157. Q. What are the other observances which it is considered meritorious for the laity as such to undertake voluntarily to keep?
A. The Atthanga Sīla, or the Eightfold Precept, which embraces the five above enumerated (omitting the word "unlawful" in the third), with three additional; viz.:
I observe the precept to abstain from eating at an unseasonable time.
I observe the precept to abstain from dancing, singing, music and unbecoming shows, and from the use of garlands, scents, perfumes, cosmetics, ointments, and ornaments.
I observe the precept to abstain from using high and broad beds.
The seats and couches here referred to are those used by the worldly-minded for the sake of pleasure and sensual enjoyment. The celibate should avoid these.
158. Q. How would a Buddhist describe true merit?
A. There is no great merit in any merely outward act; all depends upon the inward motive that provokes the deed.
159. Q. Give an example?
A. A rich man may expend lakhs of rupees in building dāgobas or vihāras, in erecting statues of Buddha, in festivals and processions, in feeding priests, in giving alms to the poor, or in planting trees, digging tanks, or constructing rest-houses by the roadside for travellers, and yet have comparatively little merit if it be done for display, or to hear himself praised by men, or for any other selfish motives. But he who does the least of these things with a kind motive, such as love for his fellow-men, gains great merit. A good deed done with a bad motive benefits others, but not the doer. One who approves of a good deed when done by another shares in the merit, if his sympathy is real, not pretended. The same rule applies to evil deeds.