Paradox of Merits
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Sirs,
I understand to be born in deva world,you need merits. Merits are acquired by giving charity. More charity can be received by giving more. To give more, we need more. This comes from how much we have. Which comes from how much we have now,this comes from the karma which comes from past lives. So it's inherently a loop.How to get out of this loop?
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What you have mentioned above is only one form of giving that a person can perform to acquire merit. In fact, this form of charity is not the highest form of giving. It does not need much effort, worse, if it is given with some personal motive of self gain in mind.
One can give with kind words as well. Donating one’s time where needed is even better. It is not necessary that to give more we need more. You can always give away your old textbooks, sport equipment etc to those in need. Being kind to our environment is also a form of charity as it will eventually benefit our future generation. I think there are many charitable way one can perform the act of giving. By the way, acquiring merits should not be the All in one’s religious practice.
I like the below Ajahn Chah comment about the usual way people go about trying to acquired so called merits for themselves.
These day people are going all over the place looking for merit. And they always seem to stop over in Wat Pah Pong. If they don't stop over on the way, they stop over on the return journey. Wat Pah Pong has become a stop-over point. Some people are in such a hurry I don't even get a chance to see or speak to them. Most of them are looking for merit. I don't see many looking for a way out of wrongdoing. They're so intent on getting merit they don't know where they're going to put it. It's like trying to dye a dirty, unwashed cloth.
Making the Heart Good A Dhammatalk by Ajahn Chah
By the way, the best gift one can give as a Buddhists is the gift of the Dhamma by spreading the word of the Blessed One in whatever way we can, whether in big or small measure.
Dhammapada Verse 354: The gift of the Dhamma excels all gifts; the taste of the Dhamma excels all tastes; delight in the Dhamma excels all delights.
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You don't need money to make merits. You need wholesome intention and sincere thoughts (of generosity, loving kindness, etc)
Wrote this in 2008:
For example, the beggar who was so delighted when Maha-arhat Mogallana [or Mahakasyapa?] (out of compassion) asked for the beggar's 3 drops of gruel in his bowl (he was initially saddened when he thought he had nothing to give him), and as a result of this pure deed the beggar died like a week later and was reborn in the heaven of 33 gods for 90+ kalpas. For the beggar's case, the karma arising out of this pure intent is too strong and manifested very quickly.
The beggar that gave 3 drops of gruel to the great arhat Mogallana gained rebirth in the celestial realms for 91 kalpas because she was sincere and very happy that she had something to give him, when Mogallana requested that from her. -
Also if possible, give alms to monks and nuns. Don't have to be expensive stuff - they need food, basic necessities, medicine, clothing, etc. I'm sure most people have some spare change to buy/cook a meal for a monk/nun.
In the Dakkhinavibhanga Sutta (Majjhima 142), the Buddha said that, "an offering made to the monastic Sangha is incalculable, immeasurable. And, I say, that in no way does a gift to a person individually ever have a greater fruit than an offering made to the monastic Sangha".
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Likewise when you give food to an enlightened being you also have immeasurable merits
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Are there any enlightened Buddhist people in SG?
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to me, u can work the other way around. it's in the mind perceiving what is, per se.
/\
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watch from 18min onwards
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No self how to give or get merits?
More like enhancing the vibrations of the mental state.
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There is merit making, but no merit maker. There is experience of ripening of karma, but no experiencer.
Visudhimagga:
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"Mere suffering is, not any sufferer is found
The deeds exist, but no performer of the deeds:
Nibbana is, but not the man that enters it,
The path is, but no wanderer is to be seen."
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" Everywhere, in all the realms of existence, the noble disciple
sees only mental and corporeal phenomena kept going through the
concatenation of causes and effects. No producer of the
volitional act or kamma does he see apart from the kamma, no
recipient of the kamma-result apart from the result. And he is
well aware that wise men are using merely conventional language,
when, with regard to a kammical act, they speak of a doer, or
with regard to a kamma-result, they speak of the recipient of the
result.
No doer of the deeds is found,
No one who ever reaps their fruits;
Empty phenomena roll on:
This only is the correct view.
And while the deeds and their results
Roll on and on, conditioned all,
There is no first beginning found,
Just as it is with seed and tree. ...
No god, no Brahma, can be called
The maker of this wheel of life:
Empty phenomena roll on,
Dependent on conditions all." -
Originally posted by 2009novice:
watch from 18min onwards
Saw the video and 3 questions:
- She gained merit because it was a piuos person or would the effect have been same if she offered to anyone?
- Since no other person would have accepted it,she would have had no possibilities of merits.
- Why didn't Ananda or this monk becomes enlightened as Buddha? They were always his disciples.
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Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:
Are there any enlightened Buddhist people in SG?
Yes there are, but usually they do not want to put it explicitly. But I am indebted to the guidance of enlightened people.
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Any answers for:
- She gained merit because it was a piuos person or would the effect have been same if she offered to anyone?
- Since no other person would have accepted it,she would have had no possibilities of merits.
- Why didn't Ananda or this monk becomes enlightened as Buddha? They were always his disciples.
Thanks! -
I always find Ajahn Chah's words so reassuring.
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Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:
Saw the video and 3 questions:
- She gained merit because it was a piuos person or would the effect have been same if she offered to anyone?
- Since no other person would have accepted it,she would have had no possibilities of merits.
- Why didn't Ananda or this monk becomes enlightened as Buddha? They were always his disciples.
I don't think it has to do with the piousness... rather it's the intention. I also thought if a person has nothing to offer, he/she can offer his/her kind words, smile etc. Ananda and Mahakasyapa were enlightened.