The Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha vowed to save others even from the hells (en.topictures.com)
The best merit contributes to one's growth towards liberation (nirvana, moksha, full emancipation). But it is generally useful and welcome however it manifests.
Merit can be gained in a number of ways. Before the Buddha's time, it was customary to pray and make vows (deals). Others chanted Brahminical-style mantras and engaged in unprofitable rites and rituals:
According to a latter day Mahayana Buddhist invention, the Sutra of the Great Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, one can "transfer" 1/7th of the merit of an act performed to a deceased loved one such as in the Shitro practice in order to diminish the deceased's suffering in his or her rebirth.
"Transferring" merit is possible but not in the way we might imagine. IF one makes merit then "shares" it by offering it for the benefit of relatives (which extend seven generations back) not able by their circumstances to perform very many profitable deeds, AND those relatives approve of such deeds, MERIT is produced by their approval. It is actually their own doing with the help of the living.
The extent of their merit is measured by the meritoriousness of the deed of which they approve (commend, laud, rejoice, and delight in).
Giving to the noble Sangha or the Buddha or giving the gift of the Dharma (Dharma-dana) is superior karma most beings in the universe do not have access to and of which few have knowledge.
Beings able to receive this transfer of merit is limited, but it is possible. And it is meritorious to offer. Shakespeare's ghost writer was right when he borrowed someone else's observation noting that mercy does not dissipate by being expressed; it is only strengthened:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest....
(Wm. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice)
Transferring Merit Pariṇāmanā is a Sanskrit term that may be translated as "transfer of merit" or "dedication." It involves helping others by generating merit then sharing it and thereby accruing even more as a result of having shared. The recipient to whom it is dedicated then has the opportunity to also generate merit IF s/he approves of the deed.
As humans we need never feel jealous or envious of others' accrual of good deeds, their riches of merit. Instead by approving, applauding, and rejoicing in them, we generate profitable mental karma based on the strength of their good. Our commendation and happiness for them, as well as the special strength of the deed(s) we are approving, enriches us. Unlike limited resources -- gold, greenbacks, oil, wage slaves, precious gems -- merit is a boundless fountain of happiness.
Sadly, the same goes for unprofitable karma: Often without realizing it we approve and applaud, sometimes silently at heart, karmically unwholesome deeds. One example is the death penalty. Or we celebrate the mistreatment or killing of others we have labelled "enemies" and members of other groups we distinguish ourselves from.
Rejoicing in the foolish misbehavior of others (violating precepts, holding to wrong views, encouraging actions motivated by greed, aversion, and delusion) brings us harm. This is mental karma bearing a mental resultant and later coming to fruition as miserable outward circumstances.
In fact, merely suggesting or praising or encouraging that one kill another (e.g., abort) or commit suicide -- if that person then does it -- makes us co-guilty of the action from a karmic standpoint.
Three Bases of Merit
There are three bases of merit. In the "Meritorious Deeds" sutra (AN 8.36, A 8.4.6), the Buddha identifies them:
And in the "Chanting Together" sutra (DN 33, Verse 38), Sariputra identifies the same three.
In the Khuddaka Nikaya's Itivuttaka (Iti. 1.22), these bases are defined as: giving, self-mastery, and refraining. In the same discourse the three are restated as: giving, a serene life of mental calm, and a mind of good-will (metta, universally extended friendship).
More Merit
Buddhist monastics accrue merit through Buddhist meditation (developing karmically profitable qualities), mindfulness (staying aware of the present moment), sustained contemplation (anussati), wise reflection (yoniso manasikara) while chanting sutras, personal restraint, higher virtue, preserving the Dharma for the human world, teaching the Dharma for the benefit of all beings, and practicing in accordance with the Dharma for the sake of liberation of oneself and others. It is not either-or, it is both.
A post-canonical commentary elaborates on the three bases of merit (D.III,218) by stating that lay practitioners can make merit by performing seven other actions:
honoring others
offering service
inviting and involving others in skillful deeds
rejoicing, being thankful, and appreciative for others' good deeds
Then the rich householder Anāthapiṇḍika [the philanthropist Sudatta, the "Giver of Alms," "Supporter of the Needy"] went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Seated there, the Buddha said to him:
“Ten pleasure seekers are found in the world. What are the ten?
We're here to have a good time, right Bri-Bri?
“One, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit.
“Two, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased but neither shares it nor makes merit.
“Three, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit.
“Four, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit.
“Five, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive. One makes oneself happy and pleased, but neither shares it nor makes merit.
“Six, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit.
“Seven, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit.
