Merit transfer

Merit transfer is the dedication of spiritual merit gained through wholesome actions to the welfare or awakening of others. It is practiced in several Buddhist traditions and related religious contexts.

Merit (Buddhism): In Buddhism, merit is the beneficial karmic potential produced by wholesome actions. Merit is the benefit that practitioners dedicate through this practice.
Pali Canon: The collection of scriptures preserved in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Its texts include early discussions of making merit and sharing it with departed beings.
Puja (Buddhism): A Buddhist devotional practice involving offerings, recitation, and acts of reverence. Practitioners commonly dedicate merit at the close of devotional ceremonies.
Transfer of merit in Jainism: The idea that religious merit can be conveyed between people within some Jain devotional settings. It provides a neighboring South Asian account with different doctrines of karma and liberation.
Dedication of merit: A ritual or devotional act that directs the benefit of wholesome deeds toward others. This is the central act by which merit transfer is performed.
Tirokudda Sutta: A short Pali discourse describing offerings for departed relatives and their resulting benefit. It is a canonical source for merit-sharing with deceased kin.
Buddhist funeral: A funeral shaped by Buddhist teachings and local customs concerning death and rebirth. Funerals often include merit-making and dedication for the deceased.
Karmic inheritance: The idea that one person may receive karmic consequences associated with another’s actions. It highlights the distinction between dedicating benefit and inheriting another person’s karma.
Karma in Buddhism: In Buddhism, karma is intentional action and its ethical consequences across experience and rebirth. Merit transfer depends on accounts of how wholesome actions bear beneficial consequences.
Ullambana Sutra: A Mahayana Buddhist sutra linking offerings by the monastic community with aid for the dead. Its narrative became a major East Asian model for dedicating merit to ancestors.

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