With mandarava, blue lotus and jasmine
With all flowers pleasing and fragrant
and with garlands skilfully woven
I pay honour to the princes of the sages,
So worthy of veneration.
I envelop them in clouds of incense,
Sweet and penetrating;
I make them offerings of food, hard and soft,
And pleasing kinds of liquids to drink.
I offer them lamps encrusted with jewels,
Festooned with golden lotus,
On the paving, sprinkled with perfume,
I scatter handfuls of beautiful flowers.
(Puja: The Triratna Book of Buddhist Devotional Texts)
The first section of the seven-fold Puja and the final section of the Threefold Puja are the verses of offering which we are most familiar with. The offerings mentioned in the Threefold Puja are the three traditional offerings of flowers, candles and incense, representing impermanence, Enlightenment and the spiritual life respectively. The offerings mentioned in the first verse of the Seven-fold Puja are flowers, candles, incense, food hard and soft, and water to drink. These are six of the eight traditional offerings to the honoured guest in India. The two missing are water to wash and music.
There are other offerings in Buddhism such as the imaginative offering of all the senses – taste, touch, smell etc – or the imaginative offering of the body in Vajrayana Buddhism. There is also the Mandala offering which is a symbolic offering of the whole universe. However, we don't need to concern ourselves much with those. Whether Tantric, Mahayana or Hinayana, offerings generally are symbolic of worship. Worship is the recognition of a Higher ideal and the expression of reverence and devotion towards that Ideal and towards those who embody it. Worship is also an expression of gratitude that the Ideal, the vision of a higher existence, has been made manifest. Worship is also an orientation towards the Ideal. When we worship, when we make offerings we are recognising that higher states of consciousness are possible and we are turning ourselves in the direction of higher states of consciousness.
The recognition that higher states of consciousness are possible to attain and have been attained by the Buddhas and Bodhsattvas, is a fundamental Right View. According to Buddhism there are Right Views and Wrong Views. Two very basic right views are that all things are impermanent and that the spiritual life is possible; there are higher states of consciousness to be attained. The offering of flowers specifically, represents a recognition of impermanence. All the offerings and the devotional attitude of offering represents the view that the spiritual life is possible, that there are higher states of consciousness. The offering of light, lighted candles, refers specifically to the recognition of Enlightenment as the highest attainment for humanity.
We could say that Offerings symbolise Right View. Right View or Perfect Vision is at the beginning of the Noble Eightfold Path, and offerings are at the beginning of the Sevenfold Puja. This is no accident. The Eightfold Path consists of the Path of Vision and the Path of Transformation. The first stage – Right View – is the Path of Vision and all the other stages are the Path of Transformation: Right Emotion, Right Action, Right Speech, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Meditation. At the very beginning of the spiritual life we need to have a glimpse of the Ideal. We need to have an idea of the goal. We need to have faith in the possibility of change, of personal transformation and with that vision, that faith, we can set out on the Path of Transformation. Similarly at he beginning of the Sevenfold Puja we need to have faith, we need a vision of existence that goes beyond the mundane and materialistic, we need to have some vision or glimpse of the heights.
The Sevenfold Puja is a path leading to the arising of the Bodhicitta. The Bodhicitta is the overwhelming urge or desire to gain Enlightenment for the sake of all beings. The stages of the Sevenfold Puja describe the spiritual practise that has to take place in order for us to arrive at that point – the point of being a Bodhisattva – after that when the Bodhicitta has arisen according to the Mahayana we have to take up the practise of the Six Perfections - Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Energy, Meditation and Wisdom.
As well as representing gratitude and Right View offerings also represent generosity. Generosity, or rather the spirit of generosity is present at the beginning of the spiritual life, in the middle of the spiritual life, and at the end of the spiritual life. When the spirit of generosity is absent there is no spiritual development. There may be psychological development, which is very necessary and useful, but there has to be a spirit of generosity for any self-transcending development, which is what spiritual development really is.
I am careful to say a spirit of generosity rather than generosity because it is possible to give things, give money, give time, give assistance, even give Dharma talks without a spirit of generosity. We can give for our own sake rather than for the sake of others. It is important to give whether we have a spirit of generosity or not, because it is by giving that we develop a spirit of generosity. Generosity is the manifestation of Metta. There is no such thing as metta in the abstract. If it is not manifested, not expressed, in a spirit of generosity, then it is not metta. By doing the metta bhavana, by practising generosity and by making offerings in the context of the Puja we can cultivate a spirit of generosity, which will manifest in the little things of life and make our own lives and other peoples lives a lot happier.
