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Right at the beginning of the chapter, Śāntideva dedicates all of the virtue that he has amassed through the composition of this text. | Right at the beginning of the chapter, Śāntideva dedicates all of the virtue that he has amassed through the composition of this text. | ||
The text is without exception a manual which shows us how to engage in the path of the bodhisattvas, and therefore he dedicates all of the merit from its composition so that every single living being | The text is without exception a manual which shows us how to engage in the path of the bodhisattvas, and therefore he dedicates all of the merit from its composition so that every single living being is able to start out on their journey to full enlightenment. | ||
Dedication of merit is part of an important and widespread Mahāyāna liturgy known as the ''anuttara-puja'', the supreme worship. The arrangement of practices in this liturgy may date back to around the second century CE. It is a traditional practice for accumulating merit and is often arranged in seven limbs or branches. | Dedication of merit is part of an important and widespread Mahāyāna liturgy known as the ''anuttara-puja'', the supreme worship. The arrangement of practices in this liturgy may date back to around the second century CE. It is a traditional practice for accumulating merit and is often arranged in seven limbs or branches. | ||
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The branch of dedication is both a practice for further accumulation of the merit already accumulated but also a way to offer all that up in the most positive way possible—for the greatest short- and long-term welfare of all sentient beings. | The branch of dedication is both a practice for further accumulation of the merit already accumulated but also a way to offer all that up in the most positive way possible—for the greatest short- and long-term welfare of all sentient beings. | ||
As Khenpo Kunpal | As Khenpo Kunpal writes in relation to the benefits of dedication: | ||
{{QuoteCite | {{QuoteCite | ||
|quote-text=Dedication is the path of never-ending merit | |quote-text=Dedication is the path of never-ending merit | ||
For virtue is augmented and transformed thereby.<ref>Kunzang Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva'', trans. Wulstan Fletcher and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group) (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2007), 394.</ref> | For virtue is augmented and transformed thereby.<ref>Kunzang Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva'', trans. Wulstan Fletcher and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group) (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2007), 394. This is a verse quoted by Khenpo Kunpal. However, he does not share his source.</ref> | ||
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Dedication is a way of building virtue on top of virtue. The merit that we have already amassed from other virtuous practices is further increased and augmented in the very process of dedicating it so that all beings attain the highest enlightenment. | Dedication is a way of building virtue on top of virtue. The merit that we have already amassed from other virtuous practices is further increased and augmented in the very process of dedicating it so that all beings attain the highest enlightenment. | ||
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