The Meritorious Function of Dedication

Dedication of merit (pariṇāma) occurs when the manas is willing to give merit to other sentient beings, and the manas of those other sentient beings is also willing to accept it; then the two beings' tathāgatagarbhas will cooperate to carry out the handover. Creeping and wriggling creatures, lacking the ability to cultivate merit and wisdom, rely entirely on the dedication of merit by other sentient beings and bodhisattvas to accumulate some merit, and then, by the power of this meager merit, they continually improve the quality and level of their existence, so that only after countless kalpas can they be reborn as humans. Therefore, since we have already been reborn as humans and have the opportunity to learn Buddhism and cultivate practice, we should be grateful to those Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and good spiritual friends who have delivered us. As for how to express this gratitude, we should deliver sentient beings just as the Buddhas and bodhisattvas delivered us.