merit-making
Accumulating spiritual credit
Merit-making is the practice of performing good deeds to accumulate spiritual credit, especially in Buddhist traditions.
Acts like giving alms, supporting monks, or visiting temples generate merit that improves one's karma and prospects for favorable rebirth: She went to the temple for merit-making on her father's birthday.
The concept shapes daily religious practice across Southeast Asia.
Virtuous giving practice
- sanghaBuddhist religious community
- offeringsThings presented or given
- templeSacred worship structure
- monksCloistered religious men
alms · puja · karma · rebirth · generosity · robes · food offerings · precepts
Gifts to organizations
- philanthropyGenerous giving for others
- givingTransferring to another
- almsgivingGiving to the needy
- tithingReligious tenth contribution
charity · benevolence · selflessness · community service · offerings · helping · kindness · volunteerism
Moral goodness or merit
- good deedsHelpful, moral actions
- accumulationCollected mass over time
- afterlifeExistence beyond mortality
- reincarnationSoul's rebirth after death
ethical conduct · compassion · generosity · intentions · consequences · cause and effect · purification · blessings
Formal event marking occasions
- festivalsOrganized communal celebrations
- VesakBuddhist commemoration day
- ancestor venerationReligious devotion to lineage
- prayersReverent petitions to deity
processions · observances · holy days · fasting · vows · pilgrimages · circumambulation · prostrations
dana
Virtuous giving practice
monks · alms · puja · karma · rebirth · generosity · robes · food offerings · precepts · meditation
donations
Gifts to organizations
- philanthropyGenerous giving for others
- givingTransferring to another
- almsgivingGiving to the needy
tithing · charity · benevolence · selflessness · community service · offerings · helping · kindness · volunteerism · welfare
virtue
Moral goodness or merit
- good deedsHelpful, moral actions
- accumulationCollected mass over time
- afterlifeExistence beyond mortality
reincarnation · ethical conduct · compassion · generosity · intentions · consequences · cause and effect · purification · blessings · transfer
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
- festivalsOrganized communal celebrations
- VesakBuddhist commemoration day
- ancestor venerationReligious devotion to lineage
prayers · processions · observances · holy days · fasting · vows · pilgrimages · circumambulation · prostrations · recitation
merit-makingsin
Violation of divine law
demerit · papa · sinning · transgression · bad karma
merit-makingevildoing
Immoral harmful conduct
wickedness · immorality · maleficence · cruelty · selfishness
merit-makingimpiety
Irreverence toward the divine
sacrilege · desecration · profanation · defilement · irreligion