“Why should one make offerings to the Three Jewels? It is because the Three Jewels provides a place for one to plant blessings. If you would like to seek blessings, you must perform meritorious acts before the Three Jewels.” (DFS II 288)
“One might think,‘Why should one make offerings to the Three Jewels? Wouldn’t it be better if the Three Jewels made offerings to me?’
“You may think it’s a bargain, but you would really be getting the short end. Why now do you have such poor luck? It’s because in the past you didn’t make offerings to the Three Jewels. Why are you always short of money—no money for some nice clothes or a decent place to live? It’s because you didn’t make offerings to the Three Jewels. As a consequence, day by day your blessings grow thinner. If you make offerings to the Three Jewels, your blessings will grow day by day. The Three Jewels is the field…where living beings can plant blessings.” (DFS IX 1700-1701)
The Ten Kinds of Offerings
“1) Incense. The finest, most expensive incense should be offered to the Buddha. If you were to buy old incense that shopkeepers were about to discard and bring it as an offering to the Buddha, your heart would be lacking in sincerity. On the other hand, if you were to offer gośīrṣa-candana (oxhead sandalwood) incense, your gift, involving considerable sacrifice on your part, could be considered sincere. ‘Oxhead’ incense is often mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings. The Sūraṅgama Sutra explains that this incense was so fragrant that it could be detected within a radius of thirteen miles when it was being burned in the city of Śrāvastī during the Buddha’s Dharma assemblies. The Brahman woman in the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva sold her house and sacrificed her wealth in order to make a great offering to Enlightenment Flower Samadhi Self-Existent King Tathāgata. Her sincerity was so great that she sold the very roof over her head in order to make the very best offerings to the Buddha.
“The reward for offering incense to the Buddha is that in the future your body will be fragrant. A rare scent constantly issued from Śākyamuni Buddha’s mouth and from every pore on his body. An ordinary person’s body has such a foul odor it can be detected for miles. If you don’t believe that, just consider how a police dog is able to trace a human scent at a distance of three to five miles. However, if you make offerings of incense to the Buddha with the hope of gaining a fragrant body, then you have missed the point. You should not seek for it. When your merit and virtue are sufficient, your body will quite naturally be fragrant.
The gods, for example, have fragrant bodies because they made offerings of incense to the Buddha in former lives. Until your merit and virtue are sufficient, you will continue to have a common stinking body no matter how much you strive to attain a fragrant odor.
“2) Flowers. The finer the flowers that you offer to the Buddha, the greater the merit and virtue you receive from the offering. Do not spend all your money on good things to eat; save a little for an offering to the Buddha. The reward for offerings of flowers is that you will have perfect features and be very beautiful or extremely handsome in your next life. People will fall in love with you at first sight. Women will be strongly attracted to you if you are a man; and men will be unable to resist your beauty if you are a woman. ‘That is too much trouble,’ you may say. ‘I don’t want to get involved with that.’
“If you don’t want that kind of trouble, so much the better. Śākyamuni Buddha had perfect features as a result of offering incense and flowers to Buddhas in former lives. If you fear the trouble a perfect appearance might bring, you can imitate Patriarch Bodhidharma, who had a ragged beard and ugly features! It is up to you. However, if you like it, you can have it that way.
“3) Lamps. If you light lamps before the Buddha, in the next life your vision will be clear. You will be able to see things other people cannot see and know things other people cannot know. You will be able to obtain the penetration of the Five Eyes: the heavenly eye, the Buddha eye, the Dharma eye, the wisdom eye, and the flesh eye.…
“4) Necklaces. Rare jewels and gems may be placed before the Buddha as offerings.
“5) Jeweled parasols. Items used to adorn the Buddha hall are also an acceptable offering.
“6) Banners and canopies. Banner made of cloth that has been painted or stitched with adornments, or wooden plaques that have been carved with inscriptions, are offerings appropriate to place before the Buddha. You may also hang canopies like the Great Brahma Heaven King’s net canopy, which is circular and adorned with jewels.
“7) Clothes. When you make or buy fine clothes, you may place them on the altar before the Buddha prior to wearing them. Only upper garments should be offered. Although the Buddha cannot wear the clothes, the offering is a gesture to express the sincerity of your heart.
“8) Fruit and food. Food should be placed before the Buddha prior to being eaten. This offering as well is a gesture of respect.
“9) Music. Making temple music includes beating the wooden fish, playing the drum and bell, ringing the small bells, striking the gong, and singing praises. Music such as this is an offering to the Buddha.
“10) Joined palms. The tenth kind of offering is simple and does not expend any energy. This is merely placing your palms together as an offering.”
(VS 105-107)
The merit or blessings derived from an offering depend on a number of factors, including: 1) the sincerity and intentions of the donor, 2) the kind of offering, 3) the recipient, and 4) the result of the offering. In the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections the Buddha discusses the recipent:
Giving food to a hundred bad people does not equal giving food to a single good person. Giving food to a thousand good people does not equal giving food to one person who holds the Five Precepts.
Giving food to ten thousand people who hold the Five Precepts does not equal giving food to a single Srotaāpanna [Streamwinner, or first stage Arhat]. Giving food to a million Srotaāpanna does not equal giving food to a single Sakṛdāgāmin [Once-Returner, or second stage Arhat]. Giving food to ten million Sakṛdāgāmin does not equal giving food to a single Anāgāmin [Never-Returner, or third stage Arhat]. Giving food to a hundred million Anāgāmin does not equal giving food to a single [fourth stage] Arhat. Giving food to ten billion Arhats does not equal giving food to a single Pratyekabuddha. Giving food to a hundred billion Pratyekabuddhas does not equal giving food to a Buddha of the three periods of time. Giving food to ten trillion Buddhas of the three periods of time does not equal giving food to a single one who is without thoughts, without dwelling, without cultivation, and without accomplishment. (S42 25)
供/供養