere heart being merit itself."
In other words, it means preparing oneself to be in a state where one can immediately attain enlightenment and become a Buddha when the opportunity for enlightenment arises.
From this perspective, it must be said that accumulating merit is not easy for anyone.
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