Three Bases of Merit: good karma

Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, 7/31/12, Wikipedia edit

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I looked into it -- the three ways to gain merit.

There are three bases of merit. In the "Meritorious Deeds Sutra" (AN 8.36, A 8.4.6), the Buddha identifies them as:

• the merit of letting go/sharing (dāna-puñña)
• the merit of virtue (sīla-puñña)
• the merit of cultivation (bhāvanā-puñña)

And in the "Chanting Together Sutra" (DN 33, Verse 38), the male monastic disciple foremost in wisdom, Ven. Sariputra, identifies the same three.

In the Khuddaka Nikaya's Itivuttaka (Iti. 1.22), these bases are defined as: generosity, self-mastery, and refraining (self-restraint).

In the same discourse the three are restated as: giving (liberality), a serene life of mental calm (serenity), and a mind of goodwill (metta, friendship extended universally). More