It's worth trying to be aware of our impulses to selfishness and our impulses to generosity, even in small things, because it is by not acting on selfish impulses and by acting on generous impulses that we progress on the spiritual path. This choice is facing us all the time. When we sit down to a meal, we experience selfish impulses and generous impulses; if we are aware we can choose how to act. When we spend money, we can follow selfish impulses or generous impulses; if we are aware we can make a choice. When we are driving a car we can experience selfish and generous impulses and choose how to act. You can probably think of many more examples. A spirit of generosity is the essence of the spiritual life and the essence of the Bodhisattva path.
The Sevenfold Puja is the Bodhisattva Path, the Path to becoming a Bodhisattva, in outline and it begins with Offerings and Worship. That is, it begins with gratitude, Right View and generosity. A point about offerings in the Puja: they should not be taken back. To quote Bhante Sangharakshita: “People have been known to make an offering to the shrine that was particularly meaningful to them, and then take the item away again after the puja, but this waters down the whole idea of offerings, which are a form of dana or giving. The Buddhist tradition is quite unambiguously that an offering, once made, should not be taken back. Otherwise it would be like giving someone a box of chocolates and then taking them back to eat the chocolates yourself. Of course things can be lent to the shrine to beautify it, but that is not the same as making an offering, and you would not place the object on the shrine during the Offerings section of the puja. A clear distinction should be drawn between these two actions.” (Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism, p62-63)
After the Worship and Offerings, the Puja carries on through Salutation, Going for Refuge, Confession, Rejoicing in Merits, Entreaty and Supplication, to Transference of Merits and Self-Surrender. With the verse on Transference of Merits and Self-Surrender we arrive at the topic of Self-Sacrifice. But before we go into that, I'll say a few words about this Path that takes us from Worship and Offerings to the point of Self-Sacrifice. The first thing to note is that the stages of the Puja relate to actual practices in the life of the spiritual aspirant, the aspiring Bodhisattva. They are not just verses for ritual recitation.
The Salutation section represents the practice of expressing respect for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha in an outward physical way. Usually we bow when we enter the Shrine Room and we salute the shrine before we meditate or do puja and we bow or kneel or prostrate when we make offerings. We join our hands together in the Anjali mudra when we perform ritual. All these are means of paying respect to the Three Jewels in an outward physical way. Unfortunately, like many other things, we sometimes do these things in a sloppy unmindful way so that they become more like an insult than a paying of respect. When we enter the Shrine room we could imagine that we are actually meeting someone for whom we have great respect and when we salute the Shrine it is as if we are greeting them. If you were meeting and greeting someone for whom you had great respect you would not do it in an offhand lackadaisical manner. You would be all attention and you would want to make a good impression. The Salutation section of the Puja represents the attitude of of reverence and attention to what we respect and the showing of that reverence in an overt physical way.
There is no special way that you have to make offerings to the shrine during a Puja. In fact you should not feel obliged to make offerings at all. If you feel moved to make an offering by a sense of devotion then by all means do so and it is okay to prostrate in front of the shrine or to kneel and bow or to just bow or to just join your hands in an attitude of reverence.
To move even closer to the Ideal, we Go for Refuge. In other words we make a decision to orientate our lives more and more in the direction of higher states of consciousness, and we make a decision to practise the teachings of the Buddha in co-operation and harmony with others who are doing likewise. Then the recitation of the verses of Refuge, Buddham Saranam Gacchami etc, is a straightforward and profound declaration of that decision, that choice, to orientate our lives more and more in the direction of higher states of consciousness. The precepts bring us down to brass tacks. Here is what we need to do. We need to observe these precepts in order to pave the way for higher states of consciousness, in order to progress spiritually.
When we try to practise the Precepts we come up against our habits of greed and ill-will and wrong views and it is these that we confess in the Confession section. The purpose of confession is to purify us, to relieve us of the burden of our negative mental states and our resistance to change. From the Buddhist point of view the problem with unskilful or negative actions, speech or thoughts is that they take us in the opposite direction to spiritual development. So what we need to do is drop them as quickly as possible and re-inspire ourselves in a positive direction. If someone else is unskilful what we need to do is try to help them re-orientate themselves in the direction of spiritual growth. Buddhism has no time for guilty breast-beating or hellfire and damnation. The Confession stage of the Puja represents our efforts to re-orientate ourselves in the positive direction of spiritual growth after we have had a bout of back-sliding negativity.
The Rejoicing in Merits section sees us well and truly back on track. We are rejoicing in change, and the possibility of change, rejoicing in those who've attained Enlightenment or Insight. Needless to say this is something we also need to practise outside the context of Puja. We need to try to relate to the best in others and rejoice in their good qualities and skilful actions. This benefits ourselves because it creates a more harmonious and pleasant immediate world for us to live in. It benefits others for the same reason.