“Eight, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased, but neither shares it nor makes merit.
“Nine, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit. But one enjoys that wealth in bondage, infatuated, clinging, blind to the drawbacks, not understanding the escape.
See, Stewie? We're rich, we share, we get it...
“Ten, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. One makes oneself happy and pleased and shares it and makes merit. And one enjoys that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape.
The first
Why, you ask? Here's why.
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, who neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit. That person may be criticized on three grounds: One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One does not make oneself happy nor pleased. This is the second ground for criticism. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the third ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on these three grounds.
The second
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, but who neither shares it nor makes merit. That person may be criticized on two grounds and praised on one. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the one ground for praise. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on these two grounds and praised on this one.
The third
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit. This person may be criticized on one ground and praised on two. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the one ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the first ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the second ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on this one ground and praised on these two.
The fourth
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive, who neither makes oneself happy and pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit. This person may be praised on one ground and criticized on three. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the one ground for praise. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased. This is the second ground for criticism. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the third ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on this one ground and criticized on these three.
The fifth
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive, who makes oneself happy and pleased, but who neither shares it nor makes merit. That person may be praised on two grounds and criticized on two. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these two grounds and criticized on these two.
The sixth
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, coercive and uncoercive, who makes oneself happy and pleased, shares it and makes merit. One may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One seeks for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the one ground for criticism. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the third ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these three grounds and criticized on this one.
The seventh
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who neither makes oneself happy nor pleased, neither shares it nor makes merit. One may be praised on one ground and criticized on two. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the one ground for praise. One neither makes oneself happy nor pleased. This is the first ground for criticism. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on this one ground and criticized on these two.
The eighth
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, but who neither shares it nor makes merit. One may be praised on two grounds and criticized on one. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One neither shares it nor makes merit. This is the one ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these two grounds and criticized on this one.
The ninth
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, and who shares it and makes merit. But one enjoys that wealth in bondage, infatuated, clinging, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. One may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the third ground for praise. One enjoys that wealth in bondage, infatuated, clinging, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. This is the one ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these three grounds and criticized on this one.
The tenth
“Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit. And one enjoys that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape. One may be praised on four grounds. One seeks for wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means. This is the first ground for praise. One makes oneself happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. One shares it and makes merit. This is the third ground for praise. One enjoys that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape. This is the fourth ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these four grounds.
“These are the ten pleasure seekers found in the world. The pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit, who uses that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the ten.
“From a cow comes milk, from milk come curds, from curds come butter, from butter comes ghee [clarified butter now almost always adulterated with lard], and from ghee comes cream of ghee [crème de la crème]. And the cream of ghee is said to be the best of these.
“In the same way, the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, uncoercive means, who makes oneself happy and pleased, who shares it and makes merit, who uses that wealth without bondage, without infatuation, without clinging, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the ten.”
UPDATED: Dharmachari Seven, Mordicia Allen, Wisdom Quarterly; (edited by Ashley Wells) If not me, who? If not now, when?
Karma (action) is always in the present. The only time for us to act is NOW. And one experiences the results of karma (which are called phala and vipaka, fruit and mental-resultants) NOW. In this sense, there is only now. Our lives will only ever be now. We will not go to the future. The future will come to us and be experienced in the now.
Yet many of us misspend the now reflecting on the past or pondering what may come. We bring the past back into the now, or we pretend the future is in the now. Now is all there is. So the wise person lives now. BE HERE NOW. This is where the power is.
We have the power to shape the future that comes our way. It is not fixed and sure to come in some certain way. Nor should one think that "now" refers only to this instant, for it expands and contracts to be viewed however we view it. We are constantly remaking, revising, and reinterpreting the past. All of this is done now.
What we do/say/decide now conditions what comes up from the vast store of accumulated karma (past deeds). For this reason merit is a wonderful storehouse which helps everyone in ALL circumstances.
Good is good even for bad And this is a very curious thing. Even "evil" beings -- whose habits are unskillful, unprofitable, whether ruined by greed, anger, fear, or delusion -- would be overjoyed to have merit to draw from, if only they understood the source of happiness.
Merit makes a monster stronger; unwholesome karma does not. Merit makes a thief richer; the karmic results of stealing do not. Now, of course, it may seem to the casual onlooker that it is the stealing that has made the thief rich. But one is not seeing karma and its results.
That karma of stealing has not yet born fruit. And while there may be some immediate mental-resultants (worry, delight, fear, happiness, delusion, remorse, etc.), karma has not had a chance to ripen. Even if the thief is seen suffering -- for example, having been caught and now being subjected to some direct consequence -- that is NOT the full ripening of the deed.
