What about good deeds, merit? Boring!

Tan Jeff (Abbot Thanissaro, Wat Metta); Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Charitable giving is one way of letting go.

Of all the concepts central to Buddhism, merit (punna) is one of the least known and least appreciated in the West.

This is perhaps because the pursuit of merit seems to be a lowly practice, focused on getting, whereas higher Buddhist practice focuses on letting go.

Because we in the West often feel pressed for time, we don’t want to waste it on lowly practices, and instead want to go straight to higher levels.

Yet, the Buddha repeatedly warns that the higher levels cannot be practiced in a stable manner unless they develop on a strong foundation...

Karma: Would cash help conventional things?

In the course of developing a wise sense of self in the pursuit of merit, one is already learning how to let go of unwise ways of “selfing”* as one learns to overcome stinginess, apathy, and hard-heartedness through the development of giving, virtue, and good will.

• [*Though in an ultimate sense, “self” is illusory and unreal, in conventional terms it is very real, and we need to get a grip before we can hope to successfully embark on the Enlightened One's path to freedom.]

The teachings on [the impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal nature of all things, referred to as the Three Universal Characteristics of Existence known as:]

1. anicca
2. dukkha
3. anatta

simply carry this same process of “de-selfing” for the sake of an even truer happiness to a higher pitch.