Merit-making is very important in Buddhism, as it plays a crucial role in one’s journey towards enlightenment. But what exactly are merits, and why are they so essential? This article delves into the meaning behind making merits, and how to accumulate merits to overcome obstacles and gain wisdom for realisations.

Merit, in general, means everything which is virtuous. There are all kinds of virtues. When we talk about the result of happiness in our life, we can have all kinds of happiness or well-being. For example, when we talk about being very affluent in one's material resources, when we look at what is the specific meritorious cause for that, it is the virtue of generosity. Again, when we talk about generosity, that doesn't mean that we have to have something to give. Generosity is a wish to give — that is generosity. The more we empower, enhance this mind, wishing to give, wanting to give, that is the merit of generosity. But on the other hand, it doesn't mean you think, "Oh, generosity is just my wish to give, but I'm not actually physically going to give anything." The mind has to be applicable.

Story of a poor boy who offered to Buddha and rejoiced in virtues

During the time of the previous Buddha, Kasyapa, a rich and noble family invited Buddha and his followers to their home where they wished to honour him with offerings. Living nearby was a young boy from a poor family who had nothing to offer. Every day he walked into the hills to gather a small amount of firewood to sell in the market, and from that hard work he earned a meagre living.

When the poor boy heard that this noble family had invited the Buddha, he gathered up his meagre savings and went off to watch the grand event. Clutching a few pennies in his hand the boy thought, “I am just a poor woodcutter. It is because I did not create sufficient merit in the past that I am so terribly poor now and have nothing to offer. The people in this great family have such wealth that they are able to invite the Buddha and all his followers, and by their generosity they are creating great meritorious karma. How wonderful it is that they have obtained this precious opportunity!”

Feeling pleased in this way, he rejoiced in the merits of others. And with that attitude he offered his hard-earned pennies to the Buddha. The Buddha accepted his offering with a smile. As a result of that act of generosity toward the Buddha, together with his rejoicing in the virtue of others, that woodcutter was born into human rebirths for many, many subsequent lives, and in all of those lives he was born with a golden coin in his hand and lived a life of wealth.

Skies of merits from rejoicing for others

Just as we read in the boy’s story on his merits gained in rejoicing for other’s virtue; to collect limitless skies of merits it is important to rejoice for others. Rejoicing in other’s virtues will lead to a merit-multiplying effect and becomes a cause of happiness in future lives.

Merits enable you to experience happy results

As it says in the Collection of Indicative Verses: 

Performing even a small meritorious action
Will lead to great happiness in the next life,
And great purposes will be accomplished, 
Just as grain ripens into bounty.

A small virtuous action done will bring great joy in the future and lead to accomplishing great purposes, just as a single healthy seed can produce a tree full of abundant flowers and fruit. Hence, merits are collected through virtuous actions done and can have huge effects on one’s lives.

For example, according to the Lamrim, to be reborn in a pure land, you must have created virtuous actions that can act as a cause for such a happy result. No matter how much a Bodhisattva may pray and dedicate his or her merits to us, they will not be able to lead us to happiness if we did not create meritorious actions in the past. There needs to be a relationship of us having done meritorious actions along with the Bodhisattva’s powerful prayer that causes a happy result.

Merits to understand the Dharma

Although we might have the merits to receive teachings from a teacher, to be able to listen and understand the Dharma correctly requires extensive merits. This is why the tradition of offering a mandala at the beginning of a Dharma teaching was originally established.

Merit is not only necessary for us to be able to understand the Dharma, but for every step on the path it is important, including to be able to truly appreciate our Guru. With enough merit, we will be able to interpret the Guru’s behaviours in a way that is beneficial. Without merits, even if your Guru behaves like an angel, we will find reasons to criticise them, failing to benefit from this connection.

How to dedicate merits for greater results

It is important to make expansive dedications, for example in the dedication prayer of Thekchen Choling’s morning prayers, we recite:

By this virtue may I quickly
Attain the state of Guru Buddha, and then
Lead every being without exception
To that very state!

When we dedicate our merits in this way, we make a connection with the unlimited activities of Buddha. This is according to what Lama Tsongkhapa means when he states that a person must at least create merits by practicing some portion of the qualities of a Buddha or Bodhisattva in order to partake in the benefits of their unlimited merits.

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