Beings have the habit of repeating their tendencies, as the Jatakas (rebirth stories) illustrate again and again. So it is not known why the thief now suffers, fails, and falls into ignominy. To imagine it is due to the immediately preceding deeds is a grave error, one religion teaches us again and again, taking the general illustration of the principle as the fact.
Then as a consequence of this error, we become full of doubts about karma (or the personal, all-knowing, stand-in force who works in mysterious ways meting out rewards and punishments for all behavior) because we see people doing many bad things and apparently profiting from it, living well, being happy.
We do not realize that merit is the source of their happiness in spite of how they are spending their time now, accumulating karma to be experience when the future comes into the now. This understanding of karma is the insight of Pa Auk Sayadaw, a renowned scholar-monk who not only mastered meditation but who, in a rare combination, is also a prolific writer. (See The Working of Kamma for excruciatingly exacting details on karma).
If merit benefits beings with bad habits and unskillful, unprofitable tendencies, what can be said of others with skillful, profitable, unselfish, friendly, courageous, wise habits?
Likewise, bad is bad even for bad. A "demon" (maras, asuras, rakshasas, nagas) gains in appearance, strength, range of influence, and powers based on GOOD karma, not bad. If that being chooses to use such present strength, born of merit, to further accumulate unprofitable karma, that is just what will happen. The past good will be used in the service of what is unprofitable.
A "bad" being wishing to be bad advances by past good even as this person does more and more bad. It is to a person's credit, among the bad, to be even more cruel, more tyrannical, more draconian. One gains in strength, and the bad delight in the power of what bad can accomplish, but at some time, the tyrant weakens, becomes feeble (George Bush, Moammar Gaddafi, Than Shwe, etc.), loses influences and gets his comeuppance.
Then no one says, "Oh what a surprise, taken down!" No, they say just the opposite: "He was lucky to have lasted as long as he did, now he's going to get it, this is what inevitably happens to those who live by the sword...."
But why did he last so long, where did he get the strength for wrongdoing, what fueled his success as a tyrant? It was not past debt; it was past merit. And the "bad" done now for the sake of bad was bad for him. Good now (any mercy or giving or understanding) would have benefited him in the future as bad now was only exhausting merit.
Mahayana scholars explain where nagas (shape shifters, reptilians, dragons, snakes, or any strong being such as a human tyrant or bull elephant, but particularly creatures with supernormal abilities and irritable dispositions) get their magical powers, wealth, and long life spans.
They are classified, alternately, as living underground, undersea, or in celestial spheres. And it is the celestial dragons with the power of transformation that are interesting here: They live in space/sky wielding great power. But if they are cosmologically classified as inferior to humans, How do they have superior powers?
Mahayana developed scant information on nagas and explains that merit is the cause. Nagas are unskillful beings, but in the past (as humans or in whatever form) they gave, which is a very meritorious activity. But to this profitable karma they added unprofitable karma.
For having given, they soon regretted it: "Oh, I gave too much! I wish I hadn't given to that recluse, that teacher, that person..." This mental karma undercut their profitable deed and reshaped the result. Now they gain from past giving but are joyless and stingy in receiving the fruits of their deed.
The same can be said of Ebenezer Scrooge. It is no accident that he is rich, nor is it an accident that he is so miserable. And if he had continued in that way, stingy and callous, he would have been buried by his misdeeds made possible by his merit. We have what health and wealth we have by merit, but we experience what we have by how we act now (in addition to the mental-resultants of past deeds).
An example that may be easier to grasp from a Theravadan Buddhist perspective is the curious case of Mara Devaputra, "Cupid," the "Devil," the "Tempter" in Buddhism. He does not live in hell, nor does he want people to go to any of the hells. Instead, he wants them to remain forever in the Sensual Sphere (kama loka), the lowest of the three spheres. He opposes and obstructs meditators or anyone striving to break free of this sphere.
He fought Siddhartha -- using his three deadly-beautiful daughters, Craving, Indifference, and Passion -- to impede him because he foolishly feared that if the Buddha were to find and teach a means of escape from rebirth and suffering (samsara), many might break free of his influence.
Mara Devaputra imagines he is the lord of the sphere. But he is not an all-inclusive Satan-type being. He is more like a Lucifer, an archangel living at the top of the Sensual Sphere in a celestial space plane in luxury and comfort.
He tempts beings drawing them away from renunciation, unselfishness, and restraint. (There are other forms of mara, referring to more brutal adversaries and accusers on Earth, other obstacles, and yaksha armies).
