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by correcting our understanding of the world. Once 
our understanding is proper, then the deeds of mind, 
speech and body will be good and proper too. The 
determination will arise in the mind that you will 
pursue good deeds for evermore — no longer being 
sidetracked into evil or unproductive ways. 
Thus if you it hard to remember all ten categories of 
meritorious deeds, you can summarize them down to 
three major categories: generosity, keeping the Precepts 
and meditation. 
D. FUNCTIONS OF MERIT 
Dl. Level of mind 
The first benefits that merit will bring when it arises are 
benefits at the level of the mind. This is one of the most 
important benefits because there is no need for one to 
wait for the after-life in order to see the results. 
Whenever we perform a good or meritorious deed, 
merit will arise immediately. If you do a good deed at 
night, merit will arise at night. If you do a good deed by 
day, merit will arise by day. If you do a good deed on 
an aircraft in mid-air, then the merit will arise in our 
mind there in mid-air. Wherever you are, if you 
perform a meritorious deed, the effect will arise in the 
mind instantaneously — it doesn't need much 
expenditure of energy for such merit to arise — even 
just thinking to do a meritorious deed will cause merit 
to arise and will put the mind at ease. There is no need 
to wait a long time in order to see the results at the level 
of the mind of your meritorious deeds. You don't even 
need to wait for someone to admire you for doing such 
a good deed. The results of merit will arise 
automatically in the mind without you having to do 
anything more than good deeds — and the benefits that 
arise are as follows: 
I. Merit cleanses the mind: When the mind is clean it 
is ready to pursue even greater degrees of good deeds. 
In the days before we started accruing merit, we 
considered that our mind was already pure. However, 
as soon as we start doing meritorious deeds, we realize 
that our mind has become purer than we ever expected. 
Before our mind was as bright as the morning star —
but 
now our mind is even brighter, with the radiance of 
the full moon. No matter how clouded and dull the 
mind might be beforehand, when merit arises in the 
mind will clarify the mind just like soap or detergent 
cleans the dirt out of a cloth leaving it pristine and 
white. 
2. Merit raises the quality of the mind: Merit that 
arises in the mind helps to filter out defilements which 
might otherwise operate in the mind. Merit will 
neutralize such negativity in the mind, not allowing 
them to affect the spaciousness and lightness or to slow 
down the operation of the mind — and having filtered 
the mind in this way, the mind is left ready to serve us 
in all types of task. The meritorious deeds we do 
therefore upgrade the quality of our minds. 
3. Merit brings us happiness: When the mind is 
purified and filtered by the arising of merit, it gives rise 
to radiance and refreshedness of mind which is the 
precursor of happiness. Such happiness is not fleeting, 
superficial happiness. It is an overflowing of happiness 
like on the days we make an offering or a donation at 
the temple and we feel refreshed by the goodness of our 
action, as if our heart was so big that it filled the whole 
of our being. 
4. Merit will make the mind more stable: Merit will 
make our mind more stable in the face of the worldly 
vicissitudes such as being praised or insulted. 
5. Merit will make the mind more flexible: The mind 
will have increased potential for success with the task 
in hand, whether the task be large or small, gross or 
refined — whatever the nature of the task, the mind 
made flexible will be ready for all eventualities. 
6. Merit will make the mind more radiant: it will 
increase the potential of the mind to gain insight to 
overcome all manner of obstacles that arise in the 
course of performing any task. 
7. Merit will increase the potential of the mind: You 
will begin to notice the difference whenever you apply 
your mind to any task. You might overcome the 
tendency to lose your temper easily. The mind that is 
free from anxiety and 
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cloudedness, that is spacious and pure and steadfast 
will be the mind of the highest potential. 
8. Merit will allow better decisions to be taken: 
Decisions can be made quickly and accurately 
without hesitation. 
9. Merit will allow a more insightful analysis of any 
situation: Thoughts will be 'on the ball' and a correct 
analysis of the situation every time.The mind dwells only 
on subjects that are skilful. You find yourself unable to 
think over anything potentially damaging to your high 
state of mind. 
IO.Merit will make your thinking thorough and 
comprehensive: You will not allow your thought to be 
dragged down into shoddiness. 
II. Merit will help to make your thought both noble 
and deep: Merit will incline your mind towards the 
higher things of life and away from the baser side of 
life. 
All of these features illustrate the general beneficial 
effects of merit at the level of the mind. They are 
effects that take place equally no matter which of the 
ten ways you use to generate merit. However, the 
benefits of merit go further than this. They are more 
than just a feeling in the heart — leading to rebirth in 
more fortunate realms live to come. 
D2. Level of Personality 
This level of the effects of merit is easier to observe 
than the effects on the mind. As we accrue more and 
more merit, the general benefits, no matter which way 
in which we accumulate merit, will spread to the level 
of our personality and will gradually change it for the 
better. The changes in our character originate from the 
changes mentioned above in the quality of the mind. 
I. Merit will bring you physical grace: from your 
complexion to your voice and even your physical 
proportions — all are attractive and appropriate to the 
task of pursuing perfection. 
2. Merit will bring knowledge, wisdom and mastery: 
because the illumination whch merit brings will awaken 
us to the nature of the world as it really is. Anyone who 
has set their heart on being smart should start by 
cultivating merit. 
3. Merit will help to upgrade our tastes and values: 
As the mind dwells on matters that are only virtuous 
and leaves aside evil thought, thinking things through 
thoroughly and in depth, our tastes and values will 
change in favour of virtue and morality. 
4. Merit will develop our character and personality: 
These changes of attitude and and discretion will 
express themselves in changes of character and 
personality. 
£ Merit causes our speech to become skilful: skilful 
thought becomes habitual and this causes our speech to 
be skilful too. 
6. Merit causes our behaviour to improve: Good 
speech has its effect on our physical actions and we find 
that our behaviour gradually changes for the better. The 
way that we express ourselves, our deportment when in 
company, no matter where we mix socially, will be 
impeccable instead of being vulnerable to all forms of 
temptation. 
7. Merit strengthens our patience: We no longer drool 
over others' possessions. In the olden days, others 
might have been suspicious even at the sight of us, 
worrying about when we were going to rob them of 
their beloved possessions — but now that there is no 
more drooling, they can enjoy their wealth in peace. 
8. Merit causes us to have more control over our 
temper: You certainly wouldn't let yourself be drawn 
into a conflict any more. This is another way in which 
one's personality changes as the result of upgrading the 
quality and potential of the mind. 
9. Merit improves our personal appearance: Per-
sonality includes your personal appearance. Merit 
accrued will cause our complexion to be soft and 
radiant — so much more refreshing than before when 
you weren't interested in merit. 
IO.Merit will reduce our anxieties: All your mis-
givings and bones you had to pick with others, which 
before used to keep you awake at night, will now be 
forgiven. 
D3. Level of Lifestyle 
Merit will take its effect on our mind and our per-
sonality immediately whenever we perform a meri-
torious deed. At the third level, that of the *style, 
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however, we cannot be sure how quickly the benefits 
will be manifested because ow quality of lifetime arises 
as the result of both present and past deeds. The effects 
of good and bad deeds are mixed together inseparably. 
