The Dedication of Merit is the short recitation that closes a Buddhist ritual act, whether that act is a meditation session, an offering of food to monks, the recitation of scripture, or a funeral rite. Buddhist practice holds that skillful action generates merit, a kind of wholesome momentum that shapes future circumstances, and the dedication is the deliberate choice to share that merit outward rather than keep it for oneself.
In Theravada practice the most common formula is in Pali, idam me punnam punnabhagam hotu sabbasattanam, rendered in English roughly as may this merit be shared with all beings. The act of dedicating merit is treated as itself a further wholesome deed, so the practice does not diminish what the practitioner has gained, giving it away is understood to multiply rather than divide it, a point often illustrated with the image of one candle lighting many others without losing its own flame. The dedication is commonly directed toward specific recipients, most often deceased relatives, though it is also extended to all sentient beings, to local spirits believed present at a ceremony, or to the wellbeing of the wider world.