Now that we are back on track and inspired by the prospect of change and spiritual growth, we are ready to to ask for further teaching. We are more receptive to those who can help us. This is represented by the Entreaty and Supplication stage of the Puja. To be receptive to the teaching of the Buddha, means to allow it to affect our lives. For it to affect our lives, we have to listen to it with an open mind, reflect on its relevance to our lives and be prepared to make changes as a result, even quite radical changes.
The teaching we get is the Heart Sutra, which is a profound Perfection of Wisdom text, making plentiful use of paradox. The essential teaching is that we have no fixed underlying self. Everything, including our bodies and our mental states, arises in dependence on conditions and ceases when those conditions cease. Nothing is permanent. There is only change and flux and process. This is what makes the evolution of consciousness possible. If we gain Insight into this teaching so that it becomes our constant experience and our whole life becomes a living out of it then the Bodhicitta has arisen and we will be totally orientated towards Enlightenment. We will be dedicated to the attainment of Enlightenment for the sake of all beings. This is what self-sacrifice means in Buddhism and it is this self-sacrifice that the final verse of the Puja gives voice to.
The Transference of Merit and Self-Surrender is a joyful recognition of the fact that we are all interdependent, interconnected and that all our spiritual efforts which seem to be for our own development are actually for everyone's benefit. We utter this exuberant shout of joy and give everything away, knowing in our hearts that we don't possess anything anyway, that all that seemed so fixed and solid and ours is like water pouring through our fingers. Our personality, our possessions, our merit, we give it all away, feeling the lightness and freedom of a liberated heart, unfettered by attachments and selfishness.
In the Tantra this attitude is given graphic expression in the form images of bits of the body made from dough. Also in the Chod practice where the practitioner, the Yogi, goes away to a solitary place, preferably a cremation ground and performs rituals in which he imagines his own body being chopped up and churned into a liquid which is then offered to the spirits of the place for their nourishment. What this rather crude symbolism is about is the attitude of non-attachment to what we consider to be ours. The Yogi is facing his attachment and fear head on and overcoming it. I don't think the Chod practice is suitable unless you've been practising for many many years and you have developed a strong basis of metta. This basis of metta is most important and in itself can take years of practice to establish firmly.
But to return to the final verse of the Puja, where we most frequently encounter self-sacrifice or Self-Surrender as it is called. We say:
“May the merit gained in my acting thus, go to the alleviation of the suffering of all beings”.
Here we have the Bodhisattva's job description as it were; the alleviation of the suffering of all beings. It is obviously an impossible task. But the Bodhisattva knows that in Reality there are no beings and that what causes them suffering is their experience of themselves as beings when in reality they are “becomings”. So the Bodhisattva is undaunted by this task because Reality is on his or her side. Things are the way they are and the task is to try to get as many people as possible to see this.
Then we say, “My personality throughout my existences, my possessions and my merit in all three ways, I give up without regard to myself for the benefit of all beings.” Our personality is our habits, our preferences, our likes and dislikes. So we let go of these. We loosen our attachment to our preferences, our likes and dislikes. We may even be willing to go along with other peoples preferences sometimes ! Our possessions, our money, our belongings; we recognise the ephemeral nature of it all and realise that in itself it will not give satisfaction or meaning to our lives. So we dedicate it to the welfare of all. We develop an attitude of sharing and generosity. We try to use our money and possessions in a way that enhances life, rather than just to follow our own narrow wants. And whatever we gain from spiritual practice, we don't allow it to inflate our egotism. We try to use it to benefit everybody. So transference of merit can be an antidote to pride.
Then we go on to say:
“Just as the earth and other elements are serviceable in many ways, to the infinite number of beings, inhabiting limitless space, so may I become that which maintains all beings, situated throughout space, so long as all have not attained to peace.”“May I become that which maintains all beings” means may I be a support to all beings, may I enrich and enhance their lives. We probably would find it too daunting to think in those terms but we can think in terms of supporting each other. To support someone means to be part of the conditions that helps them to live the spiritual life. So just by being here we are supporting each other. We are together creating conditions conducive to spiritual development. Similarly by being in the shrine room (or on retreat) for meditation or Puja and engaging wholeheartedly with the practices we are supporting each other. By co-operating we are supporting each other. By communicating openly and honestly we are creating an environment for open and honest communication and therefore supporting each other.
