Merit = good karma ?
Merit = good karma ?
Is so-called ‘merit’ the same as so-called ‘good karma’?
-
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 11:53 pm
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Merit is normally accrued via wholesome actions (good karma). So it is an outcome of good karma, not good karma itself.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Put really simply:
Karma is Action
Vipaka is Consequence
So Merit may be seen as Vipaka resulting from positive Karma.
http://www.khyung.com ཁྲོཾ
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
-
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 11:53 pm
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Cause
and
Effect
and
Effect
-
- Posts: 2753
- Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:29 am
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Merits are secondary causes for "good" karma to manifest
Example: you desire a car, but if you dont have enough merits the car you want is difficult to manifest even if you have the money, and a lesser quality car might be more possible. If you don't have merits then no car will come.
Cause is your desire, secondary causes are merits. Having merits makes everything easier.
This is what i understand about how karma works.
Example: you desire a car, but if you dont have enough merits the car you want is difficult to manifest even if you have the money, and a lesser quality car might be more possible. If you don't have merits then no car will come.
Cause is your desire, secondary causes are merits. Having merits makes everything easier.
This is what i understand about how karma works.
true dharma is inexpressible.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
-
- Posts: 7885
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Merit=good karma.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Accumulating merit is a way to get good action?
What does that even mean?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Re: Merit = good karma ?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Seems there is a lot of confusion here, with people offering incorrect interpretations.
This wikipedia article is quite clear and comprehensive, I recommend people read it before posting their gibberish here again.
This wikipedia article is quite clear and comprehensive, I recommend people read it before posting their gibberish here again.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Re: Merit = good karma ?
It means people post in really short threads without reading the preceding comments which have already answered the question. Then they still post nonsense.
http://www.khyung.com ཁྲོཾ
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
Re: Merit = good karma ?
No. Merits are secondary causes for "good" karma vipaka to appear.javier.espinoza.t wrote: ↑Tue Apr 03, 2018 2:01 am Merits are secondary causes for "good" karma to manifest
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
-
- Posts: 7885
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Virtuous action creates merit/good karma. You can accumulate a store of merit/good karma. In the common Mahayana you must accumulate merit/good karma and awareness oth in order to become enlightened.
When merit/good karma ripens it is experienced as happiness or good circumstance. From the Wiki article you linked:
Vipāka (Sanskrit and Pāli) is a Buddhist term that refers to the ripening or maturation of karma (Pāli kamma), or intentional actions.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Re: Merit = good karma ?
You don't 'get' karma. 'Karma' is the word for your action(s). 'Vipaka' is the word for the consequence(s).
So what you wrote makes no sense, as Grigoris showed by translating it for you.
http://www.khyung.com ཁྲོཾ
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
-
- Posts: 7885
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am
Re: Merit = good karma ?
“Action/karma” can be positive, negative, or neutral. Once you talk about the quality of an action (pos, neg, or neutral) you are talking about a potency, an energy, that your action has produced. (You cannot talk about karma ripening without positing it in an unripened state.) If we are talking about a virtuous action what is produced is called “merit” or “good karma”.Karma' is the word for your action(s).
Meaning karma that has ripened.'Vipaka' is the word for the consequence(s).
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Re: Merit = good karma ?
No, the outcome of an action is not good karma, it is good karma VIPAKA. A good OUTCOME (vipaka) of ACTION (karma).
It is not rocket science. If you are going to use a term, use it correctly.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Re: Merit = good karma ?
Did you read the articles I linked too? No. Obviously.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE
"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Re: Merit = good karma ?
So you're saying that between an action and a consequence there is an outcome called 'merit' which isn't a consequence but is awaiting a consequence, even though it has been produced as a consequence of completed action?smcj wrote: ↑Tue Apr 03, 2018 2:11 pm“Action/karma” can be positive, negative, or neutral. Once you talk about the quality of an action you are talking about a potency, an energy, that your action has produced. You cannot talk about karma ripening without positing it in an unripened state. Between the time it’s produced and the time it ripens it is called “merit” or “good karma”.Karma' is the word for your action(s).
Meaning Karma that has ripened.'Vipaka' is the word for the consequence(s).
Positive karma is positive action, positive merit is a form of vipaka. I'm aware translators vary the definition of vipaka slightly, but to treat merit as consequence but not a consequence is illogical at best. You are not producing a potential for something else, you are producing a consequence which may lead to other actions and consequences.
If my work produces income it is a consequence. That income has not yet 'ripened' into paying my rent and I may squander it. But it is still a consequence, a 'completed' outcome in its own right, and therefore vipaka.
I have to admit that I find very distasteful aspects of Lama control can be attached to this idea of 'merit'. If you have created a positive action, we will tell you how to 'bank it' as Merit and what rules you must follow not to lose it all.
So it is being interposed between action and consequence, again illogical. If we perform action which prevent the positive outcome from previous positive actions then it is simple to see the karma-vipaka relationship.
http://www.khyung.com ཁྲོཾ
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath
Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)