Understanding Merit
the driving force of spiritual progress & the key concept to understand why we do what we do
“I have brought you to the ocean of merit. It is up to you how much you want to take”
In order to understand the Buddhist path, why we do what we do at our temple, and why you might want to join in for our events or daily activities, merit is a crucial topic to understand. The following video helps to explain the importance of ceremonies and the concept of merit more deeply, but for now, here is a summary: merit, puñña, or boon (as you will hear Thai people pronounce it) is essentially positive spiritual energy that arises within the mind when we do good deeds. Practicing meditation, generosity, and the moral precepts are three of the main avenues to generate this type of energy. As Buddhists, we believe that merit is the prerequisite to experiencing fortunate circumstances in this life and the next. Consequently, our reserves of merit are constantly being used up as we experience the “fruits” of our past meritorious actions via good health, wealth, happiness, etc., and we, therefore, must diligently replenish these reserves by making merit every single day.
Like a candle flame that lights another, merit can also be shared with others without the initial candle losing anything. In fact, sharing merit is in itself meritorious, so in much the same way that a passed candle flame generates more brightness, both parties gain more of this positive spiritual energy after the transfer. This brief overview gives you a general idea of the nature of merit.
“Build the temple to be a genuine temple, build monks to be true monks, and build people to be good people”
Our Masters have dedicated their entire lives to founding and fine-tuning the temple to be a suitable and supportive environment for monks and lay people alike to train themselves in alignment with the teachings of the Buddha. Their attention to detail and systematic approach has resulted in abundant daily opportunities to make and share merit as a community in a convenient, comfortable environment. From a canteen where you can offer pre-prepared requisites to hundreds of monks and novices and enjoy a free meal afterwards with spiritual friends before taking on the precepts and receiving sacred blessings, to multiple beautiful temperature controlled rooms to meditate, to one of the largest Buddhist monuments in the world that you can circumambulate or chant the first teaching of the Buddha at all hours of the day to honor the Triple Gem, to some of the most spectacular mass candlelight meditations and Buddhist ceremonies in the world, the Dhammakaya temple offers a one-of-a-kind environment for those seeking to make bountiful merit to fuel a wholesome life and make progress towards attaining enlightenment and Nibanna. Although the concept of merit can be taught, the real thing is something that must be experienced to truly understand. And we certainly hope you will join us as we make much merit together and light that inner candle of goodness that will make the world around us a much brighter place!