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Another example comes from the 
time of a previous 
Buddha. There was a monk who 
had retired to 
a cave in order to train himself. 
The monk would 
rise early each morning and chant 
the Abhidhamma. 
The monk shared the cave with 
five-hundred 
bats. During the day the bats 
would return to 
the cave but at night they would 
fly outside to feed. 
Thus the bats would hear the 
chanting of the 
Abhidhamma every day. Even 
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though the bats had 
no way of knowing the meaning of 
the chanting, 
they became familiar with the 
sound of the monk's 
chanting and became inspired with 
faith. 
When it came to time for the bats 
to pass away, 
they died with faith in their hearts 
and were all reborn 
as angels. Passing away from their 
existence 
as angels, they were reborn as men 
in the time of 
the present Buddha. All five 
hundred men became 
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ordained as monks and hearing the 
chanting of the 
Abhidhamma only once, unlike 
normal people who 
might remain indifferent to the 
chanting, could re76 
A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
member the words of the 
Abhidhamma which were 
still impressed in their minds from 
that previous 
lifetime, and recollecting the 
words of the 
Abhidhamma were soon able to 
become enlightened 
as arahants. 
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Thus, it is easy to see that simply 
living in an amenable 
location is not just advantageous 
for people 
— even lowly animals can 
experience the benefits! 
Blessing Five: Having Done Good 
Deeds in One's Past 77 
A. INTRODUCTION 
With Blessing Five we are still 
exploring the virtues 
which comprise "turning towards 
wholesomeness" 
as exemplified by the second 
grouping. Last 
blessing we have already 
mentioned the "naturenurture" 
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dichotomy of scientifically 
understood development. 
Last blessing already covered the 
"nurture"aspect of the environment 
— and so this 
Blessing we come to the factor of 
"nature" — the 
aspects of our character and 
personality which we 
bring with us into the world. In this 
Blessing we 
attempt to explain the variety of 
material and spiritual 
success between different people 
in the world 
— differences which are not 
accountable in terms 
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of the Blessings we have already 
studied up to this 
point. How for example can we 
explain the differences 
in disposition and life success of 
identical 
twins (with the same genetic 
components), brought 
up by the same parents in the same 
environment? 
How about newborn children, who 
far from being 
a clean slate have different 
personalities, different 
potentials and different speeds of 
learning. Science 
would attribute these things to 
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genetic differences 
between their grandparents. This 
might work 
out for some things such as how 
people look or their 
physical strength, but I think you 
would agree that 
there are many other things that 
genetics cannot 
explain. No scientist has ever 
found a gene for intelligence 
for example. All that are found are 
the 
abberations that make people 
handicapped — and 
these are in spite of the fact that 
neither their parents 
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or their grandparents were 
handicapped in 
such away. Thus it must be 
something about the 
child himself brings with him into 
the world. 
This Blessing attempts to account 
for the disparity 
in terms of the residue of life 
experience picked 
up by individuals in their past 
particularly the 
positive life experiences. 
In order to understand the rather 
lengthy matter 
of having done good deeds in 
one's past, it is necessary 
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to study the subject of merit in 
general and 
to touch also upon the subjects of 
retribution and 
mind quality. Some people study 
the Manual of Peace 
from Blessing One (Not 
Associating with Fools) 
through Blessing Two 
(Associating with the Wise), 
Blessing Three (Paying Respect to 
those worthy of 
Respect). They are able to accept 
all the reasoning 
of these first three Blessings, and 
are able to follow 
them in their everyday life. They 
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even find that 
Blessing Four (Living in an 
Amenable Location), 
makes sense in their everyday lives 
— because in 
any case they have to choose the 
location for their 
home and the place where they go 
to school, college 
and university. However, they may 
have difficulty 
with the claim that the sort of 
deeds we have 
done in the past can affect our 
quality of life and 
even the quality of society. It is 
obvious that with 
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with this Blessing we are starting 
to deal with more 
subtle phenomena than before. 