When there are so many contributing factors, it 
becomes very complex to determine the exact source of 
the merit that has given particular benefit in a particular 
lifetime. It is just the same as looking at a particular cell 
in our body and not knowing which item of food we ate 
has nourished that cell. This is part of the reason why 
we are often hesitant to believe that doing good deeds 
brings good results or that doing bad deeds brings bad 
results. Some of the general results of our merit are as 
follows: 
L Merit will attract success: We will be successful 
whatever we turn our hand to. 
2. Merit will bring us praise: You will be praised (at 
least by the wise); 
3. Merit is like a protective armour: which protects us 
from dangers and misfortunes like a guardian angel. 
4. Merit can lead us to attainment: allow you to make 
continuous progress in your meditation. 
5. Merit brings us the things that we wish for: Merit 
acts like a wish-fulfilling gem. 
Another thing which makes the results of merit difficult 
to understand at the level of the personality is that apart 
from the general benefits, there are also differences in 
the way the outcome of merit manifests itself, rather 
like different `flavours' associated with the ways by 
which merit has been performed. 
All Examples of Merit Outcomes 
D.3.1.1 Generosity and KAlyanamittata 
The benefits that merit brings to different people differs 
according to the differences the merits they have 
performed. To take a good example — that of 
generosity, the likely results of the merits they have 
done are as follows: 
I. Those who make lonely donations without en-
couraging their friends will be born rich in future 
lives, but won't have many friends. They will have 
to look hard to find anyone to give them their 
friendship or even understand 
them; 
2. Those who make donations themselves and 
encourage others to join them in making merit too 
will be born rich in future lifetimes and will have 
plenty of friends; 
3. Those who don't make donations, but they 
encourage their friends to make donations will have 
plenty of rich friends, but they will be poor 
themselves. If any of your friends are in need, you 
will be able to tell them how to solve their problems 
instantly — but if you are in need you can do 
nothing to help yourself; 
4. Those who don't make donations and don't 
encourage others to make donations either have a 
begging bowl waiting for them in their next life. 
They will have no friends either. 
D.3.L2 Long life: Long life versus short life 
Some people are long-lived because in previous lives 
they avoided killing or harming animals. Long life is 
useful because it allows one plenty of time to perform 
good deeds. 
D.3.I.3 Illness: Freedom from illness versus 
sickliness 
Some people are always in good health. They seem 
invulnerable to disease and hardly even know their 
doctor. Again good health is the result of having not 
been cruel to animals in previous lifetimes. 
D.3.1.4 
Complexion: 
Radiant 
versus 
dull 
complexion 
Some people never seem to lose their temper. They 
seem to be happy the whole of the time. Such people 
have a radiant complexion. By contrast, those who 
are moody and whose faces are always in a frown 
will have a dull and rough complexion like that of a 
frog, however many lifetimes they are born. Thus if 
you know yourself to be moody by nature, then try to 
improve your character as soon as you can — try 
doing the chanting and meditation before you go to 
bed each day. If you are angry with anybody in 
particular, try to find a way to forgive them and 
spread loving 
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kindness towards them. If you are angry with 
anybody, don't let the anger last overnight. It's bad 
enough to be angry all day — don't let it last to the 
next morning. 
D.3.1.5 Power: Powerful versus powerless 
Some people are born to rule. Wherever they go 
others treat them with the utmost respect because in 
the past they have always been quick to express their 
congratulations [muditA] whenever they have seen 
anyone else achieving success andgiven them their 
support. As for those who are born powerless and 
cowering, the real reason for this is because of their 
jealous habits in previous lifetimes. Even if they are 
born king, they will be king of a mere vassal state or 
if they are born queen, they will be no more than a 
secondary consort. If you have the luck to receive a 
gift it will be second hand! 
D.3.L6 Riches: Rich versus poor 
Some are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. 
Some are born into a wealthy family. Others families 
are poor but start to prosper as soon as they are 
conceived so that by the time they are born, their 
family is already rich. Others' families are poor but 
they start to prosper as soon as the baby is born. Such 
occurrences can only happen to someone who has 
been generous in his previous lifetimes. Whatever 
one chooses to do, it will make one rich. By contrast, 
if one has lived by robbery in previous lifetimes then 
this lifetime, they will have a begging bowl waiting 
for them. 
D.3.L7 Social Standing: High v. low social standing 
Some people are born with high social standing 
— such as being born king or a member of the royal 
family or as member of a house of high standing. By 
contrast, some are born a beggar's son. They are on 
the lowest rung of the social ladder. The Lord 
Buddha taught that those who are humble and 
respectful of the virtuous will be born in a family of 
high social standing. If in this lifetime you pay 
respect of high virtue and listen to their teachings, 
you will be born in a family of high social standing 
next lifetime and others will have the chance to pay 
respect to you. The Iva 
son why some people are born with low social 
standing is that they have lacked humility and 
reverence in their dealings with the virtuous in their 
previous lifetimes and have been stubborn and 
unyielding instead. 
D.3.1.8 Intelligence: Intelligent v.s ignorant 
Some people are born clever. As soon as they have 
the chance to study, all it takes is a single lesson and 
they are able to stand up and teach in the teacher's 
place. For others, the teacher teaches them the same 
thing two or three times and still they can make no 
sense of it. They have to rely on their friends to 
explain it to them outside lesson time. Even after so 
much trouble, they have only a superficial grasp of 
what they have learned. They will have to read 
through the lesson another ten times if they are to 
understand it as well as their peers. 
D.4 Level ofSociety 
This is the next level at which merit takes its effect. The 
result of having done only good deeds all our life 
together with the good deeds or merit accumulated over 
course of a long time will certainly bring peace, 
happiness, harmony, justice, progress and prosperity to 
themselves and the people around them. This happens 
especially as the result of the collective merit accrued 
by the majority of people in society. Merit takes its 
effect instantly at the level of the mind (if we are 
observant enough to notice it), however the time the 
effects take to filter successively though to the levels of 
personality, lifestyle and society take proportionally 
longer. 
E. CONSIDERATIONS 
El. Speed of Merit Taking Effect 
All we have talked about are basically the principal 
forces. In fact, as with the dynamics of the karma which 
we studied in the previous lesson, all are to some extent 
modified by supplementary factors or concomitants, 
especially with reference to the speed with which they 
give their fruits. The degree to which meritorious deeds 
will give their benefits in our lifestyle depends on four 
factors which wecall the Four Accomplishments or 
Catalysts [samapatti]. 
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The Accomplishments arc the factors favourable to the 
ripening of good karma just like catalysts which 
facilitate a chemical reaction — there arc four of these 
in all: 
I. Catalytic Circumstances [gatisampatti] and means 
that you are born in favourable circumstances or 
amenable surroundings in terms of a place to live, a 
birthplace or a neighbourhood which will affect us for 
the better. To give an example suppose you are born as 
someone who is not particularly clever, but fortunately 
for you, you are born amidst catalytic circumstances —
born in a prospering community with a good standard 
of education available to everyone. Thus with the 
application of a little effort in your studies, you can 
make up for your lack of innate cleverness with 
cleverness learned from your surroundings — the clear 
result of the catalytic circumstances.Those in possession 
of such circumstancses make it easier for themselves to 
further their good deeds during their life — and this is 
one way by which merit is self-catalytic. 
