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can use electricity 
without really ever having seen it, 
most of us have 
to be able to content with accruing 
merit without 
seeing it for ourselves. Merit 
cannot be observed 
with the naked eye, nevertheless 
we have the feeling 
that when we perform a 
meritorious deed, that 
the mind is refreshed and loses any 
sense of irritation 
or crampedness leaving the mind 
spacious, 
light and content. Most people in 
the world have 
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never seen the real nature of merit 
itself, and thus 
have their doubts as to whether 
doing good deeds 
Blessing Five: Having Done Good 
Deeds in One's Past 79 
really creates merit or not. 
However, those with 
more experience of meditation, 
who have seen the 
real nature of the merit for 
themselves, will see the 
merit as clearly as others see the 
rain falling from 
the heavens. 
B.2 "In the past": Defined 
At this point we have to examine 
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the meaning of 
the merits that we have performed 
in the past —
and this may apply to anything in 
your past 
whether it means yesterday or 
many years ago. In 
fact our past can be divided into 
two periods: 
I. Our Recent Past: which means 
the time from 
which we were born from our 
mother's womb, 
and opened our eyes for the first 
time to look at 
the world right up to yesterday. 
2. Our Distant Past: which means 
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all of our existences 
and experiences up to the time 
when we 
entered the womb in the most 
recent lifetime. 
To describe both of these periods 
of our past 
in a simpler way we can say that 
the merit in 
our recent past is all the good 
deeds we have 
done this lifetime since our 
childhood onwards. 
Examples of such good deeds 
might 
include helping our parents wash 
the dishes 
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when we were young. We might 
have helped 
with the family business as we 
became older. 
Eventually, when we completed 
our education, 
and got down to a steady career, 
we have divided 
our time between earning a living 
and 
accruing good deeds for ourselves. 
All these 
good deeds right from the time 
when we were 
born can be referred to as merit in 
our recent 
past. 
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As for the merit in our distant past, 
this refers 
to the merits that we have accrued 
in our 
previous lives, whether it may be 
last lifetime 
or a hundred lifetimes ago. 
B3. Quality of Merit 
Apart from categorizing merit 
according towhen it 
was accrued merit can be 
categorized according to 
its quality: mundane merit 
[lokiyapufiriA] and transcendental 
merit [lokuttarapuliriA]. 
1. Mundane merit is the merit that 
people are generally 
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familiar with 
that is to say for 
people 
for whose mind is not completely 
pure at the time 
they do the good deed. Such merit 
can run out. 
When the merit is used up, it will 
no longer give 
its benefits — just like a tank full 
of petrol which 
has a limited range. 
2. Transcendental Merit is the 
merit that arises in 
the pure mind. Such merit is 
steadfast and will 
never diminish or be exhausted. 
Thus the purity of the mind also 
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has an important 
role to play in dictating the quality 
of the merit we 
are able to accrue for ourselves. 
C. ACCRUING MERIT 
Cl. Three Major ways to Accrue 
Merit 
There are Ten Major Ways to 
Accrue Merit. As 
mentioned in the preceding 
sections, merit arises 
as the result of doing good deeds. 
Unfortunately, 
simply knowing that "good" is 
"meritorious" 
doesn't explain how to go about 
doing good deeds. 
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"Goodness" or "merit" can become 
meaningless 
and cliched if they are not defined 
in the context 
of practice, and for this reason that 
Buddhism summarizes 
the different ways of practice of 
good 
deeds into a collection of ten types 
of practice in 
three categories through which 
merit canbe accrued. 
For the benefit of such people, the 
three 
categories of ways to accrue merit 
[puririAkiriyavatthu] are —
generosity, keeping 
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the precepts and meditation. 
I. Generosity includes merit 
generated through 
generosity, merit generated 
through service, 
merit generated through the 
transfer of merit to 
others and merit generated through 
rejoicing in 
the merit of others. 
2. Keeping the Precepts includes 
merit generated 
through keeping the Precepts. 
