"บุญ...ทำให้ชีวิตดีขึ้นอย่างไร"

"How does merit improve a person's life?"

The Lord Buddha teaches that 80-90% of the merit a person accumulates in the current lifetime will bear fruits to the fullest extent in his next lifetime according to the Law of Kamma. The merit accumulated in the current lifetime can be compared to a young tree while the merit accumulated in the previous lifetimes can be compared to a mature tree which is ready to bear fruits. A person who has a habit of accumulating merit regularly in his previous lifetimes as well as in the current lifetime is poised to receive the fruits of his accumulated merit regularly. Since each person has accumulated both merit and demerit all throughout his countless existences, his overall merit and demerit show up as the ups and downs in his life. Merit is the source of every thing desirable whereas demerit is the source of every thing undesirable. In other words, merit brings good fortune while demerit brings misfortune. Each person's life is dictated by the Law of Kamma or the Law of Cause and Effect based on the person's accumulated merit and demerit which are stored inside his mind as the Merit Sphere and the Demerit Sphere. The demerit and merit inside a person's mind are constantly vying with each other to send forth their respective fruits. However, one is not entirely helpless in this matter. One does have the power to ensure that merit is winning in this struggle most if not all of the time. One does so by accumulating merit regularly or at least daily. The Lord Buddha tells us that there are ten ways of making merit altogether. These can be condensed into three ways of making merit, namely, practicing generosity by giving alms, practicing morality by observing the Five Precepts or higher Precepts and practicing mindfulness by practicing meditation. The merit accumulated here and now if it is in a sufficiently great amount can work together with the merit accumulated in one's previous lifetimes to avert accidents, financial disasters, serious illnesses, etc. If the retribution for a particular misdeed committed in a previous lifetime still retains much strength, one may encounter for example an accident but instead of being killed or gravely injured, one may be able to escape with just a minor injury. So on and so forth. Moreover, a person who accumulates merit regularly will be blessed with a clear and bright mind. The Lord Buddha tells us that the round of rebirth consists of 31 realms of existence which can be divided into two major categories. These include the States of Happiness and the States of Unhappiness. A person's rebirth in the States of Happiness or the States of Unhappiness is decided by the state of his mind at the moment of death. He tells us that a clear and bright mind leads to rebirth in the States of Happiness whereas a sad and gloomy mind leads to rebirth in the States of Unhappiness. Merit has untold benefits in one's current as well as future lifetimes. When a person dies, all that he can really take with him is the merit and demerit accumulated during his time on earth. Therefore, it would behoove everyone to accumulate as much merit as possible by performing wholesome deeds and refuse to accumulate any demerit by abstaining completely from unwholesome deeds.