2. Catalytic Gift of Wellbeing [upadhisampatti] These 
refer to the characteristics of one's physical and 
personal makeup that facilitate the arising of good 
karma. Examples of such "gifts" might be a golden 
voice which makes everybody want to listen to what 
you have to say (no matter whether it be good or bad!), 
a good singing voice (that sounds good even if you 
cry!), a beautiful or handsome physique (which can 
make you Miss Universe without having to do anything 
more than be born and grow up!) Someone who is 
gifted in this way, but who instead of sitting on his 
laurels, continues to do good deeds all his life will find 
that good deeds give their results instantly, before their 
very eyes. 
3. Catalytic Timing [kAlasampatti] To be at the right 
place at the right time in the same way that we talked 
about the era of a world cycle when people are born. In 
an era where people value virtue manifest themselves 
right from the time you are born. You will associate 
with the wise right from your childhood. You need 
never come under the influence of fools. Throughout 
your 
life, no matter whether you are generous, keep the 
Precepts, meditate or do chanting, you will hear only 
words of encouragement from the people around 
you, making it easy for us to excel at any of these 
practices. Thus the results of one's meritorious 
action will be much quicker to see. 
4. Catalytic Discretion [payogasampatti]. To be born 
with good discretion and more importantly, the moral 
fibre to keep to one's principles and apply one's 
discretion to one's lifestyle will facilitate the ripening 
of good karma. This catalyst is centred on the ability to 
teach yourself to improve in all aspects will make you a 
born leader never having to wait for others to persuade 
you or force you to do beneficial things. Besides being 
able to discriminate between right and wrong, good and 
bad you will be able to put your ethics into practice. 
Such a personal endowment will quicken the speed with 
which you see the fruits of your meritorious actions at 
the level of the lifestyle. 
In conclusion, performing merits will give the fruition 
of good deeds instantly at the level of the mind and the 
personality. There is no need to waitfor the afterlife for 
these things. However, at the level of the lifestyle, you 
may have to wait much longer if you have accrued only 
a small amount of merit in your past. However, for 
those who have a lot of merit in their past lives, they 
will see the fruition of merits very quickly in the 
present lifetime. Thus those who are still skeptical 
about whether doing good deeds will really bring 
benefits to us at the level of our lifestyle, should study 
the mechanism of catalysts and inhibitors to the fruition 
of good karma as outlined in this section. 
E2. Why is care needed in the study of merit? 
Merit is difficult to understand because the effects of 
merit thatwe can see are the result of compounded 
causes. Some of the good luck or good coincidences 
that we see come from the merit we have stored up for 
ourselves from long ago. Some of the good luck will 
come from the acts of merit which we have done 
recently and which remain in mind. Thus we need to 
have an understanding of 
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merit otherwise, looking at the outcomes we might 
come to the misunderstood conclusion that good deeds 
don't give rise to merit and might give up too easily. 
The other aspect is to understand correctly how to do 
the sort of good deeds that accrue merit otherwise, 
again, we might come to the conclusion that our efforts 
to do good deeds have nothing but a disastrous effect 
on our future. 
Some people have such a strong conviction in merit that 
they think that merit and demerit is the only valuable 
way of evaluating actions in the world. However, such 
a narrow view can lead to some shortcomings of 
understanding. To take merit seriously, can inspire you 
to do good deeds, avoid evil and purify the mind. 
However, as one of the main characteristics of merit is 
that it accrues exclusively to the doer of a good deed, it 
tends to make Buddhists disinterested in what the 
people around them are doing. They may become 
interested only in their own personal destiny without 
thinking to try and upgrade the state of society or show 
concern for the destinies of those around them. Thus, 
the benefit of understanding merit is to make the best of 
our present to ensure a bright future. 
E3. Overcoming shyness to accrue Merit 
It is obvious from the examination of our present 
circumstances that we are living in a time when the 
circumstances of society are not very catalytic anymore. 
Because of the difficulty in discerning the fruits of 
meritorious action, the majority of people in the world 
today: 
I. don't know the importance of merit; 
2. know the importance of merit but don't know how to 
go about accruing it; 
3. know how to accrue merit, but because they have not 
made merit making an implicit part of their lives, they 
are not particularly motivated to accumulate merit. 
Some people want to do meritorious deeds, but are too 
shy. Some people know that it is good to bow down in 
respect to one's parents, but because they didn't make 
bowing to their parents part of their everyday life since 
they were children, by the time they are old enough to 
realize they are too shy to 
start something new. 
The important thing to overcome the shyness we might 
feel in accruing the merit in our lives is to make it a 
part of our daily routine so that we don't lose touch 
with merit or become unfamiliar. In this respect there 
are three important pieces of advice for the practitioner 
coined as mottos for those attending Wat Phra 
Dhammakaya: 
1. Any morning when you have not given alms, you 
shouldn't allow yourself to take breakfast: You should 
get up in time to give alms to the monks on their 
almsround at dawn every day. If there is no monk on 
almsround you can always collect up small donations 
on a daily basis in a piggy-bank and offer them at the 
temple the next time you go. If you can manage to 
achieve this, you will avoid poverty in the long-term. 
Even if you are not particular), well off in the present 
lifetime, you can be assured that if you give alms every 
day, eventually you will put an end to the hardship of 
financial insecurity. 
Z Any day when you don't intend to keep the Precepts 
you shouldn't dare to leave the house: Once you have 
taken the precepts, you should revise the intention to 
keep them every day for the Five Precepts. At the very 
least you will always be within the protection of the 
Five Precepts — like an armour of morality. This merit 
is the second major investment we have to make in our 
life to ensure our enduring wellbeing. 
3. Any evening when you haven't done your chanting 
and meditation, don't dare to go to bed: If you can 
manage to do your chanting and meditation every day, 
no matter how tired you are, you will be like the 
warrior who is ever ready for battle, with his sword 
already sharpened by his side. 
If you start today and train yourself in all three of these 
ways, you will be like a soldier ready for battle with 
strength, a supply of provisions, a suit of armour and a 
weapon already sharp and ready for battle. However 
many times you go to war, you will be victorious every 
time. If you start living a lifestyle by which you accrue 
merit today, you will start 
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to get the benefits today. There's no need to wait for 
next lifetime before starting your good deeds because 
whether you will have the chance to do good deeds or 
not in your next life is dictated by the amount of good 
deeds you do in this lifetime. Thus start doing good 
deeds today, this very how, at this very second. 
In addition to the merit you cultivate as a matter of 
course in your everyday life, you should look for 
opportunities to increase your store of merit on special 
occasions such as offering saIghadAna (offering a meal 
to the monastic community), go for a longer meditation 
retreat, ordain temporarily for the course of the rainy 
season. Don't go thinking that you already have plenty 
of merit stored up from your past. You may be wrong. 
If you really had a lot of merit in your past, you would 
be able to sit comfortably for the whole of the hour long 
meditation session. If you still feel uncomfortable when 
you meditate or feel that you have to change posture, 
that is the sign that you still have room for 
improvement in the merit you have stored up for 
yourself. You need to use the precious life of yours to 
rectify your faults and weaknesses — and the best way 
to do this is to do as many good deeds as you can. 
