Dedicating merits to deceased relative

I’m curious about how this works. If I understand correctly…

When you dedicate the merits to a deceased relative:

  1. The deceased needs to know about it.
  2. They (the deceased) need to actively ‘rejoice’ (develop mudita?) in the dedication of the merit.

Is my understanding correct? So in other words if your relative is NOT a Buddhist then the dedication is pointless?

In terms of context, I originally come from a catholic background before I converted to Buddhism a few years ago so this practice of dedicating merit has always intrigued me as I did not grow up in a Buddhist culture.

Thanks :anjal:

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Who knows, they might get converted as a ghost?

Anyway, one does not need to be a Buddhist to appreciate good deeds done by anyone of any religion.

And due to beginning-less rebirth, your dedication of merit is not just for this life’s decease relatives, but for relatives throughout the past lives. Someone might just have the right condition to benefit from it.

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We don’t need to be a buddhist to received merit dedication. Merit dedication is beyond the concept religion.

Anyway, Buddhism is not a religion, it is just a way of life. I am a Catholic and I do not need to be an Ex-Catholic to be Buddhist.

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Yes thank you both Bhante @NgXinZhao and @HSS :pray:

I realised afterwards when I was going for my afternoon walk that it was a bit silly for me to ask this question, but it’s always afterwards once you’ve posted a question and you think ‘hang on a minute, that does not make sense’ :joy:

Oh well, there’s nothing like posting a silly question for eveyone to see to keep you humble and grounded :laughing:

Anyway, thanks again to you both for your answers, much appreciated :pray:

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I just want to back reverend @NgXinZhao reply with this formidable sutta

Your question is good

An10.177
With Jāṇussoṇi
Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him.

When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha, “We who are known as brahmins give gifts and perform memorial rites for the dead: ‘May this gift aid my departed relatives and family. May they partake of this gift.’ But does this gift really aid departed relatives and family? Do they actually partake of it?”

“It aids them if the conditions are right, brahmin, but not if the conditions are wrong.”

“Then, Master Gotama, what are the right and wrong conditions?”

“Brahmin, take someone who kills living creatures, steals, and commits sexual misconduct. They use speech that’s false, divisive, harsh, or nonsensical. And they’re covetous, malicious, with wrong view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in hell. There they survive feeding on the food of the hell beings. The conditions there are wrong, so the gift does not aid the one who lives there.

Take someone else who kills living creatures … and has wrong view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the animal realm. There they survive feeding on the food of the beings in the animal realm. The conditions there too are wrong, so the gift does not aid the one who lives there.

Take someone else who doesn’t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, or use speech that’s false, divisive, harsh, or nonsensical. They’re contented, kind-hearted, and have right view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the human realm. There they survive feeding on human food. The conditions there too are wrong, so the gift does not aid the one who lives there.

Take someone else who doesn’t kill living creatures … and has right view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods. There they survive feeding on the food of the gods. The conditions there too are wrong, so the gift does not aid the one who lives there.

Take someone else who kills living creatures … and has wrong view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the ghost realm. There they survive feeding on the food of the beings in the ghost realm. Or else they survive feeding on what friends and colleagues, relatives and kin provide them with from here. The conditions there are right, so the gift aids the one who lives there.”

“But Master Gotama, who partakes of that gift if the departed relative is not reborn in that place?”

“Other departed relatives reborn there will partake of that gift.”

“But who partakes of the gift when neither that relative nor other relatives have been reborn in that place?”

“It’s impossible, brahmin, it cannot happen that that place is vacant of departed relatives in all this long time. It’s never fruitless for the donor.”

“Does Master Gotama propose this even when the conditions are wrong?”

“I propose this even when the conditions are wrong. Take someone who kills living creatures, steals, and commits sexual misconduct. They use speech that’s false, divisive, harsh, or nonsensical. And they’re covetous, malicious, with wrong view. They give to ascetics or brahmins such things as food, drink, clothing, vehicles; garlands, perfumes, and makeup; and bed, house, and lighting. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of elephants. There they get to have food and drink, garlands and various adornments.

Since in this life they killed living creatures … and had wrong view, they were reborn in the company of elephants. Since they gave to ascetics or brahmins … they get to have food and drink, garlands and various adornments.

Take someone else who kills living creatures … and has wrong view. They give to ascetics or brahmins … When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of horses. … cattle … dogs. There they get to have food and drink, garlands and various adornments.

Since in this life they killed living creatures … and had wrong view, they were reborn in the company of dogs. Since they gave to ascetics or brahmins … they get to have food and drink, garlands and various adornments.

Take someone else who doesn’t kill living creatures, steal, or commit sexual misconduct. They don’t use speech that’s false, divisive, harsh, or nonsensical. And they’re contented, kind-hearted, with right view. They give to ascetics or brahmins … When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the human realm. There they get to have the five kinds of human sensual stimulation.

Since in this life they didn’t kill living creatures … and had right view, they were reborn in the company of humans. Since they gave to ascetics or brahmins … they get to have the five kinds of human sensual stimulation.

Take someone else who doesn’t kill living creatures … and has right view. They give to ascetics or brahmins … When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods. There they get to have the five kinds of heavenly sensual stimulation.

Since in this life they didn’t kill living creatures … and had right view, they were reborn in the company of the gods. Since they gave to ascetics or brahmins … they get to have the five kinds of heavenly sensual stimulation. It’s never fruitless for the donor.”

“It’s incredible, Master Gotama, it’s amazing, Just this much is quite enough to justify giving gifts and performing memorial rites for the dead, since it’s never fruitless for the donor.”

“That’s so true, brahmin. It’s never fruitless for the donor.”

“Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! … From this day forth, may Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”

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Nothing called a “ silly question” in my book Adrian :sunglasses:! Thanks for posting, I found the answers VERY useful :dizzy:

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Thank you @Ratana for bringing this sutta to my attention.

I was not aware that the dedication of merits to a deceased relative was actually in the suttas…I thought this was a ‘cultural’ thing that sprung up later within Theravada countries.

Thank you and much gratitude :slight_smile: :anjal:

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Thanks for the encouragement @Ficus, much appreciated :anjal:

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@AdrianMagno, there is no such ‘silly-question’. It emerge because we are still trapped in the concept of religion. Once we understand the real meaning of Buddha Teaching, we have liberated ourselves from the concept of religion that have enslave us so long. I am still a Catholic but free from any rituals anymore. I am still Catholic for political reason because I still lives in a country that needs.

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