What is good and bad karma? Why is karma so important in Buddhism? What do buddhists think? What do Buddhists pray for? In this article, we talk about ‘tam boon’ or ‘making merit’ and the significance it holds in Buddhist Culture.
What's Tamboon and Karma?
Heaven-Earth-Hell I’ve been wanting to do this article for quite sometime, so I’m glad I finally made the time to explain ทำบุญ/tam boon. There are two kinds of karma: good or boon/ บุญ and bad or bàap/ บาป. Good karma is like money in a bank account. When you tam boon/ ทำบุญ you accumulate good karma into your bank account of life. The more you tam boon/ ทำบุญ the more you accumulate so you will have a good place to stay after you are dead like sà-wăn heaven สวรรค์ .
Consequently you can also accumulate bad karma or tam bàap/ ทำบาป from bad deeds as well.
Things that are considered virtuous in the accumulation of tam boon/ ทำบุญ are: chanting and sharing with a monk, giving of every kind, meditation and taking care of suffering animals. Interestingly suffering animals are considered to have had a past life of a lot of bad karma or tam bàap/ ทำบาป. And if you were born into a well-bred family, you had a lot of tam boon/ ทำบุญ from a previous life. ทำบาป/tam bàap
Ghosts, spirits or pĕe/ ผี are looked upon as folks who are not sure where to go next, are lost, or who don’t have enough tam boon/ ทำบุญ to incarnate into a new life. You can be sure, you can offer tam boon/ ทำบุญ to ghosts, spirits or pĕe ผี as well to help them find their way. Because when most people think about making merit at the temple, or when they pray, I think will usually think of the present living but not the dead. Tam boon offerings must also be provided to the dead whether the person or persons you know or others not related to you.