Overview
While the suttas primarily highlight the three core bases of merit (Giving, Virtue, Meditation), the Abhidhamma and commentarial tradition expand this into a comprehensive list of ten. This framework covers all possible avenues through which a layperson or monastic can generate wholesome kamma (puñṇa) in daily life.
The List
- Dāna - Giving: Offering material wealth, food, or resources.
- Sīla - Virtue: Observing the moral precepts.
- Bhāvanā - Mental Development: Practicing tranquility and insight meditation.
- Apaciti (or Apacāyana) - Reverence: Showing proper respect to elders, monastics, and the wise.
- Veyyāvacca - Service: Volunteering to help others in wholesome tasks, serving the Saṅgha or the sick.
- Pattidāna - Sharing of Merit: Dedicating the good kamma one has acquired to departed relatives or all beings.
- Pattānumodanā - Rejoicing in Merit: Feeling genuine joy (sympathetic joy) when someone else performs a good deed.
- Dhammassavana - Hearing the Dhamma: Listening to the Buddha’s teachings with an attentive, faithful mind.
- Dhammadesanā - Teaching the Dhamma: Sharing the teachings with others out of compassion, without expecting a reward.
- Diṭṭhujukamma - Straightening one’s views: Establishing Right View, clarifying one’s understanding of kamma and the Four Noble Truths.
Textual References
- Commentary: Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha (Chapter V) – The definitive manual lists these ten as the standard framework for accumulating wholesome kamma in the sense-sphere.