Dedication of Merit

Upon completion of our chanting, we formally dedicate our merits to being reborn into the Pure Land by reciting the following:

May the merits and virtues accrued from this work 
adorn the Buddha’s Pure Land,
repay the Four Kindnesses above,
and relieve the sufferings of those in the Three Paths below.

 May those who see or hear of this,
bring forth the heart of understanding and compassion
and, at the end of this life,
be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The Four Kindnesses are the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha), parents, teachers, and all beings. At the initial level of understanding, the "Three Paths below" are those of animals, hungry ghosts, and hell dwellers. In Samsara, these three are below those of humans, asuras, and heavenly beings.

But at a higher level of understanding, the Three Paths can be viewed as the Realm of Desire (our world), the Realm of Form (where the lesser deities dwell), and the Realm of Formlessness (where the higher deities dwell). Until one transcends the cycle of rebirth, one is still bound to rebirth within the hell, hungry ghost, animal, human, asura, and heavenly paths for even for those in the heavenly realms, where existence is truly wonderful, such existence will one day end and suffering will return.