Al. Success and Failure in Life 
Success and failure might appear 
on many different 
levels — on the level of society, 
the level of lifestyle, 
the level of personality or the level 
of the mind 
itself — but basically it comes 
down to quality of 
mind on four levels 
A person blessed with success on 
the level of the 
mind will have a quality mind —
that is a mind that 
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Blessing Five: 
Having done good 
deeds 
in one's past 
78 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
is stable and unwavering, hard to 
distract, pure and 
radiant, spacious and light, 
adaptable to any sort 
of task and implicitly happy and 
peaceful. Those 
who are less lucky might have a 
mind that is dull, 
inert and easily distracted. 
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A person blessed with success on 
the level of the 
personality might may find that 
people believe every 
word of what they say. Those who 
are less lucky 
might find that even if they tell the 
truth solidly for 
a month, no-one will believe them. 
A person blessed with success on 
the level of the 
lifestyle might seem to be born 
smart. Their discretion 
is reliable. Those who are less 
lucky might have 
such bad judgement that they 
become too afraid to 
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make any decisions, always 
hesitating or 
provaricating instead — and they 
miss life's opportunities 
as a result. Even though they might 
do their 
best at work and take painstaking 
care never to 
make any error — they may be 
disliked and discriminated 
against by their boss. 
A society blessed with success can 
muster all its 
human and natural resources to 
become a world 
leader. Less lucky countries, even 
those with educated 
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citizens and abundant natural 
resources can 
be reduced to deserts by corruption 
and civil strife. 
B. DEFINITIONS 
Bl. "Merit": Definitions and 
Characteristics 
This residue of positivity or 
strength of mind which 
we have built up for ourselves in 
their past, is called 
by the technical term, `merit'. The 
Pali word `purifiA' 
from which we derive the word 
`merit', can be 
translated in different ways 
according to context 
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just like the word `well' can mean 
`healthy' or `properly' 
depending on the context. Thus, 
the word 
`puririA' has many meanings — it 
can mean goodness, 
purification, cleansing, happiness 
or full. This 
spectrum of definitions, tell us not 
only the characteristics 
of merit, but also something of the 
function 
of merit too. The word `merit' in 
English 
[pufifiA] can sometimes be 
confusing because it 
makes us think of being honoured 
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or praised or 
approved of by another person. 
However, all that 
is intended in this case is that it is 
`deserved'. It occurs 
spontaneously without needing a 
third party 
to award it to us. A general 
definition of merit is: 
'the result of doing a good deed'. It 
has the following 
characteristics: 
1. It is distilled in the mind as soon 
as we perform 
a good deed; 
2. Is the agent by which the quality 
of the mind is 
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improved; 
3. It can be accumulated; 
4. Merit belongs to the one who 
performed its originating 
deed; 
5. As we use it, normally it will 
become exhausted; 
6. The amount of merit depends on 
strength of intention, 
amount of effort and amount of 
gratitude 
and ingratitude of the producing 
action. 
7. Gives effects attracting 
favourable circumstances 
at four levels: mind, personality, 
lifestyle and 
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society. 
If you are an advanced meditator 
you can use your 
meditation to see what merit is 
like. However, the 
most that a normal meditator can 
see of the merit is 
like its shadow. We see its effects 
and so deduce 
that it must be present. We can 
compare merit to 
electricity (i.e. something which 
we cannot see or 
feel because it is nothing more 
than a source of 
power which cannot be observed 
with the naked 
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eye). Normally, we cannot see 
electricity, only the 
effects it causes such as the heat 
from an iron when 
electricity is connected, or the 
electric shock which 
ensues if one grasps a live wire; it 
enters a light bulb 
and gives us the light by which we 
can read in the 
evening; it goes into a radiator and 
brings us 
warmth; it enters a refrigerator and 
stops our food 
from decaying and it enters a 
motor and makes it 
to spin. In the same way that we 
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