Question asked by anônimo
Hello! I'm starting to make offerings now and I have some questions:
1. I am offering incense on top of a pot of rice, would it be wrong to throw this rice in the trash when exchanging it? If so, what should I do with this rice?
2. If I offer my mala, can I no longer use it?
3. Can I make an offering to a Buddha image I made myself?
Thank you!
Dear Anonimo,
1. No there is nothing wrong with throwing the rice away, because it is just something you are offering the incense on top of. However, traditionally, you can actually just burn the incense on top of the ash from previous incense. This will allow the incense to actually burn when you light it instead of using rice. But of course this is a little bit more messy and you will need to clean around it regularly if the ash falls out, etc.
2. You can keep your mala on your altar no problem. Use it when you are doing your prayers and then put it back on your altar. If you actually offer your mala as an offering, then better not to use it as a normal mala. Keep it on the altar as a fixed offering.
3. Yes you can make offerings to the Buddha image you made yourself, that is not an issue at all. If you can, then you can bless your image yourself also, then when you make offerings, you know for sure that the enlightened beings are there in the image that you made. Here is the link of how to do it: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/how-to-bless-buddha-images-yourself.html
Hopw all of this helps! Thank you.