Merit
by Roshi Hogen Berman

Merit is the mental consequence of wholesome action. It occurs not only in Karma-vipaka (the effects of Karma) but also in the effects of all wholesome deeds. It is basically a mental manifestation, but material by-products may be realized societal respect and admiration as a result of, or reaction to, its acquisition.

To fully understand the concept of merit, one should first recognize that under the Law of Cause and Effect there are three general types of action: There are accidental actions. Should these accidentally manifest themselves as wholesome deeds, they may generate some merit for the performer --- but it is not strong since it was accidental and the doer probably may not have been aware of the circumstances or the action. Any merit gained will be after the fact and then only if the performer at least mentally takes personal credit for the "good" accomplished.

Karma is volitional action at the mental level that can be manifested as mental only, mental and physical, mental and verbal, or mental/physical and verbal. The exercise of volition is the karma, the mental, physical and/or verbal aspects that follow are effects of that karmic decision. The determination of the act as wholesome or unwholesome is based upon one's intentions when performing the act. I know the latter statement flies in the face of and conflicts with the thoughts of most Buddhist writers, but this is how I see it verbal and physical reactions to a volitional decision are manifestations of that thought and are not independent Karmas.

Non-thinking action: (Sometimes called Mushin* in Japanese Zen Buddhist circles -- i.e. no-mindedness). Mushin involves wholesome actions taken that are selfless in nature -- and do not involve volition or intention, it is simply non-thinking actions.

When one becomes aware of the need for action, such awareness is based upon a sense contact with a sense object and transmission of the object characteristics to the respective sense consciousness. For a "contact" to be complete and for a being to be "aware," these three elements must be present and functional. Once the contact is complete, the characteristics are forwarded to the Subconsciousness where they are compared to like-type characteristics in one's memory files. It is estimated that this process takes place in nano-seconds. When the comparison is complete, the results are passed to the Intellectual conscious level and we become aware, i.e. we perceive. At this point, based upon one's previous actions under similar or the same circumstances, one of two things may happen; (1) The character traits based upon past actions and experience, recommend to the intellectual mind a course of action or attitude to assume based upon the imbedded character traits -- and then volition is exercised and a decision to take action is made. (2) If the performer has honed their morality and ethics to the point of near perfection -- they may respond directly (without thinking and evaluating) and take morally and ethically correct action. In this case they would simply take action and walk-on without concern for the follow-on effect. Since they have become morally excellent -- their habitual reaction and intentions would be excellent to that degree. (3) One may decide to do nothing and just walk on but even this is a karmic decision and for whatever it is worth, one will eventually reap the effects of this action too.

All three types of actions, when wholesome, will earn the performer merit, however it would be graduated in worth based upon the type of circumstances generating the action. For example accidental action would generate less merit than volitional (karma) actions; and the merit from karmic actions would pale as compared to merit earned by non-thinking (Mushin) actions.

Merit must be viewed from the viewpoint of both the relative and absolute plains of existence. On the relative plain, merit is individual in nature and cannot be transferred or given to another being. It is the same as karma-vipaka (the effects of karma) -- whatever we've sown is our very own to live with. We may wish another being good fortune or recovery from injury or illness -- but when we do this, we are not transferring our merit to them, we are simple responding -- like iron filings being attracted to a magnet, to their personal nature and merit. They're good members of our Sangha or society and we extend our love and compassion to them -- but it is because of their merit, not ours. However, if our feelings are sincere, we will earn merit as an effect of our attitude and action.

On the absolute plain the idea of merit takes on a different complexion. All wholesome deeds (as well as unwholesome) impact on the entire universe. The impact is experienced -- felt -- in varying strength depending upon how far one is from the epic center. It may be looked upon like a stone being thrown into the center of a pond. The strength of the ripples is larger and stronger at the entry point than at some distant point. Then as the ripple strikes a solid matter, it radiates energy back towards the epic center. Much as the recipient of one's good wishes radiates gratefulness back when you wish them well. On this plain of existence, when deeds are done, the entire universe and all of its beings profit or lose by the effects. In this plain we are all one, and the suffering of the least of us is felt by all of us -- there is no individuality.

Thus we can say that MERIT in the mundane relative world is individualistic, the same as Karma and Karma vipaka and the effects we experience from other non-karmic causes. It cannot be transferred any more than one can transfer their karmic debt and escape reaping the fruit of the seeds they have sown. In the absolute sense, there is no individual doer or recipient. When good deeds are accomplished, the "whole" experiences the benefits -- thus in the final analysis, the recipient of your relative worldly mundane merit does in fact gain by your sincere good thoughts and actions.


Editorial Note *Mushin appears to be a nebulous term, something like Zen. It is difficult to translate an exact English definition. As we try to build a fence around it, when the fence is completed -- we look and find we have enclosed emptiness, inside there is nothingness.

The Japanese term "Mushin" comes from the Chinese expression "Wu-hsin" which is translated to mean no-mindedness or no-thoughtness -- something often thought of as action generated by the unconscious consciousness (which paradoxically is extremely conscious or aware). Some sources suggest that mushin is simply the innocent mind (In the colloquial Japanese that is its literally meaning) -- or the state of a mind that is free from dualistic thinking and feeling. I think of this as a being acting selflessly in a situation -- without the exercise of volition. When confronted with a situation, the characteristics are compared in the subconscious mind and the residual effects of previous enrichment of beneficial action seeds (bija - Skt) sown in the layavijñ na (Skt). On this basis, the layavijñ na appears to be what we call the subconscious mind. It, the layavijñ na, and the subconscious mind, contain all of the experiences and psychological phenomena of the past. Theoretically Karmic seeds of a past empirical individuality enter in the layavijñ na, to rise again to influence one's action when similar circumstances are contacted. Indirectly the seeds planted are an effect of one's previous Karmas. We may think of them as intuitive knowledge or habitual performance traits.

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