With many thanks to everyone in the Dharma class group for their patience, these are the notes from Geshe la’s teachings in April and May 2023. We apologise for the delays which were caused, in a large part, by the intense and wonderful Vesak Day Celebrations in late May and early June 2023.
Geshe la reminded everyone that in the last lesson, we were introduced the first of the 7 limbs of the prayer, namely Bowing & Prostrations, which is a practice to be done in respect of one’s Body, Speech and Mind.
We were also introduced briefly to the 2nd limb, the concept of Offerings, which Geshe la was going to elaborate upon in this session.
ii) Offerings
The Prayer refers to two types of offerings, namely worldly offerings like incense, flower garlands, robes etc – see Verse 6 of the Prayer, and “vast and unequaled offerings” – see Verse 7, which actually refer to beautiful items generated by the Bodhisattvas through their powers.
Normal offerings such as flowers emanate from plants that come from the ground and are therefore of this world system, but the “vast and unequaled offerings” on the other hand, have perfected grounds as their basis as they emanate from the powers of the bodhisattvas, which we also offer to the victorious Buddhas, which in turn allows us create immense merit.
Offering of the “vast and unequaled offerings” is an act of the mind, that one should visualise as such. If we make such offerings with great devotion and positive motivation, we can reap great benefits from this. One should not under-estimate, for example, the simple act of making a light offering with the correct motivation, which if done properly, will lead such offerings to appear before all the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas in the ten directions.
Geshe la then talked about Water Offerings which originated from Lama Atisha’s practice in the early days, when he realised that the water in Tibet was of such clean and good quality (Lama Atisha was an Indian master who hailed from Begal), which was worthy of being offered to the Enlightened Ones.
The purpose of Offerings will help us accumulate merit as well as wisdom. In the case of merits (i.e. positive karmic bank balance), if one is short of merit, one will find it hard to succeed in any of our endeavours in this life. Let’s say two individuals were from the same village, or the same university – that doesn’t mean they will have the same level of success in the later parts of their lives. This is because each person is born with a different karmic imprint/ karmic bank balance. How much merit one has is not dependent upon whether one is a Buddhist in this or one’s last life. The karmic imprint has written in it, a fixed amount of merit that has an impact upon one’s life. Of course, it is difficult for us as normal people to see how other people’s karmic bank balances look like, though the sutras tell us that the Buddha’s omniscience allowed Him to be able to see these things.
For us, if we can adopt an approach with faith, and positive motivation, one will be able to increase one’s merit exponentially, even if one came into this life without that pre-accumulated merit. Now, when we want to create such merit, we need to put in effort to the offerings, just as how tasty and refreshing tea can only be brewed by someone who is attentive to and serious about the task.
On that note, Geshe la elaborated on the importance of water bowl offerings. Again, Geshe la emphasised motivation – one should visualise one offering thousands and thousands of water bowls to the merit fields. Geshe la explained that when we make offerings, we should not do so with any attachment to that which we are offering, and water, given its relative abundance, is wonderful for this. Some people prepare expensive offerings to our gurus or the Triple Gem more generally, but that can lead to negative emotions of attachment (to that which is about to be offered), or pride (being arrogant about one’s ability to afford an expensive offering) etc, which is why the water offerings are relatively more appropriate for everyone to offer. So if one makes positive motivation to offer to the Gurus, the Buddha & the 500 Arhats, etc, that is immensely helpful to one’s practices to accumulate merit.
With regard to offerings such as reliquaries and thangkas, we must visualise them as representatives of the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas who will watch over and bless us; we should not view them merely as material items.
For the receptacles to contain the offerings, gold or silver are recommended. But even if one cannot afford these, it is alright so long as they are clean. It is important to have a cleaning cloth to clean the offering receptacle regularly to ensure its cleanliness. For water offerings, we normally have 7 water bowls. But having 7 is not absolutely necessary – one can have more or less. Back in the day in Tibet, accomplished masters were known to also have the practice of making 1 rather than 7 water bowl offerings. Records tell us that there was a accomplished mahasiddha who meditated in a cave and only had one bowl, which he used to make water offerings, and it was the very same bowl that he ate his meals from! How he would make operate would be to tell the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas that he would borrow the bowl during his meal times, and after cleaning it thoroughly after eating, would use it again as a water bowl offering.
One practice is to make thousands of water bowl offerings – 100,000 in particular, this would be the Prelude to Tantric practices, which will involve 100,000 prostrations, 100,000 water bowl offerings, 100,000 mandala offerings etc. This is known in Tibetan as Ngondro, or the Preliminary Practices. These are conditions precedent that have to be satisfied before one enters retreats for certain highest yoga tantra practices such as for Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja and Yamantaka, as far as our Gelugpa tradition goes.
There are also prescriptions for reciting the Migtsema, and in other traditions, Vajrasattva’s Hundred Syllable Mantra etc etc.
Even if we do not practise the highest yoga tantra or have any aspiration to get there in this life, we can nonetheless benefit a lot from developing a motivation or an aim to complete these preliminary practices over a period of time.
For instance, if we make 7 water bowl offerings, and 10 prostrations, and 10 mandala offerings each day, we can achieve a lot over 10 years – slowly but surely. We should make a mental note of how much we can accumulate during this life, and when one faces death, one will not fear as one has imbued one’s mind stream with immense merit. This is no different to making a good investment while we are able to.
