The Balloon in the Sky of Samsara

Imagine your life as a balloon suspended between two extremes.

Below is a vast ocean — a sea of suffering, the lower realms, the four great hells described in the teachings. Above are radiant heavens — luminous realms of subtle joy and refined experience. In between, you float.

What keeps you from falling?

Merit.

Merit is the invisible gas within the balloon. It does not eliminate gravity. It does not stop the rain. But it gives lift.

Sometimes, two small drops of rain fall upon you — small pains, setbacks, illnesses, disappointments. These are part of conditioned existence. Even in higher realms, subtle forms of discomfort still arise. Yet when merit is abundant, these drops barely disturb you.

Without merit, however, the balloon deflates. And gravity always works.

The Buddha’s Teaching on Merit

The Buddha did not speak of merit as superstition or transaction. He spoke of it as lawful causation — as natural as gravity and lift.

In the Lonaphala Sutta (AN 3.99), the Buddha gives a powerful analogy:

A lump of salt dropped into a small cup of water makes the water undrinkable. But the same salt dropped into a vast river has almost no effect.

Minor unwholesome actions, when placed into a small mind with little merit, produce heavy results. But when placed into a vast mind filled with merit, their impact becomes minimal.

Merit expands the “river” of our being.

In the Sumana Sutta (AN 4.195), the Buddha explicitly says that merit acquired through generosity brings happiness, favorable rebirth, and serves as a firm foundation for future well-being. It is not trivial. It is protective.

Merit is not merely reward — it is stabilizing force.

Rejoicing In Collected Merits

Over the years, I have participated in many meritourious deeds and activities. I was fortunate to born into a fortunate era, to be born to a supportive parents and a family, to live in a peaceful country, being able to build my life around an ethical source of income, truely finding teachings of Buddha and to be able to unflold the formula to sucess through Buddhas teachings with guidance of many teachers and wholesome friends. I thought of plotting these gems over the scale of time using a swimlane chart with plotly. Reminding of past merits and rejoicing in them multiplies the power of merits. Rejoicing in collected merits is a powerful Buddhist practice, often considered the easiest method to accumulate immense positive karma (“merit”) by sincerely feeling joy for the virtuous actions of oneself and others.

The Three Bases of Merit

The Buddha often summarized the cultivation of merit into three foundations (Puñña-kiriya-vatthu):

1. Generosity (Dāna)

Giving loosens the grip of greed. It shifts the heart from “mine” to “shared.” Every act of generosity adds lift to the balloon. It expands the river.

2. Virtue (Sīla)

Precepts guard the mind from coarseness. When conduct is pure, the balloon is not leaking. Virtue prevents deflation.

3. Mental Development (Bhāvanā)

Meditation refines the mind. It purifies intention. It strengthens wisdom. This is not just adding gas — it transforms the quality of the air within.

Together, these three form a powerful upward current.

Merit Is Not the Final Destination

Yet merit alone is not Nibbāna.

Even a high-floating balloon is still within the sky of samsara. It may rise to heavenly realms where suffering becomes subtle, refined — almost invisible. But subtle is not eliminated.

The Buddha taught merit not as an end, but as support.

Merit:

• Protects.
• Softens the results of past unwholesome actions.
• Creates conducive conditions for wisdom.
• Reduces mental impurities (kilesa).
• Provides stability for insight to arise.

Without merit, the mind is too burdened to see clearly. With merit, clarity becomes possible.

Merit keeps us afloat — long enough to realize we must transcend floating altogether.