DEDICATION ( I )
Dedicating To Benefit The Deceased
From The Great Kadampa Geshe Potowa
(August & September 2003 Newsletter)

How does dedication benefit our deceased loved ones when we dedicate merits collected during pujas, prayers or practices?

"Holding the hair of a drowning person"
For example, when a person is drowning, one does not have any power to control him-/herself and save oneself from danger; however, if someone on the shore nearby pulls the hair or dress of the drowning person, then one will be easily saved and protected from danger. In the same way, sentient beings who passed away are chased by karmic wind from here and there. They do not have any control over their future rebirth and where they will be reborn. Hence, if the living relatives, for the sake of the deceased, engage in virtue, make prayers and dedicate to the deceased without mixing with non-virtue, then the virtuous root will follow the deceased liberating them from the current suffering. Lama Atisha said, "So long as the names of the deceased exist, if one does virtue and dedicates to benefit them, they will receive the benefit."

However, it does not mean that whoever hears the death of someone, does virtue and dedicates to the deceased will be able to benefit that person. There has to be a bond or connection between the deceased and the living.

"The one with connection to the rope"
For example, when a group of people try to cross a river, if they are all connected with each other by a piece of rope or sat on the same boat, then even one of them drowns, the others can pull him/her out. If there is no rope connection, then the people are unable to protect each other. Likewise, if one has any of the following three connections with the deceased, then one can benefit them by doing virtue and dedicating to them.

The three connections are:
1. Blood/race connection
2. Material connections
3. Dharma connections

Blood/Race Connection
How does blood/race connection make dedication beneficial to the deceased? Once, the people of Vaishali invited Buddha and his disciples. They carried out extensive preparation and then went to invite Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and his entourage honouring them with great feast followed by traditional ceremonial show. Soon after the people of Vaishali made the request, a lot of hungry ghosts came to Buddha and plead, "May the merits created during tomorrow's activities be dedicated for our sake? We used to be their parents, but due to the power of our non-virtuous karma, we are born as hungry ghosts." Buddha told them to come again the next day during the dedication; otherwise their offspring might not know and might not believe. The hungry ghosts replied, "We hungry ghosts are embarrassed if they see our moving skeletons."

Then Buddha told them,
"For which you have to be ashamed of, you are not;
For which you don't have to be ashamed of, you are.
This is holding of wrong view,
Such a being will go to the suffering realms.
For which you have to be ashamed of, be ashamed of;
For which you do not need to be ashamed of, don't be.
That is holding of right view,
Such a being will go to happier realms.

The hungry ghosts left and said that they would come.

The next day, at the end of the offering and other activities, the hungry ghosts came straight to the venue. All the male and female benefactors were so scared and began to run away. Buddha told them, "You do not need to run away. Yesterday, after you extended the invitation, the hungry ghosts came to me and told me about their situation. They requested that the virtue accumulated today to be dedicated to them. So, please dedicate the root of virtue created today for their sake." The people then said, "Of course, if this is the case." Thus, the dedication was made:

"Whatever merit created from this generosity,
May the hungry ghosts receive it,
May the hungry ghosts be freed from
All their suffering immediately."

At that very moment, the hungry ghosts were transformed and were reborn as gods of the thirty-three heavenly realms. Likewise, if children do virtue and dedicate to benefit their late parents, it will work in the same manner. Furthermore, if parents do virtue and dedicate to benefit their late children, it also helps the children.

Material Connection
How does material connection cause benefits when dedicating virtue? The great Kadampa Geshe Dromtonpa advised a group of his Upaseka disciples in Redeng asking them to mix together their utilities or possession. In that way, if one of them dies and any remaining one uses the possession to do virtue and dedicate, the deceased one will be benefited from it, too. Otherwise, it would only become individual virtue.

Dharma Connection
How does dedication benefit with Dharma connection? It is quoted, "Once Arya Na va je pa ri visited the occasional hell realm and saw beings who were butchers in their former lives, yet during nighttime, they kept the precept of not to kill. As a result, as soon as it reached nighttime, these beings would be born as gods; as soon as daylight fell, they would be born as hell beings. The hell beings asked Arya Na va je pa ri to send a message to their master, Arya Katayana, informing him that underneath their doorsteps, there was a silver sword and all the remaining possessions of theirs. They requested Master Argya Katayana to do virtue and prayers of dedication for them.

"There was also a group of beings who were kept precept in their former life during the day, yet, at night, they worked as prostitute. Consequently, during the day, they were born as gods and at night, they became hell beings. These beings also asked Arya Na va je pa ri to send message to their master, Arya Katayana, saying that underneath their bedding, there was a container filled with gold. They would like to offer that as well as all their other belongings to their master, Arya Katayana, and request for dedication. As Arya Na va je pa ri returned, he passed the messages to Arya Katayana. Then Arya Katayana conducted prayers and dedication. The beings were then liberated from the hell realms."

From the quotations, it is found that if guru does virtue and dedicates to the deceased disciples, they will receive benefits. If a disciple does virtue and dedicates to one's gurus, the benefit would be increasing the benefit of gurus' holy activities to other sentient beings.

Without one of the three connections, even if one gathers wealth from here and there to do virtue and dedicate to the deceased, it will only become virtue of the owners of the possessions. It will not benefit the deceased. Why is that so? It is explained that Buddhas and bodhisattva's compassion to sentient beings is impartial, yet some beings are not tamed by Buddhas or bodhisattvas. This is because of the lack of karmic connection between them from the past. Moreover, the reason why some beings were not subdued by Buddha, yet they were easily subdued by Buddha's disciples was due to the power of having connection with the disciples rather than with Buddha. Likewise, even the contemporary highly realised great yogis are able to benefit some but not all the others. It depends on whether the sentient beings had created karmic connection with them from the past. In all, if someone with any of the three karmic connections does virtue and dedicates for the sake of benefiting the deceased, then it will work.

Translated by Ven. Pemba in the Hong Kong FPMT Centre in July 2003.