Why You Need a Great Deal of Merit

Have you ever wondered: "Why are some people wealthy, healthy, and beautiful? Why are others poor, sick, and unattractive?" In one dharma talk, Thầy Thích Chân Quang made it clear: it all comes down to merit. What is merit? And why do we need a great deal of it? Let us explore together.

Merit — the root of all differences

The teacher said: "A person is rich because they have merit. A person is poor because they lack merit." Merit determines health, talent, beauty, and success in life. Every stroke of good fortune you receive is the result of blessings from merit you have created in this life and in many past lives. So where does merit come from? From your own actions: doing good deeds, accumulating virtue, and staying away from what is wrong.

A person who succeeds in their work does so because they have merit. A person who fails in their work does so because they lack merit.

Positive and negative merit — a number that shapes destiny

Imagine merit as a number. When you are in the positive range, you are healthy, wealthy, and attractive. When you are at zero, life is ordinary. But when you fall into the negative, you begin to suffer illness, debt, and misfortune. In his talk, the teacher gave an example: a person with a high positive level of health is like a "superhero" in the movies. A person with negative health lies bedridden, moaning in pain. Similarly, negative wealth means being in debt, and negative beauty means being unattractive. When your merit turns negative, you become a hole, a hollow — water pours in from the high ground, meaning you must depend on and cling to others. This brings suffering not only to you but also to your loved ones. The teacher told of a gravely ill person bedridden for many years, whose family suffered greatly, selling their home to pay for treatment. That is merit gone negative.

When our health rises gradually from zero, we can manage. But have you seen those superheroes in the movies? Those are people whose health reaches plus one hundred.

Living with dignity through merit

Human life always needs a measure of dignity — the experience of being respected. With merit, a person naturally radiates a kind of aura that makes others cherish them. Without merit, even if you try to draw attention, no one takes notice. The teacher gave the examples of Mother Teresa and the movement of Marx — one fought for workers, the other did charitable work. As Buddhists, we create dignity through the very act of making merit.

We too claim dignity for ourselves. How do we claim it? ... By making merit ourselves.

Merit prevents us from falling into the lower realms

Within samsara (cycle of rebirth), blessings from merit are a shield that protects us from falling into the three realms of suffering: hell, hungry ghosts, and animals. Those who have unfortunately created heavy karma, if they know repentance and diligently make merit, can still be reborn as human beings, even if some remaining consequences may be unwelcome. The teacher told the story of a man who killed dogs and was destined to have his throat cut in the next life — but because he had made much merit, he was not reborn as a dog to be slaughtered; instead, he simply underwent surgery for a goiter.

In the next life, we do not fall into being a dog to be killed by others. When we are reborn, we are still human.

Merit gives us the capacity to help others

To help others, we need health, money, and wisdom. Merit provides us with these conditions. Thầy Chân Quang once shared a painful memory: as a child, he saw a neighbor whose house had burned down. The neighbor cried out, "Dũng, my house has burned to the ground!" and he could do nothing to help because he was too poor. This haunted him for the rest of his life. Had he possessed more merit, he could have helped.

If at that moment I had had more merit, I could have given him something, and my conscience would have been more at peace.

Merit gives us freedom

Merit keeps us from being bound by imprisonment. The teacher told the story of a drug lord in Mexico who escaped prison through a tunnel dug from outside — clearly a criminal, yet he still got away. This reminds us that merit may keep the law from catching us, but that is not the purpose of practice. True merit is freedom from suffering.

Merit is what keeps the law from catching them, from finding them.

So let us diligently make merit. Every good deed, every kind word, every act of help is a seed of blessings from merit. Do not let your merit run dry, and do not let it turn negative. Accumulate a great deal of merit so that you may live beautifully, live healthily, and become someone of benefit to the world. That is truly the path of happiness that the Buddha taught.