Dedication of Merit

[JustARandomPanda]

Can someone explain to me what the point is of dedicating the merit of one's actions to other beings? Where and when (in addition to why) did this practice start? What is it supposed to do?

[C T]

Dedicating these to you SB...

 

http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/sutra/level2_lamrim/initial_scope/karma/buddhist_concept_of_merit.html

 

 

 

 

Dedicating your aspirations and happiness (derived as one progresses on the spiritual path) to others seals your practice, meaning that whatever virtue generated, however small, will not leak away.

 

As the Buddha had taught: "There are, O Monks, three ways of making merit. What three? There are ways of making merit by giving, by moral discipline, and by the development of meditation." (Anguttara-nikaya)

 

 

Edited December 10, 2012 by C T

[Aetherous]

Not a Buddhist perspective, but I'll share some ideas...

 

When you give all of yourself to benefit others, that's good merit. Such a person has a lot of good coming their way for the most part. And if not, at least they have helped others to not suffer...and that will bring them peace of mind. On the other hand, when you keep merit for yourself, attempting to accumulate it, that's paradoxically sort of bad merit.

 

It's like a rich person eating enormous feasts everyday in the most beautiful paradise with tons of the most expensive things surrounding him...and outside of the palace walls are people living in pure hell, starving, having less than nothing, being enslaved, being tortured, etc. A person with merit would rather open the walls to all of those people, or at least travel through hell themselves, and attempt to bring their heaven out into it. It's all based on compassion, and wanting to relieve suffering for others, even at the expense of oneself.

 

So it's a weird thing...the way to gain merit is to give it away, and the way to lose it is to keep it.

 

It keeps our practice focused on what matters (all of the pure and enriching qualities, such as compassion, mercy, love)...which does not include all of the ego things, such as "I just did Buddhist practices, I'm so Buddhist" etc. The former brings peace, and the latter brings suffering. Dedicating after each session (maybe multiple times per day) is an attempt to ingrain the correct mindset...it is brainwashing, in a good sense of the word. What matters most in life for all people, the Buddhists (and others) have figured out, and they pass it down through Mahayana.

 

It is a good question...does dedicating merit really help others, because it feels just like going through some weird motions? Well, perhaps in some mystical way it does help people in need (like the power of prayer). But if not, then at the very least, it helps plant the seeds in your own mind toward being a being that helps others outside of practice time. Toward a peaceful way of living.

 

edit: Also, I think as one naturally progresses...dedicating merit all the time, eventually they come to ask those hard questions about their practice. It will hopefully lead them naturally to giving a lot in the practical sense, and not just by dedicating the merit of their sessions. Who is satisfied by simply saying "I help you", rather than actually helping? Talk is cheap! What is a Buddhist that dedicates merit 4x a day, but then doesn't use his resources to actually help people in need in the real world? I'm guessing...someone whose practice hasn't yet taken effect.

Edited December 11, 2012 by turtle shell

[joeblast]

Can someone explain to me what the point is of dedicating the merit of one's actions to other beings? Where and when (in addition to why) did this practice start? What is it supposed to do?

two words

 

interdependent causation

[ShenLung]

Dedication of merit does two things, the first of which the (nun, I think) spoke of in CT's video post. I think this is similar to the teaching of jesus "store your riches in heaven, where thieves do not break in and steal". The second, I will mention momentarily.

In meditation, if one is directing the intention of aiding other sentient beings towards enlightenment, or wishing good weather and a fruitful harvest so that persons will not be suffering due to very worldly concerns, these directed thoughts do have real manifestations, and can so be called virtuous, or accumlating merit. Stopping to help someone stranded on the road, or giving a drunk a ride home from the tavern are direct, personal excercises of virtue, and also accumulate merit. A person recieving this sort of direct aid may tend to regard one as a 'good person' or virtuous. Too much dwelling upon one's own holiness, or seeking to achieve that status is not beneficial to a continued practice, so one might say something to the effect of "I am not a good and virtuous person; all the virtue that you see is owed solely to the dharma teaching". So, by this dedication of merit, not only presents an opportunity for another to learn of the dharma, but helps prevent the practicioner from suffering from spiritual materialism.

[Gerard]

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Edited September 13, 2013 by Gerard

[sati]

Thank you for this thread, it's interesting