Dedication Of Merit

This short talk was given at the North Carolina Zen Center. The topic is dedicating merit as an act of radical imagination, with the faith that it will have a good effect, even though we may not see the result.

Transcript

Good morning.

Teshin has asked me to give some occasional talks on different aspects of our practice,

Both in and out of the Zindo.

And this morning I'd like to talk for just a couple of minutes about the idea of dedicating merit.

After coming to the Zindo a few times,

Everyone is familiar with this practice.

We do it each time we have a chanting service or a healing service.

The short of it is,

In dedicating merit we offer the positive,

Karmic results,

Of our good intentions and our good actions.

Merit is like an ethical force that we can direct.

For me,

It's where imagination meets reality in a positive way.

We gather,

We sit,

We talk together,

And in doing so,

We create a positive energy force.

We create merit.

And if we put this out into the universe,

Consciously,

With good intention,

I believe that we can have faith that it will have good effect,

Even though we may not see the result.

Somebody once said that to dedicate merit is an act of radical imagination.

I love that.

But merit,

Right?

In grammar we call it an abstract noun.

It's something that you can understand but that you can't touch.

It's hard to pen down.

We see merit as a result.

Something built over time through the result of our actions.

Different parts of the Eightfold Path would seem to be generators of merit.

Right action,

Right speech,

Right livelihood.

Merit is something that we gain through our actions.

Like the emperor who said to Bodhidharma,

Since I came to the throne,

I have built many temples,

Published numerous scriptures,

And supported countless monks and nuns.

How great is the merit in these?

Different actions,

Different mind states.

Some would seem to count for something.

Surely they might bring merit.

If you're a person who follows precepts,

For instance,

If these help you to find your footing in life,

There does seem to be a sense of merit gained in living by what precepts represent when you really embody these things.

Being free from thoughts of delusion,

It's said,

Is another way to gain merit.

Greed,

Hatred,

And delusion.

I vow to abandon them.

That's the version I first learned of the Second Great Vow.

And what are we really talking about when we hear that word,

Delusion?

The illusion of separateness from other beings.

Being free of this illusion,

Practicing with a sense of connection,

When you take time to consider,

What's really going on here?

What's my compassionate role in this situation?

What's the next right thing to do?

If this is your discernment,

Then you're surely generating a positive presence in the world,

Generating merit.

And yet,

What about the emperor,

Asking Bodhidharma about his own good works?

What was Bodhidharma's answer?

No merit whatsoever.

You have gained no merit.

So what are we talking about here?

The thing about merit is that it's a little like money.

It isn't of any use if it's simply hoarded.

Nor is it of lasting benefit if we spend it only on our own enjoyment.

Financial resources are best shared.

And so is merit.

On the path of the Bodhisattva,

We work to create conditions which support the awakening of others.

There's nothing meritorious about merit which is not used in the service of others.

So many forms of Buddhist practice end with words of dedicating merit,

Offering it for the relief of the suffering of others,

Offering it toward their awakening.

As people on a spiritual path,

We meditate,

We do yoga,

We pray,

We chant,

And we dedicate its value,

Its wholesomeness toward the benefit of all beings.

But why do we do this?

Why do we make this offering out of the goodness of our hearts?

The problem with that question is that it's often used in a sarcastic way.

I mean,

You can just hear it,

Right?

Why would you do that out of the goodness of your heart?

But what if the answer to that question is simply yes?

Yes,

It is.

It took me some time to come to a full appreciation of how much of our path in Buddhism is simply an expression of goodness.

In Zen,

We speak so much about the mysteries of kōans,

So much about meditation,

We may forget how much of the Buddha's teaching can be transformative for our hearts.

From steps on the Eightfold Path toward a better,

More just life,

Through the Paramitas of patience,

Generosity,

Ethical conduct,

The Four Measurable Minds of loving-kindness,

Compassion,

Shared joy,

Equanimity,

The Four Vows,

The Precepts,

The Ten Cardinal Ones,

And their summations so beautifully held in the simplicity of the three pure precepts.

Avoid all evil.

Practice all that is good.

Save the many beings.

Over time,

Steady contemplation of these things got through to me.

They became part of me and shaped my practice.

I began to study about these things before my son Gabriel was born.

I wanted to be the best father that I could be,

And I needed patience,

I needed to understand right action.

I learned to see his face as a mirror for my own expression of loving-kindness,

Of my compassion,

And I dedicated my practice then to his well-being.

That doesn't make me special.

Over time,

Dedicating merit helps us to see that our practice itself is goodness,

In and of itself.

We don't gain merit in practice,

But we do generate it.

It isn't ours,

And we can't keep it.

It isn't for us.

All we can do is offer it.

And when we do,

We begin to see its potential for rippling outward among sangha in the largest meaning of that word.

It's this goodness,

The goodness of our own hearts and minds engaged in practice,

That we recognize and share.

Dedicating merit expands us out beyond ourselves,

Beyond the idea that we're practicing because it's good for us.

Of course,

It's not that practice isn't good for us,

But we can't just stop there.

When we dedicate merit,

We're taking the wholesome purpose of our practice and expanding it outward into the universe at large.

It's an act of radical imagination that all beings can be free,

That everyone can be at peace,

That everyone can awaken.

In dedicating merit,

We offer help to that process,

Including everyone equally in our good intention and care.

In dedicating merit,

We walk the bodhisattva path.

We walk in the Buddha's way.

Extending our goodwill and generosity,

We may start with ourselves and those with whom we're close.

That's natural.

But we can extend loving-kindness into neutral relationships as well,

Toward the shopkeeper or the person in the street.

That's kind.

That we can extend loving-kindness and compassion even to those with whom we have difficult relationships,

Or whom we may never even have met.

That's radical.

And that we can finally do it without any distinction at all.

That's a glorious imagining.

Something we give freely,

With a faith that it matters,

Whether we get to see how or not.

I'd like to close with something that I share every chance that I get.

It's not in itself a dedication of merit,

But I think really it is something which states the energy behind dedicating merit.

It's from the teaching of Shantideva,

A 7th century Indian Buddhist monk who gave a talk once which became a seminal text called The Way of the Bodhisattva.

Some of you may recognize this.

For sentient beings,

Poor and destitute,

May I become a treasure ever plentiful,

And lie before them closely in their reach,

A varied source of all they might need.

May I be a guardian for those without protection,

A guide for those who journey on the road,

For those who wish to cross the water,

May I be a boat,

A raft,

A bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for landfall,

And a lamp for those who long for light,

For those who need a resting place,

A bed,

For all who need a servant,

May I be their slave.

May I be the wishing jewel,

The vase of plenty,

A word of power and supreme healing.

May I be the tree of miracles,

And for every being,

The abundant cow.

Like the earth and the pervading elements,

Enduring as the sky itself endures,

For boundless multitudes of living beings,

May I be their ground and sustenance.

Thus for everything that lives,

As far as are the limits of the sky,

May I provide their livelihood and nourishment until they pass beyond the bonds of suffering.

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