Merit is Behind All Success!

Georgia Meditation Center

Class Discussion October 10th

After our guided meditation, our class discussion centered upon merit. It was very important to me to point out to our class how much faith and conviction I have in creating merit every day, and I will share with you the reason why. I shared with the class that every day I do three things to the best of my ability generosity, upholding the 5 morale conducts, and meditating. Many of our members, are familiar with the acts of accumulating merit. It is important to remember,  in order to progress in meditation body, speech, and mind play a part and they must be align with your progression, a topic we often talk about in class.

Something that my mother has always taught me is that merit is behind all success she often repeats this in Thai “boon chuck son” which translate into merit is behind all things working out to the best possible outcome. I have always been a believer in accumulating merit, and I continue to do acts of good deeds, not ever expecting anything in return, because what I get is genuine happiness. The interesting thing is that I have notice positive results do come my way. My mother always says “bee wish upon your merit to help you” this I rarely do, because I am never in dire need, but time and time again when I do wish upon my merit it has never failed me. Others may find it as coincidence and luck, and I probably would have at one time in my life, but now from the core of my being  I affirm that all success in my life are a result of my good deeds, it just has to be, because so many great things that have happen to me have been remarkable.

First let’s read from the excerpts from our Master Nun, Khun Yay’s book, and then I will follow it with a recent incident in my life that  has sealed the deal for me in terms of believing that Merit is behind all success.

Succeed through merit (Wisdom From an Enlightened Mind – Khun Yay’s Teachings)

Whatever  you  set  out  to  accomplish, keep  your  merits  in mind.  If you possess merit, merit will help you succeed in the things that you do. Merit is your refuge. Center your mind in it and everything will fall in place.

Using merit correctly (Wisdom From an Enlightened Mind – Khun Yay’s Teachings)

The act of charity returns to us in good  fortune. The act of mental cultivation brings us deliverance.  Meditate frequently.

Before merit can be generated, there is a great deal of effort involved. Merit making can be complete only when the following elements are present: faith, a good  “field of merit”, an  act  of good  deed, and  the  right combination of everything else. Since merit  is not so easy to come  by, do not waste  an opportunity  to acquire  it. Preserve your merit and  know  how  to use  your merit the right way. Merit is your vehicle to success and happiness

I got married in Mexico last week on October 6^th planning this destination wedding had been in the works for at least a year, and finally it was here. My then fiancé and I had headed off to our destination a few days before our guests would arrive. Two weeks before the wedding, I went for a general cleaning and somehow after the cleaning ended up with the worst tooth pain in my life which kept me up for 3 days straight, where I was not able to eat or sleep. Therefore a week before my wedding my dentist suggested that I get a root canal, because I could run the risk of a flare-up, in other words I had a time bomb in my mouth. I was very hesitate to have oral surgery before flying out to Mexico, and totally had mixed emotions as to what to do. Get a root canal running the risk, that if something goes wrong I am in another country, or not doing anything at all and run the risk of being in excruciating pain. That was problem number 1 going into the wedding, I opted to take a chance. Problem number 2, when we arrived to Mexico, the forecast was rain every day, totally depressing as a bride. In fact when we got there it was raining all day and night for 2 days straight, Dan, my now husband, told me about a woman he saw in the lobby who was in tears because of the forecast, and this lady was only in Mexico for her honeymoon, here I was a bride, and everything that we had planned centered on good weather!  Now here is the big KICKER, guest were scheduled to arrive on Thursday, October 4^th we had planned a Welcome Dinner for 46 people, an hour before the Welcome Dinner I was told my little brother, was not allowed to board the plan because his passport wouldn’t scan!

Going into it all I just kept wishing upon my merit to have all my boxes checked no flare-up of tooth, good weather for our activities, and my brother being able to get on a flight the following day. At the time, I felt like I would be pretty lucky if I were able to get 2/3 wishes. All 3 wishes came true for me, and we had an absolutely fabulous time!   My younger brother got on a plane the following day, the weather totally cooperated, and my tooth never flared up. Most people may just find this as being all coincidental that it all worked out,  but for me, I can only attest that my good deeds helped everything flow so naturally and perfectly. And this is only one example, out of many that have come true for me.

So with that I reminded the class how fortunate we are to have found a place like the Dhammakaya center that helps to create virtuous people and that everything that we learn is logical and it makes sense. The wisdom that we learn from the teachings of the Buddha does not contradict with any faith at all because in the end it is your life, here is wisdom to learn from and use it ever which way you choose. The core being to purify the mind, and with that wisdom develops and all that we learn clicks like a light bulb.

I told the class we need to come together to help spread meditation and invite  others to come learn with us, and accumulate good deeds together. I reminded the class that we are fortunate to be blessed with our Sangha who are our fertile field of merit, our  Venerables uphold 227 precepts, they meditate 4-6 hours a day and they have given up all material possession to pursue perfections, thus they are our fertile fields of merit. Continue to come to meditation class every week and try to accumulate the 3 forms of merit every day. I have a piggy bank at home where I put change in and when it fills up I give it to the Sangha, I uphold my 5 precepts of refraining from lying, sexual misconduct, stealing, intoxicants, and killing, and I meditate, doing all these things every day is something we all can do regardless of religion, and what harm is it to safeguard your future….none! So why not…….I think I inspired people in meditation class that day, at least I would like to think did! :) after class I had a few members tell me how inspired they are now. All I have to say is that we are here on this earth to pursue perfections and when we are fortunate to discover this and truly understand it we should share it to others and that is all I try to do. It's the very best thing I could have ever done with my time :)

Please join us next Wednesday, October 17^th we will have a guest Venerable visit us and he is looking forward to guiding class and teaching us wisdom of life.