View source for Explore/Dedication of Merit

{{EditorialContent
	|sub-theme=Dedication of Merit
	|main-text=

{{Jumbo

        |full-width=yes
        |image=Raimond-klavins-rZECP7TGlPg-unsplash.jpg
	|text=The ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' concludes with the tenth chapter devoted to the dedication (''pariṇāma'') of the merit (''puṇya'') accrued from Śāntideva's composition of the text. Merit is considered indispensable in Mahāyāna Buddhism, as it is due to one's stores of merit that progress towards enlightenment is possible. Furthermore, it is believed that one must dedicate this merit for the welfare of oneself and others in order to safeguard one's stores of merit from being exhausted.
}}

{{QuoteCite
                |quote-text=''...just as there is no destruction or interruption, until the end of the aeon, of a drop of water that has fallen into a great ocean, there is no destruction or interruption whatsoever of the roots of virtue that have been dedicated to awakening until the bodhisatvas sit on the seat of awakening... The bodhisatvas dedicate the roots of virtue they accomplish to protect all beings, to bring them to maturity, and to introduce them to the roots of virtue. They dedicate those roots of virtue to realize the wisdom of omniscience. They dedicate those roots of virtue to nourish all beings. They dedicate those roots of virtue to establish all beings in complete nirvāṇa and in the wisdom of omniscience.'' 
                |source-wiki-page=The Teaching of Akṣayamati: Akṣayamatinirdeśa (Braarvig, J.)
		|page-number=48
	}}
Merit is a crucial concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which it is viewed in conjunction with wisdom as the two accumulations that are perfected in the attainment of a buddha. It is also the last of the three excellences (''dam pa gsum''), in which the bodhisattva ideally performs all activities in the context of the excellent preparation by arousing bodhicitta (''sbyor ba sems bskyed''), the excellent main part is then undertaken without any reference point (''dngos gzhi dmigs med''), and the excellent conclusion is to dedicate the merit  (''rjes bsngo ba'') to the welfare of all sentient beings. 

Śāntideva concludes his composition of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' with a lengthy dedication, which is often extracted from the treatise to be used as a stand alone liturgy for the dedication of merit in the Tibetan tradition.

{{PullBcaVerses|10.1|163}}
{{PullBcaVerses|10.55|171}}
{{PullBcaVerses|10.57|171}}


	|featured-books=The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech;The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006);Following in the Buddha's Footsteps;Uncommon Happiness;
	|featured-articles=On the Pariṇāmanā Chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra;Ritual Structure and Material Culture in the Guide to Bodhisattva Practice
	|featured-dissertations=
	|featured-texts=Bodhicaryāvatāra;Śikṣāsamuccaya
	|featured-media=
	|external-resources=
}}