Question asked by Sane
Hi, Pastors! I would like to ask a question.
Let's say after you've done prayers or a positive meritorious action. Afterwards, you dedicate the merit to all beings. Is the amount of merit dedicated to them be reduced because it's shared with all beings? Would that mean giving up the merit and there's none left for yourself? I have heard you do need merit for enlightenment so how would this work? if there is anything I need to know regarding merit dedication, please tell me. Thank you 🙏
Dear Sane,
Thank you for your question. Merit is the positive potential that we need to generate to become enlightenment. It is different from karma, once created properly, it cannot be used up, it will never diminish. You will always have it, and it will benefit you from the very moment you create it all the way up to your enlightenment.
Now, when you dedicate the merit, it doesn’t mean that you literally give your merit to that person. That’s not how it works. When you do something good, you generate merit, it’s tied to you, so when you dedicate that merit to others, it’s not that you give it to them, it’s kind of like you are directing the energy of towards them. I hope that makes more sense?
You can read more in the Lamrim about generating merit, the difference with karma, what is needed to develop merit properly (because most of the time, we may not actually be generating merit but only good karma).
Here are some other sources to help you:
https://youtu.be/RtDkvAMSUKA
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/discovering-yourself-a-teaching-on-karma-mindstream.html
Hope this all helps with your understanding and practice. Thank you.