Offering

[sonamdhargey]

Offering the 3 Jewels are what are thought in the Dharma. The significance of offering to the 3 Jewels are very significant to our Dharma practice. However offering to the non 3 Jewels, for example the old folks home, orphanage and other bodies to help eleviate their suffering does have the same effect if not better than offering to the 3 jewels? My opinion is that the act of offering or giving with the motivation to benefit all sentient beings is key be it offering to the 3 Jewels or the latter because the motivation itself is a dharma practice that can help and lead us to become a better person if not attained.

What do you all think?

[Tenzin K]

"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."

"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."

[dondrup]

The Three Jewels and the other objects of offerings like the old folks home or orphanages are all means for us to accumulate merits.  The Three Jewels are supreme field of merits as they allow us to accumulate vast amount of merits. 

The motivation behind any action is important because it determines whether the action is virtuous and meritorious.  It also determines the amount of merits one will get from performing that action.  Hence when we offer to the Three Jewels or other objects of offerings with bodhichitta motivation, we will obtain vast amount of merits compared to offering without bodhichitta motivation.  The factors to consider when making offering are to offer with wisdom, compassion and skillful means.

[Midakpa]

Whether we are giving to the Three Jewels or to ordinary people, we must give with a pure mind, with no regret. 

When Atisha went to Tibet in the 11th century, he praised the quality of the water there and recommended that the water be used as offerings because it has many qualities and nobody would regret giving water away. This is why in Tibetan Buddhism, there is this practice of water offering.

The word in Sanskrit for offering is puja, which means "to please". Thus when we make offerings to the Buddhas, we please the Buddhas and we accumulate merits which will help us on the path to enlightenment.

Similarly, when giving to others, we must give with a pure motivation, with impartiality, without worldly concerns.  Preferably, the gift should be beneficial both in the short term and in the long term. If it is not ultimately beneficial, we should refrain from giving. Also, the greater the sacrifice, the greater the merit we collect. Finally, we must give with wisdom. We should not give something to someone for a trivial purpose or who will use it to harm others.

[Midakpa]

During the Buddha's lifetime, when he was staying in Shravasti, King Prasenajit celebrated his presence with a lavish banquet and invited all the important people in town. One poor man looking on from the edge of the crowd rejoiced at this display of generosity. Later, when Ananda asked the Buddha who had created the greatest merit, the Buddha replied that it was the poor man who rejoiced at the king's virtue. This story is about one's intention when giving and the importance of rejoicing at others' qualities and happiness.

There is also another story about a woman who lived the life of a beggar at the time of a previous Buddha. She and her husband owned nothing but the single piece of cloth which they would take turns to wrap around themselves when they went to beg for food. The Buddha was nearby and a monk on his alms exhorted her to make offerings to the Enlightened One. Realising that they were beggars because they had neglected to give in the past, she decided to offer their only possession to the Buddha. Her husband simply asked how they would live if they were unable to beg, because she had given away their only clothing. She said, "If we give cloth and then die, what will be the loss? We have nothing in this life, but we will have good fruits in the next. If we make such a gift and then die we shall be fortunate." So saying she asked the monk to look away while she wrapped herself in grass and handed him the cloth as an offering to the Buddha. The monk accepted the offering with embarrassment. However, before the king and queen, the wealthy merchants and countless  onlookers, the Buddha picked out the heap of rags and hailed it as the most worthy offering, because the woman's motivation was pure. The woman later attained liberation at the time of the Buddha Shakyamuni, who cited her story as an example to others to give gifts.

[Midakpa]

Another example of the importance of pure motivation is shown in the story of Geshe Ben. He was a famous lama who was a former bandit but later became a great practitioner. One day, hearing that his benefactor was coming to visit, he worked up early in the morning, cleaned his altar and arranged his offerings in an attractive manner. Sitting back to admire his work, and pleased at the thought of how impressed his patron would be, he suddenly realised the impure nature of his motivation. He picked up a handful of ashes and threw them over the offerings to destroy his pride. later, other Kadampa masters commented that such offerings were by far the most valuable because they were made with a pure motivation, without hope of reward.

[fruven]

Offering to the three jewels is one of the best offering. Because when we offer to three jewels we support the needs of the sangha and allow them to grow. By them not feeling hungry or thirsty the sangha can concentration on their study's well. With their knowledge and Dharma realization the community that is part of the sangha would able to assist the laypersons and their lifes.

[DS Star]

The Three Jewels and the other objects of offerings like the old folks home or orphanages are all means for us to accumulate merits. The Three Jewels are supreme field of merits as they allow us to accumulate vast amount of merits. 

The motivation behind any action is important because it determines whether the action is virtuous and meritorious.  It also determines the amount of merits one will get from performing that action.  Hence when we offer to the Three Jewels or other objects of offerings with bodhichitta motivation, we will obtain vast amount of merits compared to offering without bodhichitta motivation.  The factors to consider when making offering are to offer with wisdom, compassion and skillful means.

Well-said dondrup. Your explanations are clear and precise. Offerings to Three Jewels undoubtedly will allow us to collect vast amount of merits as you mentioned. And the "Motivation" for making the offerings should be based on the thought of wanting to benefit others.

