Which Creates Greater Karma: Deliberate Actions or Unintentional Actions?

Intention means being prepared with goals and purposes, which is deliberate; non-intention means being unprepared without goals or purposes, which is unintentional. When creating karma with intention, the mind is not empty. When creating virtuous karma, the karma is small and blessings are small; when performing virtuous deeds without intention, the mind is empty, the karma is great and blessings are great. When creating evil karma with intention, the mind is evil, the karma is great and the sin is great; when creating evil karma without intention, there is no evil mind, the karma is small and the sin is small. The concepts of intention and non-intention must be understood and observed from the perspective of purpose and mental action—whether there is a purpose and what kind of purpose exists is also crucial. When sentient beings perform virtuous deeds with intention and purpose, the virtue is small; when performing virtuous deeds without purpose, the virtue is great. When performing evil deeds without intention, the evil is small; when performing evil deeds intentionally and deliberately, the evil is great.

Creating karma from the depths of the heart means the mental faculty (manas) intends to create virtuous or evil karma, and both types of karma are significant because the fundamental mind that governs is of a virtuous or evil nature. When sentient beings perform virtuous deeds without intention—meaning they originally had no thought of performing virtue, yet coincidentally acted virtuously despite their non-virtuous mind—their blessings are small. This is not the same principle nor the same level as the Buddha's non-intention. Performing virtuous deeds without considering the karmic retribution also belongs to non-intention, and its blessings are great. Due to the powerful force of virtuous dharmas, they can temporarily prevent the conditions for evil karma from maturing, ensuring that major evil karma never ripens. This is the power of great vows. Without this power, upon death, one will inevitably follow the force of evil karma, as is the case for most people. The Tathagatagarbha is non-intentional toward all people and matters at all times—it possesses neither blessings nor sins, yet its blessings and virtues are the greatest. The Buddha performs all actions without intention, and his blessings are immeasurably vast.