Reposted from @tsemrinpoche 🕯 A QUICK NOTE ON FOOD OFFERINGS 🕯 ⠀ Making offerings to the Three Jewels, on your altar or in a temple, is actually part of the Perfection of Generosity. Hence, when we make offerings, we don’t take offerings back for ourselves or make offerings with the sole motivation to give them to others as blessing once it has been offered. Our motivation to make offerings, should be to generate merit & practice non-attachment. ⠀ In @kechara.forest.retreat, we have a practice of offering food to both Tsem Rinpoche & also Dorje Shugden at Tsem Ladrang. These offerings are made on a daily basis, offered by individual staff & volunteers. Some people not accustomed to such offerings asked some questions about it, so we thought to share some dos & don’ts regarding food offerings. ⠀ *DO’S* 1. Offer the best quality food that you can afford 2. Offer things that you like, to cut your attachment to them 3. Offer vegetarian foods 4. Offer food that you have cooked or that you have bought specifically for offering 5. Offer both cooked and packaged food (biscuits, etc) 6. Offer more during retreats and special days 7. Give the food to others once offered ⠀ *DON’TS* 1. Make offerings with the intention of eating the food once offered 2. Make offerings with the intention of giving them to someone else 3. Attend retreats or pujas with the motivation of taking offerings once finished 4. Rush to take the offerings at the end of pujas or retreats 5. Be picky about what you take or receive as a blessing 6. Ask for offerings back once you have given to staff to be offered for you 7. Eat the food offerings once made. You can take a little bit as blessing, but don’t eat it all. This applies to fruit offerings as well. 8. Make non-vegetarian offerings 9. Throw away food offerings. Try to give it to others once offered. If no choice, then it is okay to throw away, because it will feed animals, insects, maggots, etc and bless them. ⠀ Click the link in the bio to read the rest! ⠀ #tsemrinpoche #tsemtulku #tibetanbuddhism #buddhism #dharma #spirituality #tibet #tibetans #shakyamuni #tsongkhapa #meditation #gelug #vajrayana #ganden #monk #monastery #wisdom #compassion # https://www.instagram.com/p/CP0EjikhitF/?utm_medium=tumblr