The Bodhisattva gives himself or herself completely to creating conditions conducive to spiritual development. They surrender themselves to this great task. This is the meaning of self-sacrifice in Buddhism. Self-sacrifice could be said to symbolise the Bodhisattva Ideal; the Ideal of perfect altruism, of supreme generosity.
Traditionally, in some Buddhist texts, it is said that there are three possible ways to live your life -
You can aim for happiness in this present life (the materialistic way)
You can wish for happiness in some future existence (Heaven) (theistic), or
You can think in terms of gaining Enlightenment for the sake of all beings.
The third of these is what is expressed in the Transference of Merits and Self-Surrender.
At the end of the Puja, we have the concluding mantras and among them is the mantra of Tara. Tara is an archetypal Bodhisattva in female form. She is said to have been born from the tears of Avalokitesvara. He looked down on the world and seeing all the suffering he shed tears. Avalokitesvara is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and Tara represents the quintessence of Compassion. She is green in colour and is depicted as seated on a lotus. Her left leg is drawn up in meditation posture and her right leg is stepping down into the world. Her left hand is holding three lotus flowers, by her left shoulder, and her right hand is extended in the gesture of generosity.
Tara could be seen as uniting the symbolism of offerings and self-sacrifice. Her right hand is extended in the gesture of supreme generosity, an offering of help and comfort to the world. Tara herself is Avalokitesvara's offering, born from his tears of Compassion. For the Bodhisattva there is no distinction between the world and Reality, samsara and nirvana and so the Bodhisattva's feelings of reverence and devotion are transmuted into Compassion for the world of suffering humanity. For the Bodhisattva, to worship and honour the experience of Enlightenment or Buddhahood means to give unstintingly to all who suffer from delusion. When Tara stretches out her hand in the gesture of supreme generosity, it is both an offering of help and comfort and a reverence to the highest of all Ideals, the Perfection of Wisdom and Compassion.
Tara's right leg is stepping down. She is not only offering help, she is taking the medicine of the Dharma out into the world to cure its fevers and ills. This represents the self-sacrifice of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva is constantly at the service of the world, “just as the earth and other elements are serviceable in many ways”, the Bodhisattva surrenders all selfish interest to be at the service of those in need of spiritual awakening. We too can try to be of service to each other rather than always thinking “me first” or acting in a “me first” way. We can serve each other, give way to each other, allow our own preferences to be overruled sometimes. All of this is practise in dissolving egotism. The Bodhisattva experiences no egotism and therefore is quite naturally at the service of the spiritually blind as a guide and helper. This outward going compassionate activity of Tara is balanced by the meditative state indicated by the left leg drawn up in meditation posture. The compassionate activity represented by the foot stepping down, is not a mindless do-gooding, it is firmly based in the higher states of consciousness represented by the meditation posture. It is compassionate activity based in Wisdom; the vision of existence that sees impermanence and interconnectedness always and everywhere.
The three lotuses in Tara's left hand traditionally represent the Buddhas of past, present and future. However I like to think of them as also representing the process of spiritual development. There is a process of awakening and expanding and blossoming that we have to go through before we are spontaneously generous and self-sacrificing in the way indicated by the image of Tara. We can begin that process in small ways now and gradually we will find our natural tendencies becoming more and more other regarding, more and more generous and thoughtful and kindly. The process is the process outlined in the Sevenfold Puja. There is nothing forced or harsh about the generosity and self-sacrifice represented by Tara. Tara is depicted in female form, soft green in colour. She is calm, soft and tender and her compassion shines forth like the radiance of some beautiful flower. There is no rending of garments or tearing of flesh just the astounding smile of Beauty.
The Generosity and Self-Sacrifice of the Bodhisattva are the most beautiful of virtues. They represent a total reverence for life, for evolving consciousness and a devotion to the welfare of all beings, that is in essence a devotion to the Highest Ideal, the Ideal of Enlightenment for the sake of all. This devotion, this attitude of reverent generosity is beautifully expressed in the image of the offering goddesses. To quote Bhante Sangharakshita:
“The offering goddesses are frequently visualised in the course of meditation practice. One sees – or feels – flowing from one's heart eight rainbows. These eight rainbows pass out through the crown of one's head and, travelling upwards, fan out. At the end of each rainbow, there is a goddess, a beautiful sixteen-year-old female figure, bearing the appropriate offering – water for drinking, water for washing, incense etc. The eight offering goddesses, at the end of the eight rainbows, make their offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, who are visualised as seated on lotus thrones in the midst of the sky. These offering goddesses represent the essence of worship, represent powerful upsurging devotional feelings, very pure and strong.” (Complete Works, Vol. 13, p.257)
