Offering

Offering (mchod pa)

• A sacramental offering, which is presented to a spiritual teacher or meditational deity, as a means of veneration and producing delight in the object of veneration. In general, there are offerings associated with body, speech and mind. Thus, an offering can be of material substance such as flowers, scented water and food, or a verbal offering, such the recitation of songs of praise, or a mental offering, such as the offering of the positive potentials which one may have accumulated as a result of having engaged in wholesome deeds beneficial to others. More specifically, the tantras identify four kinds of offering which are to be made, namely, outer, inner, secret and real offerings. The outer offerings of enjoyment (phyi nyer spyod kyi mchod pa) are the eight associated with the eight offering goddesses, including water, flowers, incense, light, perfume, food, and sound, as well as song, dance, and meditation. Inner offerings of commitment (nang dam rdzas kyi mchod pa) are the pure essences of semen, blood and flesh, transformed through the yoga of the energy channels, currents and seminal points within the subtle body. Secret offerings of sexual union and 'liberation' (gsang ba sbyor sgrol gyi mchod pa) are those esoteric rites and practices which transform the five poisons into the five pristine cognitions. Real offerings of great sameness (de kho na nyid mnyam pa chen po'i mchod pa) are the supreme bliss of purity and sameness, through which the meditator and the deity are identified. See also Dil-'go mKhyen-brtse, The Wish fulfilling Jewel, pp. 39-40; and dPal-sprul Rin-po-che, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 321-322. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)