Merit Is the Pure Energy That Governs All Beings and All Things

Merit (bun) is the pure energy that governs all beings and all things, existing for the benefit of every life in saṃsāra. Every system needs energy to run, even though each system uses a different kind. Merit is the pure energy behind the control of all other energies, directing them toward benefit. For any being or thing to find peace, goodness, and fulfillment, it needs merit to sustain its very state — even our body sitting here needs merit to remain upright, or else we'd collapse; when merit runs out, that means death. Every activity that reaches completion depends on merit.

Merit Arises in the Heart, When Wholesomeness Seizes the Role of Ruling Master

Merit arises in the heart. When the wholesome nature manages to seize the role of ruling master, a wholesome mind arises together with wholesome mental factors, and merit flows in through the brightness of these wholesome mental factors. Every resulting blessing is the fruit of whichever mental factor merit flows through — for instance, giving yields longevity, complexion, happiness, strength, and eloquence. Merit resides in the subtlest level of the elements of Dhamma within, at the center of the body. Once merit arises, it is stored at the center of the sphere of Dhamma at the body's center. But merit flows in from the subtlest level, as if flowing down all the way from Nibbāna. When we perform a wholesome cause, merit flows through every body — from the human body, through the subtle and coarse dharmakāya of the Arahant, the subtle and coarse dharmakāya of the Anagami, the subtle and coarse dharmakāya of the Sakadagami, the dharmakāya of Sotapanna fruit and path, the subtle and coarse Gotrabhu body, the subtle and coarse arupa-brahma body, the subtle and coarse rupa-brahma body, the subtle and coarse divine body, the subtle human body, down to this coarse human body. As merit flows through, it refines the spheres of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and knowledge-and-vision of liberation in each body, storing merit within the sphere of Dhamma of every body. Every body depends on the human body — our entire lineage of elements and Dhamma depends on it. When the human body performs a wholesome cause, every body along that lineage stands ready to help continuously. We are never truly alone — countless bodies stand behind us, supporting us at all times.

The Nature and Origin of Merit

Merit takes the form of a bright circular sphere within, brimming with purity and happiness. Within the sphere of merit are also subtle treasures of every kind — physical treasure, material treasure, virtuous qualities, gain, honor, praise, happiness, and the path and fruit of Nibbāna — all complete within this radiant sphere. As merit flows in, it wells up continuously, generating a stream of merit's generosity — a luminous stream of treasure at the center of the sphere. Merit arises in two ways: (1) intentionally doing good, and (2) resisting evil. When wholesomeness seizes the role of ruling master in the heart, the mind is freed from the dimension of the unwholesome and the neutral. The mind becomes self-aware; wholesomeness guides and teaches it to understand things as they truly are, as if we thought it ourselves. The mind is guided toward proper conscience, toward shame and fear of wrongdoing. Merit flows in to help the mind successfully resist evil. Wholesomeness teaches us wisdom and understanding until vision arises, giving us a noble life goal, inspiration, perseverance, and the resolve to build a good future through sacrifice and patience, upholding correct principles, with loving-kindness, unshaken by the temptations of wrongdoing. Merit flows in to help the mind successfully create good things. Our world flourishes precisely because merit lies behind it.

The Role of Merit: Purifying Stains, Bringing Happiness, and Subtle Treasure

Merit consists of purity, happiness, and subtle treasure together with a completed blueprint. Merit's purity has the great role of purifying stains — the impurities of the energy of demerit. In Pali, "puñña" means to cleanse the defilement of the mind, both the results of demerit and every form of suffering. In the Puññavipāka Sutta, Tipiṭaka Volume 23, the Buddha declared: "Monks, do not fear merit — the word 'merit' is a name for happiness." Every life desires physical and mental ease — sitting, lying, standing, and walking with ease; eating and drinking with ease; speaking with ease; working and caring for family with ease — all of this depends on merit. Without merit, no ease is possible. The third role is the subtle treasure within the sphere of merit, which draws in coarse worldly treasures into our lives — physical treasure, material treasure, virtue, retinue, gain, honor, praise, happiness, and the path and fruit of Nibbāna. The completed blueprint is like a blueprint that merit will bring to fruition according to its own timing.

