Merit transference on buddhism: a sociohistorical approach to religious transformation
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2008
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Abstract
Whenever the topic of merit transference is raised in Western society, it is immediately connected with the 'sale of indulgences' authorized by the Catholic Church during the end of the medieval period. From a general view, it seems to be identically based upon the making of offerings to the monastic order in exchange for the merits of the saints or God/gods. Since Martin Luther revolted against the 'sale of indulgences' in the 16th century, the Christian act of merit benefiting mission has been rejected as profitmaking scam. However, it should be pointed out that before Christianity even began, merit transference was an idea already prevalent in India. In the development of Buddhism, the non-ritualistic movement of the Sakyamuni Buddha had eventually syncretized rituals and concepts that might have belonged to the main-stream religion, Brahmanism. As John Holt suggests, the Buddhist notion of merit transference could be derived possibly from the Brahmanical idea of sraddha- a ritual of ancestral worship conducted by the Brahmin priests who mediated between gods/goddesses and the ancestors. In order to repay the priests, making of offerings was considered a necessary gesture. Certainly, in Buddhism, merit transference is often connected with funeral rituals and ancestral worshipping. But Buddhism also started as a reformed movement propagating self realization and the law of karma where one is responsible for only one's own action. Hence, no merit or demerit can be shared between two people. Consequently, it is difficult to understand how merit transference became a practice in which one's merit can be transferred to others. In short, why would Buddhism contradict itself by incorporating what seems to be an irrational or affectionate practice that merit transference seems to be? The answer to this question is often difficult to find. In order to find an answer to this question, an analysis of the Buddhist doctrines that occurred over the different periods of the Buddhist development is crucial. In this thesis, the motive behind such syncretism through the lens of the great anthropologist, Clifford Geertz, will be investigated. Therefore, this research will depend on a socio-historical methodology.
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Bibliography: p. 74-81
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Chia, S. (2008). Merit transference on buddhism: a sociohistorical approach to religious transformation (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/1649