OFFERING RITUAL

OFFERING RITUAL

It is very useful for your meditation to have a special room or space reserved for your practice. The main elements that often come into your meditation place are an altar, your meditation chair and a text table.
The altar is a special place that holds your sacred objects, images and texts that inspire your practice.
Bokar Rinpoche wrote that in order to reach the ultimate Enlightenment, it is necessary to assemble the two accumulations: merit and wisdom. The accumulation of merit is therefore of paramount importance because without it, no accumulation of wisdom would be possible. The two accumulations are interdependent and the accumulation of merit operates in the field of "means" while the accumulation of wisdom operates in the field of "knowledge".
As beginners, merit of accumulation is the easiest form of accumulation to work with and it allows us to progress quickly along the path. Offerings are a form of accumulation of merits.
The most common offerings are: the offering of saffron water and the seven offerings.
The water offerings consist of seven bowls to be filled (and emptied) each day with saffron water, following a certain ritual.
The seven offerings consist of :

  • water (water is sometimes considered as two offerings: water used as a drink and water used as cleaning/purification)
  • flowers
  • incense
  • light
  • scented water
  • food
  • music

To learn more about the offering ritual and the set-up of the altar, see our Dharmateque.

Show More  

Active filters