How Merit and Demerit Bear Fruit: Whichever Sphere Is Larger Dominates

Since the spheres of merit and demerit are both spheres of energy, they are stored within the same dimension inside the sphere of Dhamma — the dimension of energy — with whichever sphere is larger suppressing the other from manifesting. Merit works both externally and internally. Externally, it acts on the body: the larger sphere exercises its controlling power by releasing a current that draws in various factors, or leads us to places where the conditions and atmosphere have already been arranged according to the completed blueprint. For instance, when an accident is about to happen, we may be drawn toward a place the demerit side has already prepared. Internally, the energy current drives the system's processes to fulfill that nature's own goal, whether merit, demerit, or neutral. For instance, the pure energy current of merit drives the process of the wholesome system to eliminate the stains within a dimension that cause difficulty and hardship, or to eliminate the hindrances (nivarana). Once fully eliminated, whatever clings us to a coarser dimension disappears, and the mind is freed from that coarse dimension into a subtler one.

The Time Bomb Set in Our DNA Before Birth, and the Predictable Law of Kamma

The law of kamma works at the sphere of Dhamma; the law of the three characteristics works at the heart. Before entering our parents' womb, if we carry a large proportion of demerit, a dark sphere leads the way into rebirth. Upon conception, a program is set into our DNA to shape our form according to the blueprint; the causes for various diseases are embedded into corresponding parts of the body, waiting for the moment when the sphere of demerit grows larger than the sphere of merit and envelops it — at that point the sphere of merit can do nothing, and the current of demerit is released. It's like terrorists stationed at various points, who, once given resources, weapons, or payment, carry out their work — damaging the corresponding organ. The law of kamma is the fruit of actions already installed on the timeline of our life, and can therefore be predicted. The law of the three characteristics, however, cannot be predicted. The Buddha said that some things can be predicted and some cannot — unlike in science, where Einstein claimed everything is predictable, while Niels Bohr claimed otherwise, and the two camps never stopped arguing. But the Buddha said both exist: the law of kamma can be predicted because it is the fruit of actions already installed; the law of the three characteristics cannot, because it is a matter of contest in each present moment — whoever gains control possesses the human body, superimposing their own mind, mental factors, body, feeling, mind, and Dhamma, forcing the person to perform either causes of demerit and misfortune, or causes of merit and wholesomeness, which then become sealed spheres of merit or demerit placed along the timeline of life.

Given the Bomb Is Already Set, What Should We Do? Abide Correctly Within the System of Merit

Someone asked: given that the sphere of demerit is larger and releasing its current, causing physical problems, what should we do? The answer is to abide correctly in merit, aligned with what is actually needed. There are many kinds of merit — for instance, the ten pāramī: giving, precepts, renunciation, wisdom, effort, patience, truthfulness, resolution, loving-kindness, and equanimity. If what we do doesn't align, it cannot fix the problem — needing one kind of merit but performing a cause that yields a different kind of benefit means it won't align with what's needed, and won't produce enough result to overcome the problem. This programming happens within the DNA, waiting for the moment the sphere of demerit outgrows the sphere of merit and releases its current — then all the embedded programs activate at once.

The Buddhist Realm and the Secular Realm: Two Systems Working Together

Someone asked about the meaning of "Buddhist realm" (Phutthajak) versus "secular realm" (Anajak). The Buddhist realm is our lineage of elements and Dhamma — from the subtle body, celestial body, brahma body, arupa-brahma body, the dharmakāya of Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami, to the dharmakāya of the Arahant — whose role is to bring in pure energy to refine us, elevating our mind and heart to nobility and goodness, with the Triple Gem overseeing the wholesome system and Nibbāna behind it all. The secular realm, by contrast, has its own caretakers — cosmic administrators (chakkraphat) at various levels, from minor to great to supreme, with their retinue of jeweled elephants, horses, generals, treasurers, wheels, and consorts, who help bring happiness in every area of life, supporting the Buddhist realm so it can fulfill its duty without worry, moving steadily toward Nibbāna. But most humans don't understand their own role and duty, and so continue endlessly cycling through birth and death in saṃsāra. The cosmic administrator already resides at the center of our sphere of merit, managing all our resources. When we perform wholesome causes, wholesome states draw in the stream of merit and treasure, together with the completed blueprint, and store it with the administrator.

Elemental Spirits and the Exchange of Merit for Wishes

In every dimension there are beings of knowledge and power; the subtler the dimension, the greater their knowledge, especially in the brahma realms. When celestial beings are about to exhaust their merit, they fear being reborn in the brahma realm, and so seek helpers — creating elemental spirits (kāyasit) or the Seven Treasures of a cosmic administrator to use, much like we use a mobile phone. When someone wants to use one, there must be an exchange — and what's exchanged is merit. Once we obtain a treasure or crystal sphere composed in the brahma realm and make a wish upon it, the elemental spirit performs its function. When we do good deeds, it's as if we've promised to share a portion of the resulting merit — when we perform a cause of merit, that merit is sent to the owner of the elemental spirit, who then sends merit back to sustain us in turn.