Otherwise the hunger of the mind will go on unabated 
F. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES 
FL Metaphor: Merit in the Past - Pedigree 
The nature of the differences is not the same as the 
pot-bound bonsai of the previous Blessing. It is not 
caused by the environment— the difference lies within 
the person himself — it is a personal attribute which 
differs in strength from one person to another. Compare 
a wild strawberry with a domestic breed of strawberry. 
You can water and fertilize a wild strawberry all you 
like, but in the end it will only produce a lot of leaves 
and a few tiny bitter fruits. By contrast, a domestic 
strain, even if neglected will produce numerous and 
succulent fruits. The difference is factor which belongs 
to the plant itself. With plants it is the pedigree, but 
with people it is the residue of the behaviours they have 
built up for themselves in the past — not a reputation 
because that needs a third party to remember it — it is 
something they build up inside them whether they have 
witnesses for their behaviour or not. 
F2. Metaphor: Merit - Food for the Mind 
All dynamic things in the world have fuel on which they feed. 
Fire burns on brushwood. A tree needs food, but the food that 
nourishes it is sucked up through the roots. The body burns on 
physical food. To get the food we need for our body we must 
find ourselves a job or a career. A light bulb burns on electric 
current. Sometimes the energy is stored up in the object itself 
at a previous time (like the bulb of a daffodil or a car battery), 
sometimes the energy is used as it is obtained. All of these 
things must be provided with the fuel they need or else one 
day if the energy they have stored is exhausted, they will 
become useless or even die. 
All of these objects have their own food or fuel to nourish 
them, but as meditators, the object we are most interested 
in is the mind. The mind too, must have a food which can 
fuel its efficient activity, but what could possibly function 
as a sort of energy which the mind could store or use? 
Indeed, the personal residue we are talking about has 
the special quality of being like food which nourishes 
the mind — so that the mind can, to itsfull potential 
attract good opportunities and things on all four levels 
of success mentioned above. If mind is well fed it has 
repurcussions for all the other levels too — sooner or 
later. 
F3. Ex. Siri JAtaka(J.284) 
The bodhisattva was once an ascetic and had an 
elephant trainer as a patron. A stick-gatherer, sleeping 
at night in the hermitage, heard two roosting cocks 
abusing each other. In the course of the quarrel, one 
cock boasted that whoever ate his flesh would be king, 
his skin commander in chief or chief queen and his 
bones, royal treasurer or king's chaplain. The man 
killed the cock and his wife cooked it, then taking it 
with them, they went to the river to bathe. They left the 
meat and rice on the bank, but as they bathed, the pot 
holding the food was blown into the river. It 
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floated downstream where it was picked up by the 
elephant-trainer. The bodhisattva saw everything with 
his divine-eye and visited the trainer at meal-time. 
There he was offered the meat and divided it, giving the 
flesh to the trainer, the skin to his wife and keeping the 
bones to himself. Three days later, the city was 
beseiged by enemies. The king asked the trainer to don 
royal robes and mount the elephant, while he himself 
fought in the ranks. There the king was killed by an 
arrow and the trainer, having won the battle, was made 
king, his wife being queen and the ascetic his chaplain. 
The story was told in reference 
to a brahmin who tried to steal AnAthapiAlika's good 
fortune [ski]. He perceived that the good fortune was 
embodied in a white cock for which he begged. 
AnAthapiAlika gave it to him, but the good fortune left 
the cock and settled in a jewel. He asked for that also, 
but the good fortune went into a club. The club was also 
asked for, and AnAthapiAlika giving it, asked the 
brahmin to take it and be gone. However, the good 
fortune now settled on AnAthapiAlika's wife. The 
brahmin thereby admitted defeat and confessed his 
intentions to AnAthapiAlika who told the story to the 
Buddha. 
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Blessing Six: Setting 
oneself up properly 
in life 
A. INTRODUCTION 
Al. Place of Blessing Six in the order of things 
This sixth blessing is the last of the second grouping of 
blessings concerned with "turning towards virtue". It 
builds upon what has gone before with the "nurture" of 
Blessing Four and the "nature" of Blessing Five —
bringing spiritual development to a point where the 
third grouping "making oneself useful" can start to 
become meaningful. 
A2. Objectives of the Sixth Blessing 
Studying this Blessing can be considered to have 
fulfilled its true purpose if after reading it, the reader 
feels: 
I. inspired to stand on their own two feet: that is, to 
promise themselves that this lifetime they will never 
again lower themselves to relying on anyone else as 
their refuge — no longer using others as crutches for 
their own weaknesses. The people of old used to say 
'Even a bird builds its own nest — even a mouse digs 
its own hole — so who is a man not to stand on his own 
two feet? It is not fitting always to be leaning on others, 
borrowing from them or living in someone else's house. 
Othenvise one is no better than a sparrow living in the 
rafters of someone else's house. If you are the sort of 
person who is not ashamed of being dependent but who 
is on the other hand proud that there are always others 
who wants to help them, it will probably be a 
long time before you realize the reality of the world. 
It's no problem if you happen to live in your big 
sister's house, but what happens if one day her 
husband has a disagreement with you and wants you 
out of the house? You will find it hard to speak up in 
your own defense. Even if you have a disagreement 
with their children or grandchildren or friends, you 
would never dare to say anything to contradict them 
because you depend on their parents or grandparents 
for the roof over ow head. You end up being 
someone who will not even dare to stand up for 
yourself 
- therefore, if at all possible, try to avoid depending on 
others — try to be self-sufficient. No matter whether you 
are male or female, you have to try to be independent. If 
you are put in the position where you are abused as a 
dependent, you have no choice but to put up with it. When 
you have put up with it until such abuse becomes 
engrained in your mind, you can no longer think of 
anything meritorious any more. All you can think of is 
getting your revenge. Better then, to build up your own 
standard of living by becoming self-sufficient in your 
earnings. 
Z inspired never to provaricate about accruing merit 
henceforth. 
If after studying this Blessing the reader gains anything 
more in addition to these two advantages, it can be 
considered as a profit. For anyone to understand about 
the importance of being your own ref-
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uge and to see the value of accruing merit, you need a 
foundation of experience, and that foundation is 
specifically one's aim in life. 
Al Definition: Setting oneself up properly in life 
Setting yourself up in the proper way refers to setting 
up both of the inseparable parts of our being 
— setting up our body and setting up our mind. As the 
mind governs the setting up of the body, to set 
ourselves up in life means setting up our mind cor-
rectly. Setting up yourself means setting up your mind. 
