Most Buddhist altars display some sort of offering. Making offerings allows one to practice giving, express gratitude and respect, and reflect upon the life sustaining law of interdependence. A Buddhist offering is not a sacrifice it never involves killing and it is not given in order to please the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Rather, it is an act of veneration for the Triple Gem. As such, making an offering develops wholesomeness and positive karma. While tangible objects may be given in abundance, the most perfect gift is an honest and sincere heart. Some common offerings and their symbolic import are:
- Flowers: Flowers are beautiful and fragrant. Yet, their splendour will not last forever, and as such they illustrate the impermanence of all things.
- Fruit: Fruit is nutritious, as well as pleasing to the taste. It also represents the result of our spiritual cultivation and helps us be mindful of the law of cause and effect.
- Grain: Grain is a basic dietary staple necessary to sustain life.
- Incense: Aromatic incense purifies the atmosphere as well as the mind. Just as its fragrance travels afar, so do good deeds extend to the benefit of all. Burning incense also embodies the transience and dissolution of phenomena.
- Light: Light extinguishes darkness in the same way that wisdom dispels ignorance.
- Water: Water signifies the force of life and washes away impurities.
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