The Eight Offerings
Offering water to cleanse the mouth or face: It signifies auspiciousness or all the positive causes and conditions which bring positive effects. So, make an offering of water, which is clean, fresh, cool, smooth, light, delicious, comfortable to the throat and stomach – these qualities are the qualities of auspiciousness.
Offering water to wash the feet: This is clear water mixed with incense or sandalwood, which is made as an offering to all enlightened beings’ feet. The symbolic meaning is purification. By cleansing the feet of the enlightened beings, we cleanse all our own negative karma and obscurations. By making offerings to clean the enlightened beings feet, we are really cleaning the “feet” of our own mind.
Offering flowers signifies the practice of generosity and opens the heart.
Offering incense symbolizes moral stability and clarity of patience, the beauty, which dispels all ignorance. According to Venerable Norlha Rinpoche: “It is also excellent to offer the butter lamps, candles or light because this act of offering this light symbolizes burning away our mental afflictions of desire, aggression, greed, jealousy, pride and so forth. The other part of the symbolism is that it is a way to burn away our illness.”
Offering of perfume or the fragrance from saffron or sandalwood. It signifies perseverance or joyous effort. Through that one quality, one develops all the qualities of enlightenment.
Offering food, which has a lot of different tastes, signifies Samadhi, which is a nectar or ambrosia to feed the mind.
Offering of musical instruments. There are different types of instruments – cymbals, bells, guitars, lutes – all of these are offered. Their nature is wisdom, which makes an offering to the ears of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all the enlightened beings. Sound represents wisdom because wisdom is a special power of the mind, which penetrates phenomena. Compassion is achieved through great wisdom; interdependence of all phenomena is realized through great wisdom. Of course al phenomena have the nature of interdependence, cause and conditions, but sound is specially easy to understand.