3. Meditation includes merit 
generated through 
meditation, merit generated 
through humility 
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towards those of high virtue, merit 
generated 
through listening to Dhamma 
sermons, merit 
generated through giving a 
discourse on the 
Dhamma and merit generated 
through correcting 
our assumptions about the world. 
80 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
C2. Ten Major Ways to accrue 
merit 
If you expand these three 
categories into their ten 
types of practice we get the 
following: 
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1. Generosity: this means merit 
generated through 
generosity [dAnamaya]. Some may 
wonder why 
merit can be accrued as the result 
of giving. Merit 
arises in the mind as explained 
above. The mind 
in its natural state takes the form of 
a clear sphere 
of diamond brightness, however, 
when polluted 
by defilements, these reduce the 
sparkling mind 
to dullness and weakness, lowering 
the potential 
of the mind. If a person does 
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something generous, 
giving away some part of that 
wealth 
which is the source of their 
anxiety, the mind 
becomes more at ease. Merit arises 
and this merit 
lights up the mind for a while. The 
radiance 
gradually accrues in the mind. The 
brightness, 
or the merit accumulates in the 
mind as generous 
deeds are performed regularly. The 
merit 
that arises from generosity is 
generated by two 
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actions of the mind: firstly, the 
removal of the 
defilement of greed from the mind 
— something 
which immediately upgrades the 
quality of the 
mind and of our character too; 
secondly, as a result 
of the benefit obtained from the 
gift by the 
recipient — the more benefit is 
obtained by the 
recipient, especially from a gift 
that is hard-wearing, 
the more merit will be accrued by 
the 
giver.There are many different 
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forms of generosity. 
I. Giving useful material objects 
to others, 
whether it is food, clothing, shelter 
or medicine, 
will generate merit for the giver. 
The 
most basic act of generosity is the 
gift of something 
that is beneficial to the recipient 
[vatthudAna]. 
2. Giving worldly knowledge 
[vidhayadAna] 
Merit is also generated if you give 
the gift of 
knowledge that is beneficial to the 
recipient. 
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of benefit to any recipient. 
Knowledge may 
be vocational skills — such as how 
to set oneself 
up as a tailor. 
3. Giving spiritual knowledge 
[dhammadAna] 
of benefit to the recipient is 
knowledge of the 
Dhamma such as the advice 
contained in this 
book. 
4. Forgiving: There is also a way 
of giving where 
you don't have to make any 
physical effort at 
all — when you are angry with Mr. 
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A, Mr. B 
and Mr. C. All of them have at 
some time or 
other contributed trouble to your 
life. Suppose 
that one day, you decide to put an 
end to all 
the anger and forgive them for all 
the upsets 
they have caused you in the past 
— and start 
afresh. In such a case, as soon as 
the thought 
crosses you mind to forgive them, 
merit will 
arise in your mind. Even though 
you haven't 
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expended even the slightest 
physical effort, 
you have managed to earn yourself 
merit 
though giving `forgiveness' 
[abhAyadAna]. 
Even giving others a smile instead 
of a scowl 
will bring you merit according to 
the same 
principle of forgiveness! 
2. Humility: This means merit 
generated through 
Humility towards those of High 
Virtue 
[apacAyanamaya]. You may be 
surprised that 
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even without expending any 
physical effort, simply 
possessing the attitude of humility 
can cause 
one to accrue merit. The person 
who, instead of 
finding fault with others is both 
humble and respectful, 
has a virtue that will allow him to 
find 
the good in each and every person 
he meets. He 
will put others' faults to one side. 
Such humility 
will lead the owner to accrue 
merit, because at 
the very least, they will always see 
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the world in 
a positive light, allowing them to 
remain in a 
pleasant mood the whole day long. 
If they are 
perceptive they will have the 
wisdom to see the 
virtues in the hearts of others and 
instil themselves 
with those virtues which they see 
in others 
— accruing even greater merit for 
themselves. 
3. Service: This means merit 
generated through 
Service [veyyAvaccamaya]. This 
is the domain 
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