Mara Devaputra has neither knowledge nor regard for what will happen to beings (celestial, human, subhuman) who go about conducting themselves driven by craving, lust, greed, and overwhelming avarice. He is principally interested in maintaining his position atop the only sphere he knows.
To him everyone else is out of reach, particularly anyone who escapes samsara. (Within samsara there are also Fine-Material and Immaterial Spheres, comprising the three divisions of the Thirty-One Planes of Existence. Nirvana is not a plane, for it transcends samsara altogether).
How does such a being (whom the Buddha called Namuci, the "non-releaser") -- for he is not the only one but one in a line of vile adversaries and accusers such as the ancient "Corrupter" Mara Dusi -- live in a heaven or have supernormal powers?
Contradiction? Monotheists go into contortions to explain how God cannot make a mistake, yet he does not want the Devil (whom he created) to do what the Devil cannot help but do. It is a needless misunderstanding.
The living being we call "God" is not the great uncreated creator of all. There is no such agent, even though there are great radiant beings anyone would point to saying, "That's 'God,' that must be who monotheistic bibles were talking about!"
Likewise, the monotheist's Devil cannot make one act. (Trick, tempt, sway, influence, scare into being evil, yes, but not force). We participate and co-create our actions, or they are not our "actions."
Karma (action) refers to intentional deeds, words, thought-habits. In the past Mara accrued merit and misuses it to bury himself in miserable acts of obstruction, overwhelmed as he is by greed, hate/fear, and delusion.
The "Gods" people and books glorify also got where they got by merit (profitable karma). And they are still caught up in samsara, the wheel of life and death experiencing the results of karma.
It is thought that they are not -- because they are so much longer lived, so much more powerful, knowledgeable, radiant, and so on -- but they are. What motivates them? Greed (jealousy), anger (righteous indignation), fear (of not being all s/he/it imagines or claims to be), delusion (self-aggrandizement and pride).
Who needs merit? The gods need merit. Maha Brahma ("Great Supremo" or the Creator, who may create but who did not create everything in the universe) needs merit. Mara needs merit. Devas (archangels) need merit. Nagas (draconians) need merit. Asuras (titans) need merit. Gandharvas (fairies, messenger angels) need merit.
HUMANS (on this planet and elsewhere) need merit. Animals (of staggering variety) need merit. Pretas (ghosts, spirits) needs merit. Even narakas (hellions) need merit, or how will they ever get out of the bowels of the most miserable planes of existence? All beings benefit from merit.
Bad karma expends one's store of merit. By willing, performing, and accumulating unskillful karma, one stores up much demerit. Like debt, it is to be met with before long. It may already weigh on us as soon as we accrue it.
It takes a lot of effort to look like you don't care how you look. Looking "ugly" (pretty by a different aesthetic) takes merit.
The example of Goths Another example of how merit helps even those who imagine themselves to be damned, ghoulish, "evil," possessed, delighting in the dark is the case of "Goths."
Some humans act like demons, zombies, ghosts, goblins, vampires, or inhuman monsters. This may be their authentic wish or view, or it may be pure affectation.
Nevertheless even among Goths -- who aspire to look gruesome, dreadful, dead, and decomposing -- it is necessary to be beautiful.
Dark beauty, vampiric looks, pasty/alabaster complexion, acne-free skin, straight strong teeth particularly incisors, silky hair, a lusty eat-your-heart-out figure, good eyes, pretty lips, a strong constitution, supernatural abilities... are all the result of merit.
Imagine trying to be a Goth with acne, spotty or wrinkled skin, acne, asymmetrical features, big pores, excess weight, crossed eyes, glasses, yellow teeth, coarse hair, short stature, misshapen boobs, a bony butt, and so on.
When one is trying to look "bad" and dangerous, "evil" and repugnant, cool and disinterested, effortlessly charming and uber-sexual (seductive) -- merit is necessary to accomplish it.
This anti-beauty style has strict parameters about what is attractive, which one needs a great deal of merit to live up to. After all, what it finds most attractive is not the declining demon but the "fallen angel," the Lucifer not the Satan, which people typically confound as one and the same.
Goths are NOT Satanists, but practicing the Dark Arts with charisma (animal magnetism), or being a hedonist, atheist, Pagan, Wiccan, or feared are much admired -- and the road to these is not debt but misused merit. Falling angels are as beautiful as angels, maybe more so, the fallen ones not so much.
A paradox? No, even among animals the same is true. It is on account of merit that an animal, even one with a terrible disposition, has outward beauty and attractive markings, is favored, and has an easier life. Not only animals but anyone reborn among ghosts, hellions, demons, or monsters has standards against which one will be judged and deemed either well favored or ill favored.
