When a Set of Water Bowls Was Out of the Question

"Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled."-Buddha

Whenever funds feel tight, this is a good story to remember:

Lama Drub-khang Rinpoche began life under most inauspicious, humble circumstances. He was so poor (I know, it sounds like I'm going to start out with a joke!, but I'm not!), that his only possession was one wooden tea bowl. This bowl served as both plate and cup, and he also used it in preliminary preparations for meditation practice. He would take his one bowl, and fill it seven separate times, placing the full bowl on the altar after each time, and then letting it rest there for a few moments. In this way, he was able to offer the recommended seven bowls of water, it's just that the water was always in the same bowl! I myself did this before finding a small set of bowls that would fit upon the small space of my altar. It worked just fine! The 13th Dalai Lama says that "after some time his merits increased and his karmic obstacles were weakened. He no longer needed to use his tea cup for offering bowls."

May all my actions be virtuous actions.

And, why make these offerings in the first place? The 13th Dalai Lama explains that as we make these faultless offerings we can imagine ". . .that the object to which the offering is made is a manifestation of the Three Jewels of Refuge. Then the offering becomes a gift to all the Buddhas of the past, present and future. By making offerings to all the Buddhas we generate a tremendous force of meritorious energy." So, not god appeasement, but an opening of our hearts to the Buddha nature.

On Monday, the Third Preliminary: Sitting on the Meditation Cushion. Sorry there was no recipe this week, but uploading website was most time consuming, a lot of work and very joyful too!

Abide in peace and joy, Cynthia