If your mind can be properly set up, then the body will 
follow suit. For example if your mind is overcome with 
laziness, the body will be overcome by laziness too, 
lying around in a post-prandial sleaze. If the mind has a 
clear idea about what it is aiming for in spiritual 
development, then the body will comply with the 
mind's ambitions. Thus to set yourself up properly in 
life, you must set up your mind properly, and that 
means specifically making up your mind to pursue a 
pathway of self-perfection. 
is because we give them too much importance and put 
them too high on our list of priorities that they rob us of 
our time — the reason in turn, why we are unable to set 
our priorities as we mean to, is because we lack a clear 
perspective of our own priorities. With meditation, we 
are dealing with a practice and a tradition, which has 
lifelong consequences for us. Therefore, for the practice 
of meditation and for the setting of complimentary 
priorities in life, we cannot afford to overlook a clear 
perspective of our own lives. We call such an overview 
our 'aim in life'. If as meditators, we have a clear aim 
in life, as intelligent human beings, we will be able to 
use our wisdom to lead our own lives according to ow 
principles. If we have no principles and no direction, 
more often than not, instead of leading our lives, ow 
lives tend to lead us! 
AS. Everyone has an aim in life 
Life seems to vary in its perceived value fromperson to 
person. Some people have had the ambition since 
primary school to become a millionaire. Some have 
always wanted to become primeminister. Some want to 
sbe a soccer champion. Aim in life seems to be different 
for different people, however, if you look at the deeper 
nature of all people, ultimately all people aim improve 
themselves. Some people want to improve themselves 
to the utmost by purifying their mind within the space 
of their lifetime to a point where they can enter upon 
Nirvana. Others might not be in so much of a hurry — 
but it doesn't mean that their spiritual path will not pass 
the same way some day. 
A4 Aim in life helps us set priorities, overcome obstacle 
Did you ever feel that you would like to achieve more 
from life but you never seem to have to the time — or 
you never seem to get round to doing them? Sometimes 
you have so many great plans in mind, but when you 
come round to doing them, there is always something 
else to help others with. There is always something else 
more urgent or seemingly more important? Do you find 
yourself exhausted at the end of the day with no 
strength left to do your meditation? All of us know that 
meditation makes a significant difference to the quality 
of ow minds, but even though we know it, it is 
sometimes difficult to find the time to meditate each 
day. 
Part of the reason for this is that our priorities and aims 
in life are not clear. Sometimes there are urgent things 
in life which are urgent but not important, like a ringing 
telephone or interruptions and they can upset the whole 
pace of our lives. They can be the things that make us 
unable to organize our time as we would like to. 
Sometimes these interruptions are really unavoidable, 
but usually, it 
A6. Virtues for creating purpose in everyday life 
Anyone who wishes to create and maintain focus and 
purpose in their life needs to train themselves in the 
following 
five 
virtues 
called 
'core 
virtues' 
[sAradhamma] by the Lord Buddha: 
I. Faith or Confidence [saddha]: This means believing 
in the appropriate things. It means training yourself to 
be reasonable — not to be gullible. The difference 
between being faithful and being gullible is that the 
latter has no reason for their confidence. Thus wisdom 
is always an im 
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portant component of faith. From the Buddhist point 
of view, the basis of faith is: 
I. the existence of the Buddha 
2. the working of the Law of Karma — that doing 
good deeds really gives rise to good results (with the 
proviso of doing those good deeds properly, 
sufficiently and not in excess) 
3. that the result of one's good or bad karma will 
follow one until it gives its retribution. 
2. The Precepts [sEla]: You must keep the minimum of 
Five Precepts (for more explanation see Blessing Nine). 
3. Having heard much [bahEsEta]: be specific, this 
means being diligent in the acquisition of knowledge 
both spiritual and worldly by listening to many 
teachings. 
4. Being a person of self-sacrifice [cAga]: This means 
being able to sacrifice and let go both of material 
possessions (given to others) and also to let go of our 
grudges and bad temper by forgiving others 
5. Training Oneself in Meditation [samAdhi]: We 
need to train ourselves in meditation if we are to have 
any chance of attaining wisdom. Wisdom is the most 
essential element in having a well-planned aim in life 
and being able to keep ourselves to it. If the mind is 
trained in meditation it will have the determination to 
remain unscathed in the face of temptations to "lower 
our sights" and settle for less ambitious aims in life. 
B. THREE LEVELS OF AIM IN LIFE 
I. Exclusively Materialistic Aim In Life: Everybody 
comes into the world with nothing, but everyone has 
the same basic needs for survival whether it be the food 
on their plates, the clothes on their backs, the roof over 
their head or the medicine they need to keep them 
healthy in times of illness. If any one of these things are 
lacking from people's lives, they cannot survive. Man 
can only go for a single day without water. He can only 
go for seven days without food. Thus it is only natural 
that the very least that people should aim for in their 
lives is to fulfill these basic physical needs. If their aim 
in life is any lower that this they cannot survive. Of 
Course some 
people want more that this. Some people are not 
satisfied with the basics of survival. They want to be 
millionaires, they want luxury, they want the 
freedom in life to choose what they buy. In fact 
however much you want, whether it is just to fulfill 
their physical needs or to satisfy their physical 
wants, their aim in life is only quite short term. It is 
based on immediate rewards. They think of no 
further requirement of life beyond death. In their 
youth they seek experience, in their middle age they 
amass wealth. Towards the end of their lives they try 
to find an heir for their wealth. Thus we call such 
aims in life "earthly" because they extend no further 
than this world and this existence. Those who 
entertain only such an aim in life will usually (but 
not always — some people cut corners) want to earn 
their living in an honest way, by earning, saving, 
using their earnings in a responsible way and 
entrusting honest people to look after common 
wealth. 
Z Spiritual/Material Aim In Life: At the same time in 
the world, there are those who recognize that they must 
fulfill the physical needs of the body, but their aim in 
life runs deeper than that. They recognize that they 
need to earn their living, but earning that living is only 
a means to an end. They recognize that there exists not 
only a physical hunger, but the hunger of the spirit or 
the mind too. They realize that if the mind is left 
hungry it will tempt them to do things they don't want 
them to do. They need to find time in their lives to 
reach for a higher spiritual dimension. 
3. Exclusively Spiritual Aim In Life: Last of all in the 
world there are those who realize the hunger of the 
body and the mind — the body for physical needs and 
the mind in its hunger for a higher spiritual dimension 
to life. For such a group of people the sensitivity 
towards the hunger in the mind is so great that they find 
that they have the vocation to deal with source of the 
hunger at its root. So great is the intensity of their 
calling that they will see the need to devote themselves 
full time to the pursuit of spirituality. To purify 
themselves completely so that hunger may be 
completely extinguished. They have the 
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time to devote to spiritual study without having to 
compromise their time in order to earn a living. 
They will spend their time learning the spiritual way 
and teaching it to the best of their ability so 
intensively that the life of the householder and the 
family no longer holds any attraction for them. We 
call such an aim in life ultimate because is seeks to 
come to an end of all further suffering and to help 
others to do the same. 
B1. Exclusively Materialistic 
Setting yourself up in a proper way for those with an 
exclusively materialistic aim in life consists of two 
conwslesniffig evil 
2. standing on your own two feet The Buddha's short 
teaching of the way to set yourself up in the proper way 
is probably too short for 
the reader to know how to practice it so we have to 
expand a little further on the subject matter 
81.1 Avoiding Evil 
Avoiding evil means specifically to avoid the six `roads 
to ruin' [apAyamukha]. We must avoid them in order 
to avoid falling into any of the unfortunate realms in 
future existences. 'Ruin' [apAya] here means 'low-
down', 'dirty', 'decaying' and 'lacking prosperity'. The 
word 'road' [mulcha] means 'path', 'front' or 'face'. 