It is not only among humans and superhumans (rulers, devas, brahmas) alone that beauty, bravery, brains, loyalty, and trustworthiness are valued. They are more valued among killers, thieves, robbers... Then subhumans demand loyalty and honor.
In fact, the worse the realm, the more valuable these things are because they are in short supply and necessary for survival and advantage.
No one appreciates being violated, particularly those in the habit of violating others. Thieves do not want to be stolen from.
Demons do not want to be tormented, disrespected, or controlled (possessed). The worse one gets, the less one wants in any way to be told what to do.
Angels may gladly obey good celestial King Sakka, but demons prefer to betray and challenge the Devil -- just as mafiaosos, wanting to be mob bosses, constantly scheme against the Godfather looking for any sign of weakness. "There is no rest for the wicked," and no demon (underworld warden), hellion, hungry ghost, or animal can rest due to the insecurity of unwholesome associates. CONTINUED
The Buddha, Wat Sri Chum, Sukhothai, Thailand (Roba66/Flickr.com)
How to Make Merit
The best merit contributes to one's growth towards liberation. But it is useful however it manifests. Merit can be gained in a number of ways. One can pray and make vows or chant in the manner of Brahminical mantras, rites, and rituals:
According to the Sutra of the Great Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, one can "transfer" 1/7 merit of an act they have performed to a deceased loved one such as in the Shitro practice in order to diminish the deceased person's suffering in their new existence.
Transferring "merit" is possible but not how we imagine. If one makes merit then "shares" it by offering it for the benefit of beings (seven generations of relatives one is not even aware of but who are) not able by their circumstances to perform very many profitable deeds, and they approve of such deeds, they make merit by their approval. And the extent of their merit is the extent of the merit which they approved of (commended, applauded, rejoiced over).
Giving to the noble Sangha or the Buddha or giving the gift of the Dharma (Dharma-dana) is superior karma they do not have access to. The beings able to receive this transfer is limited, but it is possible, and it is meritorious to offer. Shakespeare was right when he borrowed someone else's observation and noted that mercy is not dissipated by being expressed, which only strengthens it.
The Sanskrit pariṇāmanā may be rendered as "transfer of merit" or "dedication." It involves the helping others by accruing merit and sharing it. Humans need never be jealous or envious of others' good deed. For approving, applauding, and rejoicing in them, one makes profitable karma based on the strength of karma one is commending or rejoicing in.
The same goes for unprofitable karma, such as when the death penalty is applied or "enemies" are killed. Rejoicing or approving of such killing brings one harm. In fact, encouraging or suggesting that one kill another (abort) or commit suicide, if that person should do it, makes one a murderer to that extent from a karmic standpoint.
Three bases of merit
The Pali canon identifies three bases of merit (Pali puñña-kiriya-vatthu). In the "Meritorious Actions" sutra (AN 8.36, A 8.4.6), the Buddha identifies them:
In the "Chanting Together" sutra (DN 33, Verse 38), Ven. Sariputra identifies the same three.
In the Khuddaka Nikaya's Itivuttaka (Iti. 1.22), these three bases are defined as: giving (dānassa), self-mastery (damassa), and refraining (saññamassā). Later in this same discourse, the triad is restated as: giving (dāna), a life of mental calm (sama-cariyam), and a mind of good-will (metta-citta).
Making More Merit
Buddhist monastics accrue merit through meditation,(developing or cultivating good qualities), mindfulness, reflection while chanting discourses, restraint, virtue, preserving the Dharma, teaching the Dharma, and practice in accordance with the Dharma.
A post-canonical commentary, elaborating on the three meritorious bases identified in the canon (dana-sila-bhavana, see D.III,218), states that lay followers can make merit by performing seven other specific actions:
honoring others (apacayana-maya)
offering service (veyyavacca-maya)
inviting and involving others in skillful deeds (pattidana-maya)
rejoicing, being thankful, and appreciative for others' good deeds (pattanumodana-maya)
listening or studying to Dharma (dhammassavana-maya)
instructing others in the Dharma (dhammadesana-maya)
straightening one's own views in accordance with the Dharma (ditthujukamma)
"Meditators, there are three ways of making merit [11]. What are the three?
"There are ways of making merit by practicing giving, virtue, and meditation [12].
"One person has only to a small degree practiced the making of merit (good karma) by letting go and giving/sharing and, likewise, only to a small degree practiced making of merit by virtue (skillful conduct), but the making of merit by meditation (mental cultivation) that person has not undertaken at all [13].
