Making Offerings to the Buddhas

Preparing Our Mind for Meditation

"The purpose of making offerings is not because the Buddhas need anything from us, but for the effect it has on our own mind...Having attained omniscient wisdom, a Buddha knows when we are making offerings to him or her."
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Eight Steps to Happiness

Venerable Geshe-la explains in many of his books that the success of our meditation practice depends on our making six preparations, including making offerings. Doing so everyday creates a vast amount of merit and makes our mind very strong. Furthermore, we create the cause to experience extraordinarily beautiful external things, and also, most importantly, extraordinarily beautiful states of mind.

In our main meditation room at KMC NYC, three sets of seven water bowls are made in front of Je Tsongkhapa, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Dorje Shugden every day. In our downstairs gompa, two sets of seven bowls are made, one in front of Je Tsongkhapa and one set in front of Dorje Shugden.

Many Buddhists also keep personal shrines and make these same offerings at home each day.

volunteer-smiling-kadampa-nyc (1)

"When we offer water to Buddha we should regard it as pure nectar because that is how it is perceived by Buddha."

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune

During our annual empowerment weekends at KMC NYC we make extensive offerings that are beautifully designed by our Sangha (check out the video to see examples of our past offering shrines).

The Benefits of Offering Different Substances

In Joyful Path of Good Fortune, Venerable Geshe-la explains the benefits of offering different substances that delight the senses.

  1. Offering cool water causes us to develop pure moral discipline.
  2. Offering delicious water ensures that we will always find delicious food and drink in future lives.
  3. Offering light water causes us to experience the bliss of physical suppleness.
  4. Offering soft water makes our mind calm and gentle.
  5. Offering clear water makes our mind clear and alert.
  6. Offering sweet-smelling water brings easy and powerful purification of negative karma.
  7. Offering water that is good for the digestion reduces our illnesses.
  8. Offering water that soothes the throat makes our speech beautiful and powerful.

Making Shrine Offerings at KMC NYC

While we can offer anything we find beautiful or welcoming to the Buddhas, on a daily basis we offer water.

When we fill the first bowl we imagine we are offering nectar for drinking to all the Buddhas. With the second we offer water to wash their feet; with the third, flowers; with the fourth, incense; with the fifth countless forms of light such as candles, jewels, stars, the sun and moon; with the sixth we annoint their body with perfume; and with the seventh we offer a great banquet of food and drink. During our prayers and offering ceremonies we make an eighth offering – music – but this is not normally represented as a water offering.

  1. Begin by making three prostrations as we go for refuge and generate bodhichitta
  2. Take a blue bucket from the kitchen, along with a white shrine cloth/towel
  3. Empty the water currently filling the bowls on the shrine and wipe the bowls of excess water
  4. Take the blue buckets to the kitchen and empty into the drain
  5. Fill the green plastic water cans in the kitchen with water
  6. Before filling the bowls make sure they are lined up straight. They should be close, about a grain of rice space between.
  7. Pour the water into the bowls from left to right. The water levels should be even and filled about a finger width from the top of each bowl.
  8. Use the shrine cloth to wipe away any spills
water-bowl-offerings
Download Instructions

Making Substance Offerings to Dorje Shugden

Traditionally Kadampas also make five food offerings daily to the Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden: alcohol, tea, cakes, milk and curd. At many centers the Serkyum, which means “golden nectar” is also offered. This is usually in the form of tea and is the taller offering to the far left.

To prepare the offerings, gather the following items:

  • Glassware - typically kept on the drying sheet in the kitchen
  • Whisky (kept in the cupboard to the right, above the sink)
  • Lapsang Souchong teabag (kept in the cupboard to the right, above the sink)
  • Teapot (kept in the far left cupboard under the shrine)
  • Cake/Cookies (kept in the cupboard to the right, above the sink)
  • Milk (found in mini fridge)
  • Curd/kefir (found in mini fridge)

Fill each glass with each substance about a finger width from the top of the glass

To ensure the tea isn't so hot that it breaks the glassware, fill the two tea offerings (in the picture - the glass containing the "golden drink" and the glass containing tea) about 1/3 of the way with cool water

Place the items in front of Dorje Shugden in the following order:

Serkyam containing the golden drink - far left

Five food offerings (always in this order): alcohol, tea, cakes, milk and curd

dorje-shugden-offerings
Download Instructions

Other Offerings

Tormas

A torma is a special offering of cake made in order to gain spiritual attainments. We can offer normal cakes, or if we want them to last longer we can make special cakes in symbolic forms. The tormas on the shrine at KMC NYC are typically made of marzipan. We make these special offerings for our monthly pujas, Offering to the Spiritual Guide, and Melodious Drum, as well as other special ritual prayers.

Flowers and Gifts

Additional gifts are prepared and offered on the shrine each month as a request to the Buddhas to bless our minds.