Guru Yoga > Seven Limbs > Offering > Outer offerings Flashcards
What are the eight offerings?
- water for drinking
- water for bathing the feet
- flowers
- incense
- lights
- perfume
- food
- music
What is the effect of making these offerings?
- water for drinking (see 7.)
- water for bathing the feet (and perfume) - become free from samsaric rebirths and attain the Form Body of a Buddha
- flowers - become free from sickness, ageing and other bodily ailments, and we will attain the special attributes of the body of a Buddha
- incense - create the cause to keep pure moral discipline and attain pure concentration
- lights - become free from the inner darkness of ignorance and attain omniscient wisdom
- perfume (see 2.)
- food (and nectar) - gain freedrom from the suffering of poverty and experience the enjoyments of the Buddhas
- music - (i) create the cause never to hear unpleasant sounds but only to hear pleasant sounds, especially the sound of Dharma, and to receive only good news. (ii) a cause of attaining the speech of a Buddha.
How to make water offerings:
Imagine that all the rivers, pools, lakes and oceans throughout infinite worlds appear in the aspect of water for drinking, water for bathing and perfume.
What is the (i) nature, (ii) function and (iii) aspect?
(i) manifestations of their emptiness, inseparable from the wisdom of uncontaminated great bliss
(ii) to cause the holy beings to experience spontaneous great bliss
(iii) that of the individual offering substance.
How to actual make the offerings:
From the letter HUM at our heart, we emanate infinite offering gods and goddesses, who are the nature of the exalted wisdom of uncontaminated great bliss and emptiness.
They make infinite offerings to the assembly of Guru Heruka and to all the other holy beings in the Field of Merit.
(1) Offering the five objects of desire - forms
We dissolve all appearances of sounds, smells, tastes and tactile objects into emptiness.
The ultimate nature of all forms appears in the aspect of countless Rupavajra Goddesses - female Deities, white in colour, holding mirrors reflecting the whole universe,
who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all forms.
The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and all the holy beings in the Field of Merit.
(2) Sounds
The ultimate nature of all sounds appears in the aspect of countless Shaptavajra Goddesses - female Deities, blue in colour, holding flutes that spontaneously produce enchanting music,
who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all sounds.
The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and all the holy beings in the Field of Merit.
(3) Smells
The ultimate nature of all smells appears in the aspect of countless Gändhavajra Goddesses - female Deities, yellow in colour, holding beautiful jewelled containers filled with special perfumes whose fragrance pervades the entire world,
who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all smells.
The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and all the holy beings in the Field of Merit.
(4) Tastes
The ultimate nature of all tastes appears in the aspect of countless Rasavajra Goddesses - female Deities, red in colour, holding precious containers filled with nectar possessing three qualites - medicine nectar that cures all disease, life nectar that overcomes death and wisdom nectar that destroys delusions -
who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all tastes.
The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and all the holy beings in the Field of Merit.
(5) Tactile objects
The ultimate nature of all tactile objects appears in the aspect of countless Parshavajra Goddesses - female Deities, green in colour, holding precious garments,
who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all tactile objects.
The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and all the holy beings in the Field of Merit.
What are the five functions of these offerings?
They cause us to:
1. accummulate great merit
2. increase our knowlege of the profound view of emptiness
3. develop and increase great bliss
4. purify ordinary appearances and conceptions
5. gain the completion stage realization of isolated body.
When should we train?
Even if we are not qualified at the moment, we can still train in these practices continually so that sooner or later we will become a qualified practitioner.