"This person, after death, when the body breaks up, will be reborn among humans in unfavorable conditions [14].
"Another person has practiced to a high degree the making of merit by giving as well as by virtue, but the making of merit by meditation one has not undertaken at all. Such a person, after death, when the body breaks up, will be reborn among humans in favorable conditions.
"Or one will be reborn in the company of the deities (devas, lit. "shining ones") of the Four Great Divine (Sky) Regents. There, the Four Great Divine Regents who had practiced to a very high degree the making of merit by giving and by virtue surpass the deities of their realm in ten things:
divine lifespan,
divine beauty [radiance],
divine happiness,
divine power,
divine sights,
divine sounds,
divine smells,
divine tastes,
divine tangibles
[divine cognitions].
"Or one will be reborn in the company of the devas of the World of the Thirty-Three. There King of the Devas Sakka, who himself (when he was a human) practiced to a very high degree the making of merit by giving and virtue, surpasses...
(The same statements are made for rebirth among the Yama-world devas, Tusita-world devas, the devas delighting in creation, the devas controlling others' creations, and for the respective rulers of these celestial realms.)
"These, meditators, are the three ways of making merit" (AN 8.36).
Outcomes of Merit
The Bodhisatta experienced joy for aeons
"Meditators, there are eight outcomes of merit and skillfulness that are the nourishment of happiness and are extremely precious: They yield happiness, lead to rebirth in the [many] heavens, and bring about what is wished for, pleasing, agreeable, and enjoyable. What are these eight?
"Herein [within this Teaching and Training], meditators, a noble disciple goes for guidance to the Buddha (Teacher). This is the first outcome of merit and skillfulness that is a nourishment of happiness and is extremely precious: It yields happiness, leads to rebirth in the heavens, and brings about what is wished for, pleasing, agreeable, and enjoyable.
"Furthermore, there is a noble disciple who goes for guidance to the Dharma (Teaching)...
"Furthermore, there is a noble disciple who goes to the [Noble Community] (the successfully Taught)... This is the second outcome... This is the third outcome...
"There are further, meditators, these five gifts, known from early times, known from long ago, known by tradition, ancient and accepted -- not rejected before, not rejected now, not to be rejected in future -- they are unrepudiated by wise recluses (shramanas) and Brahmins (brahmanas). What are these five gifts?
"Herein [within this Doctrine and Discipline], meditators, a noble disciple gives up the taking of life and abstains from it. By abstaining from taking life, the noble disciple gives to immeasurable beings freedom from fear, gives to them freedom from hostility, gives to them freedom from oppression. By giving to immeasurable beings freedom from fear, hostility, and oppression, one will enjoy immeasurable freedom from fear, hostility, and oppression. This is the first of those great gifts and the fourth of the outcomes of merit (good karma).
"Furthermore, meditators, a noble disciple gives up the taking of what is not given and abstains from it. By abstaining from taking what is not given, the noble disciple gives to immeasurable beings freedom from fear... This is the second of those great gifts and the fifth of the outcomes of merit.
"Furthermore, meditators, a noble disciple gives up sexual misconduct and abstains from it. By abstaining from sexual misconduct, the noble disciple gives to immeasurable beings freedom from fear... This is the third of those great gifts and the sixth of the outcomes of merit.
"Furthermore, meditators, a noble disciple gives up wrong speech [bearing false witness, harsh speech, divisive speech, frivolous speech] and abstains from it. By abstaining from wrong speech, the noble disciple gives to immeasurable beings freedom from fear... This is the fourth of those great gifts and the seventh of the outcomes of merit.
"Furthermore, meditators, a noble disciple gives up intoxicating drinks and drugs that cause heedlessness and abstains from them. By abstaining from intoxicating drinks and drugs, the noble disciple gives to immeasurable beings freedom from fear, freedom from hostility, and freedom from oppression. By giving to immeasurable beings freedom from fear, hostility, and oppression, one will enjoy immeasurable freedom from fear, freedom, from hostility and freedom from oppression. This is the fifth of those great gifts and the eighth of the outcomes of merit.
"Meditators, these are the eight outcomes of merit and skillfulness that are the nourishment of happiness and are extremely precious: They yield happiness, lead to rebirth in the heavens, and bring about what is wished for, pleasing, agreeable, and enjoyable" (AN 8.39).
K, Bhante, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit; Spirit Tribe Awakening
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The Dead are American cultural icons of the 60s.