Story: The Luminous Room in an American House

This is a true story from the United States — it was even made into a film. A woman wanted to buy a house and consulted a friend who enjoyed meditating and could connect with her subtle body, allowing her to perceive, through subtle sight, how dark or bright each house appeared. When the woman found a house she liked, she brought her friend along. Upon entering, the friend walked straight to a small room — a dressing room — opened the door, and sat down, closing her eyes, absorbing the purity and brightness for over an hour. Afterward, she said, "You must buy this house." Asked why, she explained that though the room was small, it was extremely bright and warm, cool and comfortable. The woman contacted the previous owner through the agent and asked why they were selling — the owner explained they had to relocate for work. She then asked what the owner had used that dressing room for. The former owner fell silent for a while, then asked why she was asking. When told that her friend could perceive hidden things and had seen the room's brightness, the owner admitted: that room was where she used to pray and make petitions to God, since her freelance work meant relying only on herself and on God. Being self-employed, needing to find work between jobs, she had chosen that small, cozy room precisely because its modest size let her control every corner of the atmosphere — turning every particle of it wholesome — which made faith and warmth arise more easily. She spent hours there, focused on recollecting her God — which is itself a form of concentrated awareness, continuously drawing in pure energy to purify stains and build a mass of purity, with her wishes attaching to the center of the sphere of merit. The cosmic administrator would then compound this merit until it reached full measure, at which point it could be exchanged to draw in the factors needed to fulfill her wish.

Our Own Merit Must Be the Foundation, Not Mere Pleading

Some people misunderstand — offering merit to a local spirit hoping it will help sell their land, expecting merit in return, which has nothing to do with how it actually works. Our own merit is the foundation; whether we succeed or not depends on our own merit. A local spirit helps because our merit compels it to help — not because we beg for help. Our elder teacher said the same thing: our own merit is the foundation. Whether others help us or not depends on our own merit — our merit compels them to help, not our pleading. If we lack merit and go begging for help, they simply won't help. The sole duty of a human being is to accumulate as much merit as possible — this is the core teaching our elders pass down. But the unwholesome tells us to be lazy — wanting success while being lazy — misguiding us into wasting time, money, composure, and everything else, with no benefit gained.

Q&A: Can a Cosmic Administrator Be Upgraded?

Someone asked whether a cosmic administrator can be upgraded within one's lifetime, or remains fixed at one level. The teacher answered: yes, it can be upgraded — it depends on whether we connect with wholesomeness or unwholesomeness. Wholesomeness will upgrade it; unwholesomeness will press it down. The only thing we can truly rely on is wholesomeness, with the Triple Gem overseeing the system and Nibbāna standing behind it. When we rely on wholesomeness, we appear bright and radiant at the center of the Triple Gem, and the Triple Gem appears bright and radiant at our own center — both we and the Triple Gem appearing at the center of Nibbāna, the main station. The Triple Gem is like a substation residing within each of us. The stream of merit's generosity from Nibbāna wells up through countless knowing, powerful beings — more numerous than the grains of sand in the four great oceans. If we don't abide within this system but instead abide within another, that other system also has its own countless background of beings working on us in turn.

Story: The Durian Orchard That Improved After Changing Hands

Someone asked about group-level cosmic administrators, such as a company with a human team — each carrying its own administrator jointly supporting the organization. An example was given of a meritorious person who bought a durian orchard. The previous owner had sold it because, for many years, the fruit had come out dull-colored, hard, and inedible — unsellable — until, believing the quality simply couldn't be helped, they sold it off. Yet in the very year ownership changed hands, the fruit turned brilliant golden and beautiful. The reason: every material substance has an elemental spirit (kāyasit) governing its structure. These spirits come in three kinds — wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral — each serving under a cosmic administrator. The new owner, whose inner administrator was of high quality, could manage both coarse and subtle resources effectively. But the previous owner's administrator had been downgraded to a minor rank, no longer powerful enough to compel the wholesome elemental spirits to work, since the unwholesome spirits held sway — because their sphere of demerit outweighed the sphere of merit, and the unwholesome elemental spirits controlled the soil and plants, ensuring poor results. Once ownership changed, the new owner's administrator, of far greater power, corrected and upgraded the elemental spirits, sending the element of merit to govern all resources, coarse and subtle alike, transforming poor yields into good ones. Someone then asked about a similar case with a restaurant, where the same staff produced inconsistent flavor — the same principle applies, depending on the owner's administrator, who draws in the right factors, such as skilled and knowledgeable people, and relevant expertise, to improve the business. We humans cannot outmatch a cosmic administrator — when the unwholesome uses the human body to interfere with the administrator's work, thinking we know better, it usually only makes things worse.