There are six different types of 'roads to ruin': 
1. Drinking alcohol or taking intoxicating drugs: 
like opium or heroin; 
I. Nightlife: such as frequenting brothels; 
2. 
Frequenting shows: that have content that is 
romantic or frivolous; 
3. 
Gambling: and lotteries 
4. 
Associating with evil companions 
5. 
Being too lap, to work 
We will not go into further detail of these'roads to ruin' 
here. In some places only four 'roads to ruin' are 
referred to instead of six as mentioned already in 
Blessing One (§E.3) as the sort of thing that fools like 
to persuade you to do. 
B1.2 Standing on you own two feet 
In the time of the Buddha, there was someone who 
asked the way to set himself up in life. The four 
practices he taught are sometimes called the four 
chambers of the millionaire's heart. They are the 
prerequisite virtues for accruing benefit in the present 
life (in Pali the diEEhadhammikatthapayojana). For 
revision take a look back at Blessing Two (§C4.1). In 
conclusion, anyone who is diligent in acquisition of 
wealth, in stewardship of their earnings, who associates 
only with good friends and who uses their earnings to 
support themselves in a modest way will before long 
achieve riches. All of this hard work will only be of 
benefit to us in the present lifetime however. If you also 
want benefits in future lifetime, you need to know how 
to accrue merit too. 
B2. Material/SpiritualAim 
Setting yourself up in a proper way for those with a 
spiritual/material aim in life consists of three com-
ponents: 
I. avoiding evil 
2. standing on your own hvo feet 
3. cultivating virtuous speech and action Avoiding evil 
and standing on your own two feet are the same as for 
those with the exclusively materialistic aim in life. 
However, on this level we have the addition of virtuous 
speech and action. This means immersing our mind 
filly in meritorious speech and action. The way this is 
achieved is to practice the Ten or the Three Major 
Ways to Accrue Merit [pulifiakiriyavatthu] already 
discussed in Blessing Five (§C2). The guiding 
principles for accruing merit are the prerequisite virtues 
to accruing benefit in future lives [sampayikattha 
payojana]. For revision take a look back at Blessing 
Two (§C4.2) and Blessing Four (§B4.6). 
B2.I Warnings about prevarication 
On the subject of setting oneself up in life, there are 
several common misconceptions which you ought to 
avoid: 
I. Don't wait until you are old before getting spiritual: 
You should devote yourself to spiritual practice starting 
from the time when you are still young and healthy. In 
fact even to start temple-going from the time you are 
twenty is still too late. If you start temple-going from 
the age of 
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five or six, like RAhula in the time of the Buddha, it 
is your advantage. You should start studying the 
spiritual side of yourself early in life so that you 
don't make grave moral errors. How many of us 
spend many years drinking alcohol and damaging 
our minds before we realize what we are doing to 
ourselves? You can bypass the problem completely 
if you attend the temple from your youth. 
2. Don't prevaricate about setting yourself up in life: 
You should work hard to make yourself self-sufficient in 
life at the earliest possible opportunity — anyone who is 
still a parasite living in someone else's house should be 
quick to make yourself independent. 
3. Don't prevaricate about paying off your debts: Don't let 
your debts be something you carry with you to your next life! 
The interest on loans that span into the afterlife are too high to 
be worth risking slow repayment. Thus pay off your debts and 
make sure that you don't put yourself in debt any more. You 
should build up your own financial reserves before making an 
investment, not rely on borrowing from others or from the 
bank. If you die before you have paid back your loan, next 
lifetime you will have that debt hanging round your neck like 
a dead albatross. Suppose you borrow a dollar but die before 
you can pay it back — supposing you are an angel for a thou-
sand years — just think what the compound interest will add 
up to during that time! You might never manage to pay it 
back. 
4. Don't prevaricate about improving on your bad habits: 
If you know anything about yourself is a bad habit, give 
up doing it immediately. Check your own behaviour as a 
regular part of your practice and improve on yourself 
instead of wasting time finding fault with others. 
5. Be careful of bad deeds in the guise of good ones: 
When you have done a good deed, don't go wishing for 
things that are irresponsible. 
B3. Exclusively spiritual 
Even the Bodhisattva himself needed an aim in life 
when pursuing perfections in preparation for Bud 
dhahood. Thus it comes as no surprise that on the 
exclusively spiritual level of aim in life, it is still 
important to have an aim in life, in order to waste no 
time in pursuing the goal of purifying the mind to a 
point where it can enter upon Nirvana. On this level, 
even material convenience is sacrificed in order fully to 
cultivate spiritual development. 
B3.I Human Realm as the crossroads of existence 
The clearer one's aim in life, the more clearly one will 
understand the preciousness of human life — and that 
we cannot afford to waste a moment. Even if you look 
around your house, of which you pride yourself as 
being the owner, if you count the number of fleas, 
mosquitos, ants and mice, you will realize that you are 
in the minority — even though it's your house! This is 
intended to give you an inkling of how rare it is to be 
born human and what a precious opportunity our human 
lifespan is in forging our destiny. In our human 
company there are basically four sorts of pathway of 
human destiny forged during a lifespan (A.ii.85): 
1. Out of the darkness into the darkness: Born with all 
the disadvantages of nature and nurture, they did what 
came naturally and made a worse mess out of their 
lives; 
2. Out of the darkness into the light: In spite of ample 
disadvantages of nature and nurture, they struggled 
against hardship until being able to make some sort of 
success out of their lives; 
3. Out of the light into the darkness: In spite of all the 
advantages of nature and nurture, they became 
complacent and made a mess out of their lives. 
4. Out of the light into the light: Avoiding the trap of 
complacency, they built on the advantages of nature 
and nurture they brought into the world, storing up a 
yet brighter future for themselves. 
The human realm is like a crossroads where destiny can 
be transformed for the better or for the worse. For sure, 
transforming one's destiny for the better means going 
against the tide. Spiritual cultivation is often hard in the 
beginning, but pays off in the long-term — something 
that may not be immediately obvious to someone who 
sees everything 
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in the short-term. Therefore a proper aim in life is vital 
for anyone navigating the human crossroads who wants 
to make a success in forging a brighter destiny. 
B12 Prerequisites for fulfilling the Highest Aim in Life 
In a Buddhist context, fulfilment of Highest Aim in 
Life, the fruition of all levels of cultivation is to purify 
the mind completely or to enter upon Nirvana. In order 
to fulfil this goal six conditions must be fulfilled—
without these six prerequisites, all our effort in setting 
an aim in life will be in vain. These six prerequisites 
are: 
I. You have to have been born in an amenable location 
i.e. Blessing Four 
2. You must have done good deeds until used to them 
i.e. Blessing Five 
4 - 6. The Four Accomplishments already met as 
catalysts determining the speed with which merit 
can take its effect as described in Blessing Five 
These six factors go together as a set of conditions 
known as the Six Catalysts or Accomplishments: 
I. Catalytic Circumstances [gatisamapati] 
2. Catalytic Timing [kAlasampatti] 
3. Catalytic Location [padesasampatti] 
4. Catalytic Family [kulasampatti] 
5. Catalytic State of Well-being [upadhisampatti] 
6. Catalytic View [diEEhisampatti] If you find that you 
are hampered in setting yourself up in life in the way 
you would wish, perhaps you have to consolidate 
Blessing Four and Blessing Five to contribute sufficient 
Accomplishments 
to your spiritual quest to give you the 'escape velocity' 
you need to forge your destiny to the full! 
C. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES 
Cl Metaphor: Boat must have a rudder 
If the ship that must struggle to make way in the ocean 
waves is to reach the far shore, its captain must have a 
clear destination in mind and keep the ship firmly on 
course, not allowing the ship to drift — no less 
important is an aim in life to those wishing to achieve 
success and profit in their lives. 
C2 Metaphor: The one-eyed sea turtle 
(Sv.455) 
The Lord Buddha taught that the birth of someone as a 
human is as rare as the chance of a blind turtle in the 
ocean which surfaces for air once a century popping its 
head through the middle of the only flower garland 
which happens to be floating in the sea. The chance of a 
being which is a denizen of hell, an animal, a ghost or a 
demon attaining human birth is even slighter 
still.Therefore having obtained yourself a human birth 
make sure you make the best of your life. 
C3 Metaphor: Saving for the Future 
Just as a wise merchant must keep aside someof his 
money for investment in the future, the wise man must 
keep aside some of his time for the practices that will 
allow him to renew his merit for future lifetimes. Just as 
the wise fanner keeps aside some of his rice crop for 
next year's sowing, the wise man will take the 
opportunity while his old merit is still giving its fruit, to 
accrue new merit for use in future existences. 
C4 Er.: The Retribution of Kapila Bhikkhu 
DIktiv.37ff 
In the time of the Lord Buddha named Kassapa, there 
was a gang of five hundred thieves who were bringing 
misery to the whole of the kingdom. The householders, 
together with the police and the army thus hunted down 
the gang and when the thieves saw that they could no 
longer defend themselves, they escaped into the forest. 
The vengeful householders did not give up chase and so 
the thieves went deeper and deeper into the forest until 
they came to a clearing in the heart of the forest. There 
they met a monk, and seeing the monk, they started to 
see the error of their ways. They were receptive to what 
the monk had to say, and the monk taught them that 
they must keep the Precepts even if it cost them their 
lives. In any case, if they were to be caught, no-one 
would spare their lives be 
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cause they had already murdered so many people. The 
thieves took the Five Precepts and didn't try to escape 
any more. They concentrated all their attention on 
keeping the Precepts pure. They would not hurt even a 
mosquito or a leech. Even if the soldiers were to catch 
up with them and attack them with swords and knives, 
they swore not to put up a fight. 
Before long, the soldiers discovered the thieves and attacked. 
The thieves kept their word and put up no resistance — they 
were so devoted to keeping their Precepts pure. All five 
hundred thieves were executed, but through the power of 
keeping the Precepts to the degree they would sacrifice their 
lives, their bad deeds didn't have the chance to catch up with 
them. They were born instantly as angels. The evil of their 
past did not disappear, however, but was waiting for the 
opportunity to give its retribution. 
When they were reborn from the celestial world into the 
human realm, the influence of the killing they had done in the 
past still affected them. All five hundred were born as 
fishermen in the same village. However, even though their 
livelihood was to kill fish, through the power of their good 
deeds in the past, they all still had faith in Buddhism. Even so, 
the fishermen continued to collect demerit as a result of their 
habitual killing. 
One day a group of fishermen caught a giant, 
golden-coloured fish — as big as a boat. No-one had 
ever seen such a fish in their lives. They captured the 
fish and took it to offer to King Pasenadi of Kosala —
who in turn took the fish to the Buddha. As soon as the 
fish opened its mouth, a foul smell spread all around the 
Jetavana monastery. The king then asked the Buddha 
why such a beautiful fish should have such a foul smell. 
The Enlightened One then revealed that in one of his 
past existences, the fish had been a learned bhikkhu 
named Kapila during the time of Kassapa Buddha. 
Because of his deep knowledge of the Dhamma, he had 
gained much fame and honour. He also became very 
conceited and 
looked down upon the other bhikkhus. When the other 
bhikkhus pointed out to him what was proper or not 
proper, he invariably retorted, 'How much do you 
know?' implying that he knew much more than those 
bhikkhus. In the course of time, most of the bhikkhus 
avoided him. On one occasion,the bhikkhus did not join 
him when he was reciting the Fundamental Precepts for 
the bhikkhus (i.e., the PAEimokkha). Observing that the 
bhikkhus remained silent, Kapila said, 'There is no such 
thing as Sutta, Abhidhamma or Vinaya..lt makes no 
difference whether you listen to the PAEimokkha or not' 
and left the congregation. He had taught the Dhamma to 
others in a way that was biased in the monk's self 
interest — in a way that made his teaching deviate from 
the truth. His misrepresentation of the Dhamma was thus 
perpetuated amongst his followers. 
There were many others including his teacher and 
arahants who had warned that monk of the danger of 
his misrepresentation of the Dhamma 
— however he would not listen. He insulted them in 
return for their advice. As a result he developed False 
View and when he passed away, these False Views 
dragged him down into the Unfortunate Realms for a 
long time. Only then could he be born as a fish. The 
Precepts of a monk gave their fruit as the beautiful 
golden appearance of the fish but the retribution from 
insulting arahants and his teacher gave him his stinking 
mouth. Hearing the previous karma of the fish, the 
five-hundred fishermen considered all the evil deeds 
they had done as a result of their livelihood since their 
youth. They realized that their time in hell would 
certainly be no less than the fate of the fish they had 
caught — so they decided collectively all to become 
monks and to devote themselves to Dhamma practice. 
From the power of having sacrificed their lives for their 
Precepts in a previous existence — i.e. having set 
themselves up properly in life — before long they could 
all become arahants and were no longer subject to the 
retribution of the evil karma of their past. 
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CS Ex. Akkosaka BhAradvAja Vatthu DhAdv.161ff 
In the time of the Buddha there was a Brahmin couple. The 
husband called BhAradavAja was very strict in his 
Brahmin observances. He had never shown any interest in 
Buddhism. By contrast, his wife was a person with no 
further doubt in Buddhism because she had heard one of 
the teaching of the Buddha and had become enlightened as 
a stream-enterer as the result. 
One day the husband wanted to hold a feast for all the most 
high standing Brahmins — worshipped as 'arahants' in their 
religion. Thus the husband and wife started their elaborate 
preparations for the feast, but when it came close to the 'big 
day', because it was the habit of the wife always to exclaim 
'Buddhof whenever something surprised her, her husband 
appealed to her on the day of the feast not to mention 
anything about Buddhism or to say anything in praise of the 
Triple Gem. The wife said, "My mind is unified with the 
Dhamnta, therefore whatever I say will also be Dhamma —
there is nothing you can do to stop my mind from being that 
way!" 
"And what about if I take a sword and cut you into 
small pieces — will that help you to educate your 
mind?' 
"Even if you were to make mincemeat of me," said the 
wife, "I could not help myself from having the 
Dhamma as my refuge!" 