The band the Grateful Dead took their name from the idea of dead ancestors and friends expressing gratitude for those things done on their behalf by the living. This welling up of gratitude is their good mental karma, the merit that they accrue or that gets "transferred" to them by acts done here for them. Our karma (actions) and our results (phala and vipaka) cannot be given to anyone else, but what can be done is to do something for someone else that generates something in them, their own good karma.
Do you agree? - Why, yes I do!
Transferring merit (Sanskrit pariṇāmanā, Pali pattidāna or pattānumodanā) is a standard part of Buddhist spiritual discipline where the practitioner's religious merit, resulting from good deeds, is transferred to deceased relatives, to deities, or to all sentient beings.
Such transfer is done mentally, and it is believed that the recipient can often receive this merit, if they rejoice in the meritorious acts of the person transferring. In Buddhism, merit transfer is seen as a better alternative than mourning.
Western scholars have discussed how the doctrine of transferring merit can be reconciled with the individual nature of karma ("intentional action") in Buddhism.
Some scholars believe that the idea originates with early Buddhism (revived by Theravada), whereas others suspect a later origin. It is widely recognized that transferring merit was the Buddhist response to pre-Buddhist Brahminical customs of ancestor worship.
["Hinduism" did not yet exist and would not come into being for many centuries. What did exist were the Vedas of the Brahmins, the priestly caste. "Indus river -ism" or "Hinduism" was the collective name for all the religious, spiritual, scientific, and superstitious customs of India British anthropologists applied to what they found and cataloged. The sage Sri Shankara later codified and standardized as the single indigenous religion of India -- because at that time everyone understood that Buddhism had come from outside India before "India" even existed -- when there was actually such a diversity of beliefs as to include every possibility with a few lines of belief (rebirth, karma, freewill, determinism, fatalism, eternalism, annihilationism, monotheism, polytheism, atheism, pantheism, humanism, and so on) running through the mindboggling diversity.]
In Buddhism, such ancestor worship was given a moral or ethical emphasis. The doctrine may also have been influenced by pre-Buddhist ideas of a transference of powers. In later Mahāyāna Buddhism, transferring merit became an essential aspect of the ideal of the bodhisattva, the "savior" Buddha-to-be or "being bent on enlightenment," who uses his or her own merits to help all living beings.
Transferring merit is widely practiced in all Buddhist countries, in ceremonies, festivals, and daily practice. In the present day, transferring merit has become an intrinsic part of Buddhism and serves an important social function.
Description
"Merit" (Sanskrit puṇya, Pali puñña) is a concept considered fundamental to Buddhist ethics [11]. It is a beneficial and protective force that accumulates as a result of good deeds (physical acts), words, and thoughts [12, 13, 14].
Merit-making is important to Buddhist practice because merit or good karma brings good and agreeable results [15], determines the quality of future lives [16], and contributes to a person's growth towards enlightenment [17].
Apart from the concept of merit, in Mahāyāna pariṇāmanā is also associated with the concept of "roots of virtue" (Sanskrit kuśala-mūla or "wholesome roots") [18].
Transferring merit is a widespread custom in all Buddhist countries, Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna [19, 20, 21] and is often practiced at ceremonies and festivals in remembrance of the dead [22, 9]. More
Big golden Buddha, Bagan, Burma (RobertoCornacchia.com/bosforo65/flickr.com)
What are the habits of happy people? (viralnovelty.net) Having made merit in the past.
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Of all the concepts central to Buddhism, merit (Buddhist-merit or puñña) 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 "selfish" practice, focused on getting and hoarding, whereas in higher Buddhist practice the focus is on letting go, particularly of any deluded sense of permanent or separate "self."
[All things, including our "selves," are dependently arisen. They are therefore not separate from their constituent elements, their building blocks. But liberating-insight requires that the undeluded mind realize that "self" is not those building blocks either. There is no breakthrough to the first stage of enlightenment, as the Heart Sutra explains, until not-self is directly realized.]
Because in the West we often feel pressed for time, we do not want to waste our time on lowly or preliminary practices. Instead, we want to get right to the point, unprepared, and go straight to the higher levels.
But the Buddha did not teach in such a way. The Dharma (path to liberation) and practice he gave was a "gradual teaching."
"Meditation" starts at absorption.
He repeatedly warns that the higher levels cannot be practiced in a stable manner unless they are developed on a strong foundation. Where is our foundation as we meditate for insight (vipassana)?
Nowhere to be found. We need virtue and serenity (sila and samadhi) first. These manifest as firm precepts and meditative absorptions (jhanas, concentration, stability, increasingly coherent states of mind).
