弘明集 12.72

12.72

I reply: I consider that the Dao of Śākya is profound indeed; and the reason his gazing followers are all the more devoted in their reverence is that those who embark upon the Dao must rely on practicing merit. For beauty of practicing merit, nothing surpasses this! Such is the cause of accumulated practice, the pivot for future lives. Furthermore, when paying respect to teachers and elders, merit is still hard to restrain; how much less, when directing one's mind to the supreme principle, could one replace his ritual? Therefore, though one bows and rises through accumulated kalpas, it is not what is called thanking benevolence.