If one offers more than 7 bowls, or if one only does it with 1 bowl, that’s all fine. As regards why 7 is the magic number? Shortly after the Buddha entered enlightenment, some disciples asked how should they honour and make offerings to the Buddha. Buddha responded: simply do it in the same way as when a King comes to the realm and people pay respects to the King in ancient India. That’s how the number 7 came from, and in Buddhist practice they represent
- water for drinking (Argham – to rinse one’s mouth after a long journey),
- water for washing/ bathing (Padyam – to wash one’s feet with a basin filled with flowers),
- flowers (Pushpa – flower garlands, as it was common to make such offerings to devas etc)
- incense (Dhupe – it was common to place some fragrance after the feet washing mentioned above),
- light (Aloke – thousands of years ago, there were no electric bulbs, so many lamps would be lit when an important guest came, that signifies illumination of wisdom, eradicating all ignorance and mental obscurity),
- perfume (Ghande – this is anointed on the body of the guest), and
- food/fruits (Naividya – in Tibet it was common to offer tormas made from roasted barley flour and butter).
The 7 water bowl offering is a versatile one that one can practise in association with any other practice(s). There is an 8th bowl that may represent song and dance as well.
The 7/8 offerings can be represented by Hand Mudras/ Gestures (details of which will be available to whoever who wishes to learn more), and which have been transmitted to us by our lineage founder Lama Tsongkhapa. It may be helpful to note that the Nyingmas and Kagyud practitioners may have slightly different Hand Mudras/ Gestures.
In spite of minor differences between the lineages, it is important to understand that each of the Tibetan Buddhist schools have their own accomplished and tested paths towards enlightenment, and the traditions do coalesce in many respects. Geshe la raised an example of his own alma mater Sera Jey Monastic University (one of the great seats of learning of our Gelugpa tradition) where the protector deity is the Most Secret Hayagriva (Tib: Tamdrin Yangsang, Chi: 马头明王）- this practice actually originated from the Nyingma school – Geshe la explained that the prayers and chants, the torma offerings etc, are all distinctively Nyingma, even though Most Secret Hayagriva is propitiated and revered in the Gelugpa tradition! The practice was transmitted to Sera Jey by a former abbot of Sera Jey whose father was Nyingma lama who was an accomplished practitioner and lineage holder of the Most Secret Hayagriva practices.
Geshe la went on to explain that once the water bowls are cleaned after offerings, one should wrap them up with dry cloth. It is to prevent the smell-eaters (a type of being in parallel world systems) from partaking in them which may lead to contamination of what would otherwise be a clean and pure offering.
It is important to pour water into the first bowl and then pour majority of that 1st into the 2nd bowl, then repeat that process from the 2nd bowl into the 3rd bowl etc. So the pouring of water is done in a series. The bowls beside each other should not touch each other, but should have a small gap between them, and should not be too far apart.
The reason behind not having an empty bowl left of the offering altar is that it opens the risk of creating a negative karma. The lesson comes from the time when Milarepa was making offerings to his Master, Marpa. Milarepa had attempted to make an offering with an empty copper receptacle, and it created the cause for Milarepa to be short of food during his prolonged retreat which resulted in him surviving only a diet of nettles – this is why he is often depicted as being green in colour, as a consequence of his diet. So do try to ensure that any receptacle meant to contain offerings is not left empty.
Geshe la also shared that from a fengshui perspective, an empty receptacle lying around does not augur well.
Also when making offerings, it is tradition to cover one’s mouth with a robe/shawl, or in modern times, it is entirely alright to wear a mask. One should do so with both hands and also with one’s head bowed as a gesture of respect, visualising the entire merit field with Lord Shakymuni Buddha at the helm. One should make the water offerings slowly, purposefully and respectfully, and also keep the offering bowls in the same way. The bowls should also not be filled to the brim. It is the same principle that applies when we offer tea to a guest – it is not polite to have it filled to the brim lest the guest be scalded by the hot tea being offered. Some bowls have markings to help the practitioner prevent over-pouring.
If one is doing the Ngondro practices, it is common for one has to recite a saddhana and then keep the bowls, and then repeat the process.
Once the water bowl offering is complete, one would then light an incense, and prostrations, and then recite “OM AH HUM” three (3) times. These 3 syllables are mantra syllables. “OM” makes the offerings to multiply so that we can obtain maximum blessings/ merit from the offerings. “AH” makes the offerings transform into nectar. “HUM” purifies any impure aspects of the offerings. These help us to transform normal worldly offerings into “vast and unequaled” offerings. If we can say this before we offer anything, even food in front of us before we eat, this will help us accumulate merit.
It is good to do one in the morning, and keep the water bowls in the evening when one returns home from work, if at all possible.
Remember that the water offering is best done by reference to Body Speech and Mind.
- Wearing a mask, cleaning the bowl – Body aspect.
- Chanting a mantra whilst doing the offering – Speech aspect.
- Visualise the merit field to whom we are making the offering – Mind aspect
There are many benefits to this practice, including purifying any past transgressions of vows and past negative karma, giving us a good complexion, giving us peace of mind and comfort, becoming likeable to everyone, having a lovely voice, and good bodily health etc.
Finally, it is important to remember dedicate merits and allow our positive motivation to permeate all round and the firm belief that all merits dedicated will reach them. All these merits will be accumulated and locked into our karmic bank which will aid us in our path towards enlightenment. Also, it is important to dedicate these towards long life of our lineage gurus.
We hope this is helpful to all.
The Maha Tare Team