Master Jun Hong Lu’s
World Buddhist Fellowship Meeting (Q&A Session)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
26 December 2016
Question 28
DESIRES AND DISTRACTING THOUGHTS WILL DEPLETE MERITS AND VIRTUES
Question: As long as we wish for something, whether we pray for it or not, our merits and virtues are used. Does this mean as soon as desires and distracting thoughts arise, our merits and virtues are immediately depleted? For this reason, could the amount of merits and virtues we lose as leakage be relative to the number of desires and distracting thoughts we have?
Answer: Exactly! This is a very good question, and it shows that she (the questioner) is truly cultivating herself. Be mindful, as long as a distracting thought arises in your mind, your merits and virtues will begin to dissipate. Let me give you a simple example. When a thought like, ‘I think I will go rob a bank,’ arises, even if there is no action taken, would you consider yourself to be a good person? Think about it. Are you a good or bad person? Therefore, do not let your thoughts run wild; as the slightest negative thought can deplete our merits and virtues.
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