The pursuit of merit provides that foundation. To paraphrase a modern Buddhist psychologist:
One cannot wisely let go of one's [deluded] sense of self until one has developed a wise sense of self. The pursuit of merit is the Buddhist way to develop a wise sense of self.
Buddhas in a factory and curio shop, Cambodia (Peter Denton/flickr.com)
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The following translations/readings show how this is done. They begin with a section on basic wisdom, which shows how the questions that lead ultimately to the wisdom (liberating insight) of letting go first focus on the things to hold onto: skillful traits that, at the beginning or preliminary level, provide a secure place to stand while letting go of character traits that are obviously harmful.
Buddhist wisdom famously focuses in the characteristics of radical impermanence (not the obvious fact that something will end but the counterintuitive fact that everything is falling away right now), distress (disappointment, unhappiness, annoyance, boredom, lack of fulfillment, "suffering" of ALL kinds), and not-self (the impersonal nature of phenomena we consider as most closely belonging to us).
The application of that wisdom grows out of the pursuit of what is relatively constant and pleasant, and it requires a mature sense of self -- one that is able to plan for the future, to sacrifice short-term happiness (immediate gratification) for long-term happiness, to compassionately consider the needs of others, and to develop a strong sense of self-reliance in the pursuit of a happiness that is wise, pure, and compassionate.
PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
The section on merit then sets out in general terms the types of meritorious activities that conduce to happiness, focusing primarily on three: giving (internally letting go), virtue (non-harming), and meditation (bringing into being).
Joy and Giving?
How can I make the most merit?
The next three sections focus on the ways in which each of these activities can be pursued so as to produce the most happiness.
For instance, the section on giving discusses how the happiness of generosity can be maximized by wisely choosing the superior motivation for giving gifts, superior gifts, and superior recipients for gifts.
Virtue?
The section on virtue shows how to learn from one's past mistakes without succumbing to debilitating feelings of guilt.
Meditation?
The section on meditation discusses not only how the development of good will -- the meditative practice most often cited in conjunction with merit -- can lead to happiness both here and now and anywhere in the future, but also how it can help minimize the bad karmic results of one's past unwise actions.
All three of these forms of merit conduce to the highest form of merit: the realization of stream-entry, the first glimpse of nirvana or deathlessness, the first stage of enlightenment (bodhi).
The penultimate section of this study guide focuses on the happiness and well being that derive from this supermundane attainment.
Merit (reservoir of good karma)
Peace Pagoda, Batersea Park (Andrea Grasso)
For all the rewards of meritorious action, however, the concluding section serves as a reminder that the pursuit of happiness ultimately leads beyond the pursuit of merit.
In fact, this study guide is planned as part of a two-part guide covering the Buddhist approach to the pursuit of happiness, with the second part discussing the teachings on the three characteristics as the next stage in this approach as they lead to the deathless happiness attained with full enlightenment.
Still, it would be a mistake to view the two stages as radically separate: 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.
The teachings on the three characteristics simply carry this same process of "un-selfing" for the sake of an even truer happiness to a higher vibration.
Basic Wisdom
The Buddha, wandering ascetic
"There are some cases in which a person overcome with pain, heart/mind exhausted, grieves, mourns, laments, beats breast, and becomes bewildered and perplexed.
"Or one overcome with pain, mind exhausted, comes to search outside, 'Who knows a way or two to stop this pain?' I tell you, meditators, that suffering (disappointment) results either in bewilderment or in search." — AN 6.63
"This is the way leading to wisdom: when visiting a temple priest/priestess or wandering ascetic, to ask:
'What is skillful, venerable sir?
What is unskillful?
What is blameworthy?
What is blameless?
What should be cultivated?
What should not be cultivated?
'What, when I do it, will be for my long term harm or suffering? Or what, when I do it, will be for my long term welfare and happiness?'" — MN 135More
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Pariṇāmanā is a Sanskrit term that may be translated as "transfer of merit" or "dedication." It involves helping others by generating merit then sharing it and thereby accruing even more as a result of having shared. The recipient to whom it is dedicated then has the opportunity to also generate merit IF s/he approves of the deed.
Pariṇāmanā is a Sanskrit term that may be translated as "transfer of merit" or "dedication." It involves helping others by generating merit then sharing it and thereby accruing even more as a result of having shared. The recipient to whom it is dedicated then has the opportunity to also generate merit IF s/he approves of the deed.
Sadly, the same goes for unprofitable karma: Often without realizing it we approve and applaud, sometimes silently at heart, karmically unwholesome deeds. One example is the death penalty. Or we celebrate the mistreatment or killing of others we have labelled "enemies" and members of other groups we distinguish ourselves from. 
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