Question asked by Ling
According to rinpoche kill, profiting off of and consuming animals is a grave sin. But I have recently come to the realization that when we offer pearls before the altar of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that it is no different than offering the flesh of beasts to the Buddha. Both come from the death of a sentient being, both are extracted with great suffering and death to the organisms that produce the commodity and both completely disregarding the teachings of compassion and the rebirth of mother sentient beings …. so why then do most lamas and monks still recommend the use of pearls …. are these offering of pearls no better that the blood offered to Hindu goddesses?I have pondered this for some time and feel extremely conflicted
Dear Ling,
Thank you for your very interesting and compassionate question. You are very right, that the harvesting of pearls does indeed mean the killing of sea creatures. In the past, pearls were used as offerings because they were extremely valuable, especially in countries or areas that were far from the sea, and therefore considered to be more precious. Over time this type of offering became engrained in the culture of certain Buddhist societies, and therefore this custom has continued until today. However, instead of offering items that have come from suffering and death, we should offering other items if possible. For example, His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche still encourages students to offer pearls, but fake pearls, not real pearls.
The point behind the offering is to offer the items of the best quality. The reason for this is two-fold: the first is that by offering items of the best quality and that are as precious as we have the means of affording, we cut our attachment to such things. This in turn cuts the attachment we have to physical wealth and resources that are actually negative indulgencies, as they reinforce our selfishness. Therefore the offering of pearls can be a lot more compassionate if offerings fake pearls instead. As long as the person’s motivation and intent is pure, the Buddhas will accept the offering and this of course will generate the merits you need to succeed in your spiritual path towards enlightenment. I hope this helps.
Thank you,