Spirituality wasn't a big part of my life when I was young. My parents mostly cared about making money, and we children were expected to take care of ourselves and do well in school. So I wasn't accustomed to merit making, listening to dhamma talks, going to monasteries, or talking to monks.
One of my friends is a frequent and dedicated disciple of a well-known Vipassana master. To my sarcastic amusement, she whined that she was not properly acknowledged for her material and money contributions to Luangpor. I was like, umm...as long as the outcomes (i.e., Luangpor receives the stuff) are the same, I never thought that how credits are given matters... Merits don't work like money in that if you aren't careful, they'll be gone. This is just one example of merit-craze folks I run into lately. I can't help wondering if they realize how unmerit sour feelings are...
Another case happended to me directly. I went to a dhamma practice session led by a monk whom I know very well and am very fond of. After this event, he would return to the country side by bus, so I offered him a ride to the bus station. This was how we agreed until another lady came and said that she would drive him there because yesterday, she didn't get to drive another monk to the bus station. I was like, wow!, must I be in a competition to do favors? Of course, I gave in to her.
I still find it ridiculous that most Thais (at least ones I met) are so obsessed with doing good with monks, sometimes "only." This is so because Thai Buddhists have been taught that the more virtuous a receiver is, the more merits you get when you make offerings to them. At Suan Seang Arun, before we adjourned, we were given a chance to make money donation to the monks who led the dhamma practice session and to the Seang Arun Foundation who kindly sheltered us and fed us. The money went into two separate envelopes. To my dismay, the Seang Arun's envelope contained very little money compared to the monks'. I was like, have they not felt grateful for this lovely place and the delicious food? These things don't fall from the sky, and the foundation must at least pay their staff and for utilities to run this place. Most retreatants are urban professionals who I'm sure can afford to help out.
Of course, I do encounter people who know what they're doing at monasteries and in dhamma practice sessions and why they're doing them. But many---far too many of them---excessively care about maximizing their "merit levels," (like collecting frequent flyer miles). I'm not sure if they realize the fundamental reason of Dana that Buddha said is just one of the three types of merit making: Dana-Sila-Pawana (giving, morality, cultivation). How can one be liberated if we are still attached to praises and the very acts of merit making?
One of my friends is a frequent and dedicated disciple of a well-known Vipassana master. To my sarcastic amusement, she whined that she was not properly acknowledged for her material and money contributions to Luangpor. I was like, umm...as long as the outcomes (i.e., Luangpor receives the stuff) are the same, I never thought that how credits are given matters... Merits don't work like money in that if you aren't careful, they'll be gone. This is just one example of merit-craze folks I run into lately. I can't help wondering if they realize how unmerit sour feelings are...
Another case happended to me directly. I went to a dhamma practice session led by a monk whom I know very well and am very fond of. After this event, he would return to the country side by bus, so I offered him a ride to the bus station. This was how we agreed until another lady came and said that she would drive him there because yesterday, she didn't get to drive another monk to the bus station. I was like, wow!, must I be in a competition to do favors? Of course, I gave in to her.
I still find it ridiculous that most Thais (at least ones I met) are so obsessed with doing good with monks, sometimes "only." This is so because Thai Buddhists have been taught that the more virtuous a receiver is, the more merits you get when you make offerings to them. At Suan Seang Arun, before we adjourned, we were given a chance to make money donation to the monks who led the dhamma practice session and to the Seang Arun Foundation who kindly sheltered us and fed us. The money went into two separate envelopes. To my dismay, the Seang Arun's envelope contained very little money compared to the monks'. I was like, have they not felt grateful for this lovely place and the delicious food? These things don't fall from the sky, and the foundation must at least pay their staff and for utilities to run this place. Most retreatants are urban professionals who I'm sure can afford to help out.
Of course, I do encounter people who know what they're doing at monasteries and in dhamma practice sessions and why they're doing them. But many---far too many of them---excessively care about maximizing their "merit levels," (like collecting frequent flyer miles). I'm not sure if they realize the fundamental reason of Dana that Buddha said is just one of the three types of merit making: Dana-Sila-Pawana (giving, morality, cultivation). How can one be liberated if we are still attached to praises and the very acts of merit making?
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