One of the greatest wisdom that I have learned!
Emperor Wu: “How much karmic merit have I earned for ordaining Buddhist monks, building monasteries, having sutras copied, and commissioning Buddha images?”
Bodhidharma: “None. Good deeds done with worldly intent bring good karma, but no merit.”
Even in one interpretation of Bodhidharma Encounter with Emperor Xiāo Yǎn 蕭衍
Wu asked will I get Mukti for my deeds, – building temples, helping monks…
Bodhidharma: “What? You! Mukti? You will burn in the seventh hell.”
What Bodhidharma means: You will never get anything when you die for your worldly activities…!
According to the Buddhist way of life, there are seven layers of the mind. Instead of just doing what is needed, if a man does something and then keeps accounts of it, “How much I have done for somebody,” he is in the lowest level of the mind and he will inevitably suffer because he is expecting people to be nice to him in return for his deeds. If they are not nice to him, he will be mentally tortured and it will be a seventh hell.
We need to contemplate/ meditate to find peace in the mind.
And that peace we will get also afterward, when we pass by!
For materialistic people contemplation is nonsense and so my whole life.
This is an addition reason to spend time for contemplation and meditation!
My Video: Bodhidharma, Encounter with Emperor Xiāo Yǎn (Wu) https://youtu.be/PYf6DyniOVQ
My Audio: https://rudizimmerer.s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/6/Bodhidharma%2C+Encounter+with+Emperor.mp3