Merit dies not, all else does

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more."

~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth

All things die, the dying being different. Death is indifferent to type, status, grade, eminence, consequence. Whatever it may be, whether it be an affair, an article, a body, a concept, an entity, a fact, a matter, an object, a part, a portion, or a substance; extinction envelops all.

Cessation is certain. Death is the only certainty at birth. Only the manner, mode, reason, and time, is indefinite, inscrutable. Yet, all things living, and lifeless; think, behave, and are foolishly considered by thoughtless man to be, eternal.

Even a mature man, sometimes errs in thinking and behaving as if life, and all things surrounding life, is perennial.

Timeless

It is true that the cycle of life can be timeless and tiresome if one fails to harness one's desires; but if one's earnest wish and inclinations are based on, and built upon, the faith of goodness; then life at least will not be wearisome. Instead, it can be enlivening, inspiring, restful, and reviving.

Existence without generosity draws nectar in a sieve. Similarly, benevolence without an object cannot thrive.

We cannot be meritorious, merely. As an act requires a purpose, so does an object become requisite for a good deed. Everything passes away - suffering, pain, blood, hunger, pestilence. The all and mighty will pass away too, but our merit - the result of a good deed - will remain, when the shadows of our presence and our deeds have vanished from the earth. There is no man who does not know that.

Why, then, will we not turn our eyes towards graciousness, kindness, and mercy? Providence has given human wisdom, the choice between two fates: good and bad, to be good or to be good for nothing. As the days of spring, arouse all nature to a green and growing vitality; so does an act of good.

Triumph

When an act of good enters the soul, it makes all things new. It insures our progress, which it predicts. Growing up into love, such acts shed joy and peace over our human life.

A good deed is itself a species of happiness, and perhaps the chief happiness, which this world affords. Yet, we think nothing of being selfish. We care chiefly for self or one's own interest or comfort. We are, all but always influenced by personal motives, to the disregard of the welfare or wishes of others. Our greed, our acquisitiveness; is gluttonous and insatiable.

The more one has, the more one craves to have. This is more evident in those that have, than the have not.

The triumph of want over virtue is complete in the rich and mighty, and the mightily rich. What a sad state is it to be in want - to crave, desire, and yearn for more - when all one needs to be happy is to rid oneself of the accumulations of life, and have more benefaction.

The burden of horde, stockpiled over a lifetime, which the rich carry, is worse than the anxiety and strain felt by those who have not sufficiently. To be rich is good, and is the fortune of the meritorious. It is a blessing, provided we know the meaning, and the reason to have been so favoured and blessed. If not, it will be akin to pearls cast unto swine.

We see the rich, and assume that all is well with them. I know of many such individuals, who cannot get a good night's sleep without the inducement of external assistance; who cannot eat the choicest foods of their choice.

How sad it is to have all what one desires; and yet, not have the balm of sweet sleep, nor eat to the taste of ones tongue's desires.

A wonderful thing happens when you give up on greed, which is that you realise you never needed it in the first place. You realise that giving up on greed does not kill you, nor does it make you less effective.

When you appreciate the degree of agency you actually do have, you no longer need to be greedy. In fact, giving up on greed, makes you more effective, because you ceased relying on something that ruins you as a humane being - you stopped craving and the problems it creates. Charity is necessary in every condition. You will find, as you look back on your life, that the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others.

We need not do great things, but even small things done with much love would do. The miseries of riches, poverty, sickness, and captivity, would be insupportable without this comfort afforded by charity.

The purpose of life is not only to be happy, but also to matter; to be able to make others happy as well; to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference, that you have lived at all. Live simply that others might simply live. Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious.

The term 'merit', in the English language, constitutes a desirable trait or ability belonging to a person, or sometimes, an object. However, in Buddhist and Hindu religion, 'Merit' is a concept.

It is that which accumulates, as a result of: good deeds, acts, or thoughts; and that carries over to later in life or to a person's next life.

Liberation

Such merit contributes to a person's growth towards liberation. Giving; a life of virtue and mental calm; a mind of goodwill; are the three bases of 'merit' identified in the Pali canon.

In Catholic theology, a supernatural merit can only be a salutary act which God in consequence of his infallible promise may give a reward. What ever be the religious perception of 'merit', being kind to all beings is more meritorious than the all and sundry acts of religious worship, and the giving of charity.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is every wasted. Life is short. Therefore, be swift to love and make haste to be kind. Goodness is the only investment that never fails. Wise men know this truth: 'the only way to help yourself is to help others'.

Rejoiced

There is an old Indian saying: "When you were born you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."

Let me end with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, THIS is to have succeeded."

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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