การให้ทรัพย์ทำให้ได้ทรัพย์ แต่การรักษาทรัพย์ได้ต้องอาศัยบุญที่มากพอจนดวงบุญโตกว่าดวงบาป ห่อหุ้มไม่ให้บาปทำลายสมบัติได้ จึงต้องทำบารมีให้ครบทุกด้าน ไม่ใช่ให้ทานอย่างเดียวGiving generously brings wealth to us, but keeping that wealth requires enough merit that the sphere of merit outgrows and envelops the sphere of demerit, preventing sin from destroying our possessions. That's why every perfection (bāramī) must be developed, not just giving alone.
A student asked which kind of merit brings us wealth, and which kind of merit lets us keep it.
The teacher answered that merit from giving away wealth is what brings wealth to us. One must understand that unwholesomeness works to destroy our wealth — where "wealth" here means anything that brings delight: physical beauty, material wealth, personal s, or a following of good people around us — all of it is called "wealth." When we perform the causes of merit, merit arises together with and , and within the sphere of merit sits every kind of wealth — physical beauty, material wealth, personal virtue, all the way up to fame, praise, happiness, and even the fruit of the path to Nibbana. Once merit has arisen, we can intend for that merit to protect our wealth — setting the intention that no one can take it from us.
In truth, having abundant merit means merit protects wealth on its own. The reason wealth cannot be protected is simply that merit is too little to provide cover, leaving sin dominant instead — because the sphere of demerit has a greater volume and envelops the sphere of merit, preventing merit from expressing any of its qualities, unable to protect wealth, because the sphere of demerit, being larger, wraps around it. Merit's quality is to attract wealth and repel misfortune, but when demerit outweighs it, merit can do nothing, and the sphere of demerit destroys wealth instead — since demerit is intent on harming and destroying us in the first place, whether physical beauty, material wealth, personal virtue, a following, fame, praise, happiness, or even the fruit of the path — all of it can be destroyed. But simply having abundant merit causes the sphere of merit to grow and envelop the sphere of demerit instead, so demerit can no longer express its own qualities — it can neither attract misfortune nor repel wealth, because merit has enveloped it and rendered it powerless. We therefore need only accumulate abundant merit, and whatever we then wish for, we can intend for. This means performing both the perfection of giving and all , along with all ten perfections.
As for gaining wealth, if one has merit, merit draws wealth toward us — though the source of that merit doesn't always guarantee wealth. For example, someone with a teacher who taught them agriculture may still not thrive when they farm themselves, compared with someone who has abundant merit specifically in that area. A teacher of business who goes into business themselves might not thrive either — but they'll get by comfortably, living smoothly without hardship, because they hold merit from having given the gift of . Once merit exists, merit sustains and protects, because it draws on the accumulated store of merit to nurture and protect — so long as the sphere of merit outweighs the sphere of demerit, that's enough.
But giving alone, without keeping precepts, without cultivating renunciation, without developing the other perfections fully, leads to wealth accompanied by many problems. Every perfection must be developed in full for things to go well.