พุทธพจน์สอนว่าควรทำบุญบ่อยๆ และทำความพอใจในบุญนั้น เพราะศรัทธาที่ประกอบด้วยเหตุผลจะนำไปสู่การสั่งสมบุญอย่างสม่ำเสมอ เมื่อวิกฤตเกิดขึ้นให้ระลึกถึงบุญที่สั่งสมไว้ นึกถึงพระรัตนตรัยและพระนิพพาน บุญจะถูกทับทวีให้มากพอที่จะพลิกวิกฤตให้เป็นโอกาสThe Buddha taught that one who would make merit should make it often, and should take delight in it — because faith grounded in reason leads to steady, ongoing accumulation of merit. When a crisis strikes, recall the merit you have stored, bring to mind the Triple Gem and Nibbana, and that merit will be compounded enough to turn crisis into opportunity.
On the occasion of the 30,000-temple kathin offering, someone asked the teacher to describe the merit gained by those who took part as sponsors, and to expand on the Buddha's teaching about making merit often.
The merit of caring for the Buddhist religion
Offering kathin to 30,000 temples is an essential duty for those who protect and care for the Buddhist religion, preserving the Lord Buddha's teaching so that people may practise it. It is the one path by which the world can rely on system, cared for by the Triple Gem with Nibbana standing behind it. When the faithful encounter the symbol of the Triple Gem, their hearts brighten and rejoice, and the stream of merit flows through both giver and onlooker alike. Those who care for the religion with genuine sincerity become the dearest treasure of Nibbana, receiving protection and care beyond counting.
Making merit often, and taking joy in it
The Buddha taught: if a person is to make merit, they should make it often, and should take delight in it — accumulating merit brings . Delighting in merit is faith, which begins with an open-hearted acceptance, then respect, reverence, devotion, and finally faith grounded in reason and cause — quite different from blind superstition, which has no reasoning behind it. "Wholesome" () means wise; wisdom requires understanding cause and condition — knowing how a good cause produces a good result. Once faith in merit is established, the habit of making merit often follows naturally.
When crisis strikes, recall your merit
Life sometimes brings success, and sometimes brings suffering and failure, because the three natures remain intermingled within us for as long as we have not attained arahantship. The unwholesome will seize control and drive us toward greed, hatred, and delusion, storing up misfortune; when that stored misfortune is released, crisis follows. The only way through is to recall the merit and goodness we have accumulated — bringing to mind images of past good deeds, or the Triple Gem and Nibbana. Wholesome then arises in the heart, the Triple Gem appears as a path of light, and Nibbana, standing behind it all, compounds that merit greatly to resolve the crisis and reveal genuine opportunities to turn life around. Without recalling one's merit, one is left relying alone on patient endurance.
Resolving repeatedly at the center of the body
Merit does not come from giving alone; it also comes from precepts, meditation, renunciation, wisdom, and the other perfections among the Ten Perfections. Since the human mind's and capability are limited, we must repeat our resolutions again and again, so that the wise and powerful ones can bring them to completion on our behalf. Whenever we face a problem, we should bring the mind back to rest at the very source of merit — , — and let the mind settle there, still and at ease, because this is the meeting point of every one of the eighteen bodies. Resting the mind still at this point lets the stream of merit surge through, illuminating every body and connecting all the way to Nibbana — and the wonder of resolving our difficulties follows.