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WRA2 – DEDICATION OF MERIT

PRAYER WHEN DEDICATING MERIT

This is the prayer we wrote, based on the prayer ritual in the reference below.

In the reference, you can also learn why we should dedicate the merit to our parents, to celestial beings, and which things create merit—based on the referenced sutras.

Wholesome actions that generate merit include generosity, moral conduct, and meditation. Most people understand that giving—whether material possessions or knowledge—generates merit. But many may wonder: aren’t keeping precepts and meditating only beneficial to oneself? How can they be shared with others? Actually, it’s not complicated. You can simply understand that through achieving moral conduct and practicing meditation, your mind becomes peaceful and joyful—and you wish to share that peace with others, so they too may feel calm, like offering a ray of light into a dark place without losing your light. So after each session of meditation or any moment when you have upheld your precepts and feel a lightness in your heart, don’t hesitate to recite this dedication prayer.

You may adapt the prayer to suit your own circumstances.
It’s a good idea to save it in the notes section of your phone.
After performing any wholesome deed that generates merit, open your phone and recite this prayer with sincerity.
You will notice that the joy from doing good deeds increases many times over.

I sincerely pay homage to the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
I wish to dedicate this merit to:

  • My parents; the angels who always love me;
  • My spouse(s), my children, my blood relatives, both near and far; close friends (you may name them specifically);
  • Those who have passed away (you may name them specifically); the souls of my paternal and maternal ancestors;
  • The sentient beings that I have intentionally or unintentionally wronged, in this life or in previous lives;
  • All other sentient beings everywhere;

May they:

  • Have their karmic obstacles eliminated,
  • Have their minds at peace,
  • Have their lives at peace,
  • Have their six senses purified,
  • Have their wisdom clear,
  • All rely on the power of the Three Jewels to awaken their minds, leave the darkness, give rise to thoughts of compassion, stay away from evil paths, and have deep faith in the Three Jewels.

All wishes: The deceased may be liberated, the living may be happy, and all sentient beings may be imbued with and realize the Buddha Dharma.

REFERENCES

Brahma, monks, is synonymous with parents. The ancient teachers, monks, are synonymous with parents. Worthy of offerings, monks, is synonymous with parents. Why? Of great help, monks, are parents to their children, bringing them up, nurturing them, introducing them to the world.

  • Dedication to the Devas:
    Pali Canon / Long Discourses / 16. Mahaparinirvana Sutta / Verse 1:

31. After Sunidha and Vassakara, the two ministers of Magadha, had sat down to one side, the Blessed One recited a verse of thanksgiving:
Wherever he may dwell, the prudent man
Ministers to the chaste and virtuous;
And having to these worthy ones made gifts,
He shares his merits with the local devas.
And so revered, they honor him in turn,
Are gracious to him even as a mother
Is towards her own, her only son;
And he who thus enjoys the devas’ grace,
And is by them beloved, good fortune sees.

  • Three bases of meritorious activity:

Pali Canon / Anguttara Nikaya / Chapter on the Eightfold Path / The Chapter on Giving / (VI) (36) Meritorious Actions:

https://suttacentral.net/an8.36/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false

“Bhikkhus, there are these three bases of meritorious activity. What three? The basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving; the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior; and the basis of meritorious activity consisting in meditative development.

(1) “Here, bhikkhus, someone has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving to a limited extent; he has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior to a limited extent; but he has not undertaken the basis of meritorious activity consisting in meditative development. With the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn among humans in an unfavorable condition.

(2) “Someone else has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving to a middling extent; he has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior to a middling extent; but he has not undertaken the basis of meritorious activity consisting in meditative development. With the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn among humans in a favorable condition.

(3) “Someone else has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving to a superior extent; he has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior to a superior extent; but he has not undertaken the basis of meritorious activity consisting in meditative development. With the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in companionship with the devas ruled by the four great kings. There the four great kings, who had practiced superlatively the basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving and the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior surpass the devas ruled by the four great kings in ten respects: in celestial life span, celestial beauty, celestial happiness, celestial glory, and celestial authority; and in celestial forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and tactile objects.

…

(8) “Someone else has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving to a superior extent; he has practiced the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior to a superior extent; but he has not undertaken the basis of meritorious activity consisting in meditative development. With the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in companionship with the devas who control what is created by others. There the young deva Vasavattī, who had practiced superlatively the basis of meritorious activity consisting in giving and the basis of meritorious activity consisting in virtuous behavior, surpasses the devas who control what is created by others in ten respects: in celestial life span, celestial beauty, celestial happiness, celestial glory, and celestial authority; and in celestial forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and tactile objects.

“These, bhikkhus, are the three bases of meritorious activity.”

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