The husband didn't know what more to say 
— so they got on with the work of providing the feast. 
Everything went well until the wife slipped over on a 
pile 
of 
spilled 
rice. 
She 
exclaimed, 
"Namo 
tassabhagavato arahato sammA sambuddh-assa!" 
Everyone present heard the wife's exclamation. The 
assembled Brahmins were angered by what they heard. 
When they had received the invitation, they understood 
that the wife had respect for them. Now they had found 
out that she respected not them but the Buddha. They 
were specially angry because they were opposed to 
everything the Buddha did. Those who had finished 
their meal immediately stood up and 
shouted insults at the couple. Those who had not 
finished eating overturned every plate of food on the 
table. They stamped their feet and walked out on the 
couple. 
The husband was so angry he didn't know what to say. He 
couldn't do anything to punish his wife — so he thought to 
take out his anger on his wife's teacher — the Buddha 
himself. lie buckled on his sword and turned in the direction 
of Jetavana monastery with the intention to put an end to the 
Buddha and his teachings. The husband walked straight up to 
the Buddha without paying respect and in his anger shouted 
the rhetorical question at the Buddha, "Do you know what a 
man has to kill in order to get a good night's sleep...?" 
The Brahmin thought that putting an end to the Buddha 
was the only way he could save face and sleep soundly 
that night. Without waiting for an answer, the Brahmin 
continued, "... and what a man has to kill to cure his 
sorrow? .. .". 
And still without waiting for an answer, the Brahmin 
asked the Buddha, ". . . and so what form of killing 
would you support?" 
The Buddha knew what was on the mind of the Brahmin and 
coolly answered the first question with the words, "A man 
must kill his anger in order to get a good night's sleep. If you 
don't kill your anger, you will do things that you regret later, 
being put in prison or punished — but if you kill your anger, 
you don't need to undergo the sorrowful consequences of your 
angry deeds. The Noble Ones praise the killing of anger —
whose root is poison and whose crown is sweet." 
When the Buddha said that the root of anger is 
poisonous, he meant that anger has suffering as its 
result. When he said that the crown is sweet, he meant 
that we get a strange, twisted satisfaction out of 
expressing our anger to others or losing our temper. 
After hearing only these few words, BhAradavAja was 
impressed. He was impressed that the Buddha was not 
angry in response to his anger. He had prepared his 
sword to chop the Buddha to pieces at the first 
unwelcome 
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word, but instead of hearing anything to irritate him 
further, the Brahmin had been impressed by every one 
of the Buddha's reasoning. He threw away his sword 
and invited the Buddha to teach him further. In the end, 
he was motivated to practise the Dhamma further and 
ended up ordaining as a monk. 
Killing your anger is one way of setting yourself up in 
life. To ordain as the result of a teaching is to set 
yourself up in faith, in the Precepts, in Wisdom or in 
Meditation. It was in this 
intense 
way 
that 
BhAradavAja set himself up in life, and before long 
could practice until attaining arahantship 
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f 
The Third 
Group of Blessings 
"Setting Oneself up in Life" 
The third group of the blessings of life is often referred to as "mak-
ing yourself useful". This doesn't just refer to making oneself a citi-
zen who can contribute something positive to society, it means be-
ing able to be of independent means — to earn one's own living 
without having to rely on outsiders for help. The principle of "be-
ing a refuge to yourself" is one very important to Buddhism — not 
just a virtue to oneself in spiritual ways but in worldly ways as 
well. Not burdening oneself on society is seen not only as the basis 
of self-confidence, but also as a positive virtue to be encouraged. 
Earning one's living requires both knowledge and skills (found in 
Blessings Seven and Eight respectively) but as usual to earn one's 
living in an unscrupulous way to the detriment of others is not ac-
ceptable. Sociable application of our knowledge and skills is taught 
in action and word respectively in Blessings Nine and Ten respec-
tively to make sure that we don't make ourselves self-sufficient at 
society's expense. This foundation of lack of worry concerning one's 
daily bread will serve as a foundation for a harmonious family life 
and public works to be found in subsequent Groups of the Bless-
ings. All of the previous six Blessings we have studied, have con-
cerned the adjustment of our quality of mind. The first few Bless-
ings have concerned protecting our mind from damage and find-
ing the most bask virtue of discretion with which to instil the mind. 
In the sixth blessing we already set our sights on the aim in life we 
require — now in the third grouping we start to walk toward that 
goal. 
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TABLE 7.1 COMPARISON OF QUALITIES FOR THE LEARNED & THE WISE 
The Learned 
The Wise 
much knowledge maybe not much virtue maybe do 
not apply knowledge to do good deeds must have 
good memory must be educated no guarantee that they 
will not make a mess out of their life 
maybe not much knowledge much virtue use what knowledge 
they have to do good deeds not necessary to have good 
memory irrespective of literacy or education will not make a 
mess of his life 
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Blessing Seven: 
Artfulness in 
Knowledge 
A. INTRODUCTION 
In fact the subject matter of the seventh Blessing also 
concerns our mind but it deals with the way we can find 
knowledge to instil in the mind. 
Knowledge has many implications both for our own life 
and for the quality of life in society. Without worldly 
knowledge we could not set ourselves up in life by 
earning our own living. Without spiritual knowledge, we 
would leave the thirst of the unanswered spiritual 
questions in life unquenched. For society, 
knowledgeable people contribute to the quality and 
standard of living in general. If students are demotivated 
or inefficient in their efforts to study, the repurcussions 
can bring damage to the whole educational sector and 
the youth in particular. Incidence of gang-fighting 
between schools, student drug-addiction and `hanging 
out' on the street in search of trouble are all signs of 
social problems originating in an incapacity to study 
properly. Even the depreciation of the credability of the 
teaching profession has something to do with an 
inability to inspire children to enjoy learning. The 
problem is not entirely to be blamed on schools however 
— as we have seen in preceding blessings, a negative 
parental role model or a bad home environment can 
damage a child's character so severely, even before 
starting school — to an extent that the best of teachers 
can do nothing to rectify the situation. 
A.1 Problems & risks facing students in general 
The ideal student is someone who never tires of learning 
new things either about worldly or spiritual matters. It is 
not enough just to be curious — to learn in depth, a 
student needs to have a real respect for the knowledge they 
are learning. 
The reality of student life is that there are many things 
to interfere with the students' enthusiasm to learn. The 
student's disillusionment can be summarized into three 
different groups: loss of sense of responsibility towards 
their own sense of human dignity; loss of sense of 
responsibility towards the sense human dignity of 
others, and; loss of sense of responsibility towards a fair 
economy: 
1. Loss of responsibility towards own sense of human 
dignity may lead to: 
I. Early Signs of False View: Not bothering to keep 
the Five Precepts, ignorance of the Five Precepts or 
even going so far as to protest against the keeping of 
the Five Precepts — as a result of the example or 
persuasion of teachers; 
2. Expression of the Defilements of Action: Taking 
the lives or being cruel to people or animals, 
stealing, committing adultery or sexual intercourse 
outside marriage and telling lies. 
3. Loss of 'aim in life': leading to a general lack of 
motivation to study or develop oneself and 
consequent lack of preparation to learn new skills, 
fit into society or work for a living. 
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