Offering

“Offering” originally refers to the offering of material good such as food and clothing to the triple Gem – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, to our teachers parents and the deceased.

To our superiors, offerings convey our feelings of affection, our duty and respect to them. While to our sub-ordinate, it encompasses the meaning of “empathy”, “care” and “protection”.

These are what’s referred in the Buddhist scriptures as “to repay our indebtedness to the top, to provide relief the those suffering below”. Regardless whether we are offering to our superior or taking care of those below us, we should aspire to the Bodhichitta, or the heart of infinite altruism, in that our motivation behind the offering is not for the benefit of ourselves, but for all the countless sentient beings in the entire space and across all dharma realms.

The Buddha refers to the merit from offering as “like the big expanse of the sky”. When one offers with a mind of non-discrimination and equanimity, then the fruit of the offering with also be vast like the limitless sky.

The eyes will be radiant, careers will progress smoothly and right thoughts will prevail with complete wisdom.

The mind and body will find peace, the body will be clean and pure, the three karmas will be purified and the opportunity to hear more dharma will ripen.