Doing good things—like helping others, making offerings, or being kind—is like planting seeds. But just like planting a seed in a garden, it doesn’t grow well unless you do the follow-up work: water it, protect it from pests, and make sure the soil is healthy.
In Buddhism, merit is like that seed. If you don’t take care of it, it can easily get lost or destroyed. That’s why we say:
If you don’t dedicate and protect your merit, you may fall into the “plight of three lifetimes.”
What is the Plight of Three Lifetimes?
It’s a classic example from the Buddhist teachings to show what happens when we’re careless with our good karma:
First Lifetime – You Work Hard
You do a lot of good things having encountered the teachings and wholeheartedly practiced the teachings—help others, support temples, learn Dharma.
You accumulate good karma.
Second Lifetime – You Reap the Benefits
Because of your good karma, you’re born into a comfortable life—good health, money, education.
BUT… you enjoy life so much that you forget to do more good deeds or even behave selfishly.
You don’t renew your merit, and might even destroy it with pride, anger, or wrong views.
Third Lifetime – You Fall into Misery
Now the karma bank is empty. Worse still, if you destroyed merit through anger or negativity, you may even be reborn in lower realms or suffer a difficult life.
Even though you did good in the past, you didn’t protect it.
How to Avoid That and Make My Good Karma Counts?
Here are the three key conditions to remember:
1. A Pure Motivation
Before doing the virtuous action, ask yourself:
“Why am I doing this?”
The best motivation is bodhicitta—the wish to benefit all sentient beings and eventually attain enlightenment for their sake. Even if that feels far off, at the very least, aim to act without selfishness, pride, or attachment.
Example:
- Helping someone out of genuine kindness (not to show off) generates much stronger merit.
2. Dedication of Merits
After you do something virtuous, don’t just move on. Dedicate the merits properly—otherwise, they can be lost through anger, pride, or careless thinking later on.
In Lamrim, we often recite:
“May whatever merit I have accumulated benefit ALL sentient beings and help them attain enlightenment.”
The important thing here is not just to think, “I want good karma for myself,” but to also wish that your good deeds can help everyone. This matches your dedication with a bigger, kinder purpose. Doing this is like setting up an auto-transfer to a savings account with high interest—it keeps your good karma safe and growing, and helps you move steadily along your spiritual path.
3. Avoiding the Destruction of Merit
Even after earning merit, it can be burnt away by powerful negative emotions, especially anger and wrong views (e.g., thinking karma doesn’t exist).
So to preserve your merit:
- Practise patience.
- Keep a respectful, open mind toward the Dharma.
- Avoid actions or speech that tear down your own virtue or others’ efforts.
Bonus Tip: Keep Collecting Merits Mindfully
Just like a bank grows through regular deposits, your karma bank grows best with consistency:
- Offer your food mindfully before eating.
- Rejoice in others’ good deeds—yes, that also creates merit!
- Do daily dedications and renew your motivation.