Merit

Merit (puñña) is the good, wholesome energy you create through kind and skillful actions — especially generosity, living ethically, and cultivating the mind. In the early Buddhist view it gently shapes your character and your future, leading toward happier circumstances and more fortunate rebirths, while also softening and brightening the heart right now. Something as ordinary as offering food to someone hungry, speaking honestly, or sitting quietly in meditation plants this kind of seed.