When we make offerings to Sangha, we are offering to the 3 Jewels. One may argue that the conduct of certain Sangha members sometimes leave devotees in suspects. They wonder whether they are offering to the right "Sangha" that hold his vows well and practicing in the correct way.

I found the guidelines as append below:

"Before making the offerings, the donor should meditate on the nine virtues of the Sangha. He or she should banish the idea of personal references or personal attitudes towards any individual monk, regarding the whole Sangha as the recipient...

...The intention to offer to the Sangha must focus on the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. Avoiding personal preferences, one should regard any monk as the representative of the Sangha. One should reflect thus: “He is a son of the Buddha, a representative of the Sangha, and therefore represents all the virtues of the Buddha’s first five disciples, the sixty Arahants who were the first missionaries, the one thousand Arahants of the Uruvela Forest, and other Arahants like Venerables S?riputta, Moggall?na, and Mah?kassapa.” Thus the supporter concentrates his mind on the virtues of the whole Sangha and, in this way, donates Sanghikad?na.

The commentary says, “Even in offering to immoral monks who only wear the robes around their necks, if one focuses the mind on the Sangha, it amounts to offering to the eighty great Arahants lead by the Venerables S?riputta and Moggall?na.” The good results one gets are the same. This is possible because the Noble Sangha, the true sons of the Buddha, by their powerful virtues, permeate influences and honour even today. The offering is beneficial not because of the monks’ immoral nature, but because of the purity of the Sangha.

Thus, a donor must focus his mind on the purity and power of the Buddha’s Noble Sangha. So even when offering to immoral monks, such good influences and benefits prevail if the mind is skilfully directed. So offering robes to immoral monks, amounts to offerings made to Arahants, past and present, who have completely eradicated the defilement."

[sonamdhargey]

The Three Jewels and the other objects of offerings like the old folks home or orphanages are all means for us to accumulate merits. The Three Jewels are supreme field of merits as they allow us to accumulate vast amount of merits. 

The motivation behind any action is important because it determines whether the action is virtuous and meritorious.  It also determines the amount of merits one will get from performing that action.  Hence when we offer to the Three Jewels or other objects of offerings with bodhichitta motivation, we will obtain vast amount of merits compared to offering without bodhichitta motivation.  The factors to consider when making offering are to offer with wisdom, compassion and skillful means.

Well-said dondrup. Your explanations are clear and precise. Offerings to Three Jewels undoubtedly will allow us to collect vast amount of merits as you mentioned. And the "Motivation" for making the offerings should be based on the thought of wanting to benefit others.

When we make offerings to Sangha, we are offering to the 3 Jewels. One may argue that the conduct of certain Sangha members sometimes leave devotees in suspects. They wonder whether they are offering to the right "Sangha" that hold his vows well and practicing in the correct way.

I found the guidelines as append below:

"Before making the offerings, the donor should meditate on the nine virtues of the Sangha. He or she should banish the idea of personal references or personal attitudes towards any individual monk, regarding the whole Sangha as the recipient...

...The intention to offer to the Sangha must focus on the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. Avoiding personal preferences, one should regard any monk as the representative of the Sangha. One should reflect thus: “He is a son of the Buddha, a representative of the Sangha, and therefore represents all the virtues of the Buddha’s first five disciples, the sixty Arahants who were the first missionaries, the one thousand Arahants of the Uruvela Forest, and other Arahants like Venerables S?riputta, Moggall?na, and Mah?kassapa.” Thus the supporter concentrates his mind on the virtues of the whole Sangha and, in this way, donates Sanghikad?na.

The commentary says, “Even in offering to immoral monks who only wear the robes around their necks, if one focuses the mind on the Sangha, it amounts to offering to the eighty great Arahants lead by the Venerables S?riputta and Moggall?na.” The good results one gets are the same. This is possible because the Noble Sangha, the true sons of the Buddha, by their powerful virtues, permeate influences and honour even today. The offering is beneficial not because of the monks’ immoral nature, but because of the purity of the Sangha.

Thus, a donor must focus his mind on the purity and power of the Buddha’s Noble Sangha. So even when offering to immoral monks, such good influences and benefits prevail if the mind is skilfully directed. So offering robes to immoral monks, amounts to offerings made to Arahants, past and present, who have completely eradicated the defilement."

Thanks for all your opinions. It is really something for me to think about when making offerings in the future. I like the above comments. What i gather from the above the motivation and intentions is key for offerings to the Sangha or anyone. I understand the benefits of offering to the Sangha, my question is offering to the non Sangha is less significance since they do not represent the virtues of the Buddha? My opinion is if the motivation is pure to benefit others, then it is significant as these will lead us to liberation and mind transformation be it offering to the 3 jewels or not.

[apprenticehealer]

I fully agree with Dondrup , that the motivation behind the offerings to the 3 Jewels and the offerings to the other objects is very important.
The motivation must be unconditional and made with wisdom. The motivation and intention of making any offerings must be pure and not 'stained' with any ulterior gain, profit or glory. It should be made to benefit, serve and relieve sufferings of all sentient beings.
Nothing is permanent, even the offerings we make. But these offerings , made with altruistic intention will initiate good karma and accumulate merits for us. Our karma follows us from one lifetime to the next and to the next, till we attain Enlightenment.