Dhammapada verse 267

[form]

What does it mean by transcending both merit and demerit?

[Dhammanando]

It means that the acts of an arahant create neither kusala nor akusala kamma.

[DooDoot]

But one living a spiritual life,
Yodha puññañca pāpañca,

who has shunned both merit and evil,
bāhetvā brahmacariyavā;

who after appraisal lives in this world,
Saṅkhāya loke carati,

is said to be a mendicant.
sa ve “bhikkhū”ti vuccati.

Sujato translation

bāhetvā
absolutive
having kept away; having warded off; having removed

pāpa
neuter
crime; evil action

puñña
neuter
merit; righteousness

About "merit" ("puñña"), MN 117 says:

is accompanied by defilements, has the attributes of good deeds and ripens in attachment

sāsavā puññabhāgiyā upadhivepakkā

https://suttacentral.net/mn117/en/sujato

Therefore, "merit" appears to refer to goodness performed with self-view.

[pegembara]

What does it mean by transcending both merit and demerit?

The merit and demerit are for whom?
The words already presume that there is someone who receives a report card.

In the ultimate sense, there is no who. The arahant performs good deeds but there isn't anyone who gets the "reward". They simply cannot perform any "selfish" actions. For the very same reason, kamma-vipaka doesn't apply to them - only to the body-mind that we "assumed" to belong to the arahant.

"Lord, who clings?"

"Not a valid question," the Blessed One said. "I don't say 'clings.' If I were to say 'clings,' then 'Who clings?' would be a valid question. But I don't say that. When I don't say that, the valid question is 'From what as a requisite condition comes clinging?' And the valid answer is, 'From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging. From clinging as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

[form]

They have no volition?

[confusedlayman]

What does it mean by transcending both merit and demerit?

The merit and demerit are for whom?
The words already presume that there is someone who receives a report card.

In the ultimate sense, there is no who. The arahant performs good deeds but there isn't anyone who gets the "reward". They simply cannot perform any "selfish" actions. For the very same reason, kamma-vipaka doesn't apply to them - only to the body-mind that we "assumed" to belong to the arahant.

"Lord, who clings?"

"Not a valid question," the Blessed One said. "I don't say 'clings.' If I were to say 'clings,' then 'Who clings?' would be a valid question. But I don't say that. When I don't say that, the valid question is 'From what as a requisite condition comes clinging?' And the valid answer is, 'From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging. From clinging as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

arhants thought is not based on greed hatred or delusion so the thought produced formational feeling etc not clinging so no new identification with new 5 aggregates

[pegembara]

Of course, there are volitions. The volition to turn on the air conditioner is due to heat. The volition doesn't arise without condition. The reply to your question was because of your previous question. The volition for food and water is because of hunger and thirst.

All due to causes and conditions. All impersonal.

[SarathW]

It does not mean that Arahants do not do wholesome acts. They still do wholesome actions but not with the expectation of merits.

[form]

Of course, there are volitions. The volition to turn on the air conditioner is due to heat. The volition doesn't arise without condition. The reply to your question was because of your previous question. The volition for food and water is because of hunger and thirst.

All due to causes and conditions. All impersonal.

I think our differences is just the way the words are used. In the sutta in AN, there is this saying. When one is virtuous there is no volition.

[BVira]

the arahat […] has reached cessation of action, since for him the question 'What should I do?' no more arises. To the extent that there is still intention in the case of the arahat […] there is still conscious action, but since it is neither unskilful nor skilful it is no longer action in the ethical sense. Extinction, nibbāna, is cessation of ethics—Kullūpamam vo bhikkhave ājānantehi dhammā pi vo pahātabbā pageva adhammā ('Comprehending the parable of the raft, monks, you have to eliminate ethical things too, let alone unethical things') (Majjhima iii,2 <M.i,135>

- Nanavira Thera (excerpt from kamma in his Shorter Notes)

[Nicholas Weeks]

What does it mean by transcending both merit and demerit?

As 183 puts it:

183. To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one’s mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

At some point, when the mind is purified enough, there is no thought or motivation to avoid demerit or cultivate merit. Thus one lives naturally free from avoidance or cultivation.

[form]

What does it mean by transcending both merit and demerit?

As 183 puts it:

183. To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one’s mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

At some point, when the mind is purified enough, there is no thought or motivation to avoid demerit or cultivate merit. Thus one lives naturally free from avoidance or cultivation.

Good explanation