Chapter 11. The Three Merit in Buddhism
The
Three Merit in Buddhism
Wishing
to build a celestial mansion in heaven,
the
best construction materials are generosity, morality, and meditation
(Pittaya
Wong)
The
Lord Buddha taught Buddhists to make merits frequently as it leads to happiness
either materially, heavenly, and celestially. When one makes merit, whether one is a
Buddhist or not, one earns accumulable merit energy. The merit energy, then, can enable many good
happenings to one’s life such as success, good fortune, prosperity, wealth, good
health, and longevity.
When
we make merit, the Law of Karma, which works like a software that operate
realms of sentient beings, would calculate our mental, verbal, and physical
deeds in order to incorporate the ‘karmic program’ altogether with ‘merit
energy’ earning. The karmic program and
merit energy are promptly transmitted to be installed within ourselves, and it
is the merit energy that energizes the program to enable karmic consequence in
a timely manner, and this is the same to sin energy from our misdeeds. Thus, the Lord Buddha taught his disciples to
do good deeds, abstain from misdeeds, and purify their mind.
To
compare the Threefold Training to the Three Merit in Buddhism, the Threefold
Training which comprises of (1) Moral Discipline or Sila (2) Mental
Concentration or Samadhi, and (3) Wisdom or Panna, mainly aims at
‘cultivation’ of merit towards the enlightenment, and the Threefold Training
can be sub-categorized further into the Noble Eightfold Path.
In
contrast, the Three Merit in Buddhism comprises of (1) Generosity or Dhana
(2) Moral Discipline or Sila, and (3) Meditation or Bhavana, with
an aim to ‘accumulate’ merit, so that one can enjoy, according to the Karma,
meritorious consequence as well as enlightenment as the utmost fruition. The Three Merit, although seems very close to
the Threefold Training, can be sub-categorized into the Ten Ways to Earn Merit which
comprises of:
A. Generosity or Dhana
(i)
Generosity
(ii)
Merit Dedication
(iii)
Merit Appreciation
B. Moral Discipline or Sila
(iv)
Observing Moral Discipline
(v)
Practice Humbleness
(vi)
Being Helpful
C. Meditation Practice or Bhavana
(vii)
Practicing Meditation
(viii)
Learning the Dhamma
(iv)
Teaching the Dhamma
(x)
Having Correct View
As
such, our Dhammonomic approach can express the relevance of various
contributing factors toward the Three Merit in Buddhism with equations as
follows:
Equation
of Generosity (Dhana)
Merit
Energy Earning =
[(Purity
+ Quantity + Quality) Given Object] x
[(Purity
of Giver)] x
[(Purity
+ Number) Receiver] x
[(Purity
+ Determination)Intention of Giver]
This
Equation of Dhana reflects the Buddhist teaching that it is not the quantity and
quality of the given alone that yields much merit, but there are many other
factors such as the purity of giver/receiver/the given, the determination, the
pure intention, and the number of the given/receiver.
Equation
of Moral Discipline (Sila)
Merit
Energy Earned =
[(Thought
+ Speech + Action) x Moral Discipline]
This
equation shows that one can earn merit from morally disciplining one’s thought,
speech, and action by refraining from thinking, speaking, and acting
unwholesomely.
Equation
of Meditation Practice (Bhavana)
Merit
Energy Earned = [(The Meditative Noble Eightfold Path) x Mind]
=
[Meditative (Right Speech + Right Action + Right Livelihood + Right Effort +
Right Mindfulness + Right Mental Unification + Right View + Right Intention)] x
Mind
The
equation of Bhavana expresses the correlation of all factors in the
Noble Eightfold Path which yield merit from meditation when our ‘Mind’ becomes ‘Noble’
by achieving the meditative state of the eight paths or Magga. Hence, the more Noble our mind becomes, the
more merit we earn.
By
Pittaya Wong
10
August 2018
