V17 - The Supreme Eight Offerings

Water, water, flowers, fragrance, light, ointment, fruits, and music—each offering is meticulously arranged and supremely dignified.

▶ What Are the Eight Offerings?
🌻In ancient India, hosts would prepare eight kinds of exquisite offerings when welcoming honored guests, encompassing the five sensory pleasures of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Buddhists also make these supreme offerings—nectar water, foot-washing water, flowers, incense, lamps, ointments, fresh fruits, and music—to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as a sign of reverence, praying that they joyfully accept them. Through this, one accumulates vast merit and spiritual resources.

🌻The Eight Supreme Offerings:
✨Nectar Water – Purifies the afflictions of the mind, quenches thirst, and brings cool serenity.
✨Foot-Washing Water – Purifies bodily karma, removes obstacles in body and mind, and leads to the realization of the pure Dharma body.
✨Beautiful Flowers – Delights the eyes with beauty and brings visual joy. May all beings attain magnificent appearances and perfect features.
✨Fragrant Incense – Its scent pervades the universe, pleasing the sense of smell. May all impurities be cleansed, and all beings attain the fragrance of the Dharma body.
✨Brilliant Lamp – Symbolizes the light of wisdom, dispelling the darkness of ignorance and bringing warmth and great illumination.
✨Healing Ointment – Moisturizes and soothes, bringing comfort through touch, relieving heat-induced distress, and offering physical and mental refreshment.
✨Delicious Fruits – Provides nourishing food, alleviates hunger, and ensures abundance in sustenance, leading to the attainment of Buddhahood.
✨Exquisite Music – Offers melodious sounds that delight the ears. May all beings enjoy listening to the Dharma and open their wisdom eye.

🌻Verse of the Eight Offerings:
✨I offer sweet nectar, wishing all beings to be fulfilled. I offer pure water, cleansing the world's impurities.
✨ I offer fresh flowers, bringing joy to the world. I offer fragrant incense, bringing peace to the hearts of people.
✨I offer shining lamps, illuminating the entire world. I offer soothing ointment, making all hearts tender.
✨I offer divine delicacies, eliminating poverty in the world. I offer the bliss of the Dharma, leading to transcendence and wisdom.

▶Meritorious Deeds by Donors
🌻Contributing to the monastery’s construction to ensure the lasting presence and propagation of the Dharma.
🌻Any remaining funds will continue to support Dharma propagation, as well as the education and daily living of the sangha, bringing continuous blessings and merits to the donor.

▶Blessings & Dedication
🌻During the 12-day Vesak Festival, each donor will have a dedicated set of exquisite Eight Offerings presented before the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, praying for divine blessings.
🌻A card with the name of the donor will be placed before the offerings, inviting the divine light to shine upon them.
🌻The merit of monastery and Dharma propagation will be dedicated to the donor: “May the Buddha's light shine upon you, dispelling calamities and obstacles. May you be physically and mentally healthy, courageous, and strong. May you enjoy longevity without illness, family peace and prosperity, career success, and the fulfillment of all virtuous aspirations. May you be reborn in the presence of the Three Jewels in every lifetime and achieve complete realization of the true Dharma.”