Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later?

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
Post Reply
Jhana4
Posts: 1331
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:20 pm
Location: U.S.A., Northeast

Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later?

Post by Jhana4 »

I see a huge amount of flowers and fruit offered to Buddha statues.

I'm assuming that the flowers are thrown out once they whither. What happens to the food offerings?
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
dagon
Posts: 526
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:45 am

Re: Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later

Post by dagon »

According to the Mon people of lower Burma it cost them their independence and Kingdom. I will tell the story if anyone is interested.

metta
paul
User avatar
appicchato
Posts: 1602
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:47 am
Location: Bridge on the River Kwae

Re: Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later

Post by appicchato »

Please do...
dagon
Posts: 526
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:45 am

Re: Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later

Post by dagon »

appicchato wrote:Please do...
The two kingdoms of the Mon and Burma peoples had been at war for a long time with the Mons winning. They had driven their enemies in to a small area around the capital. The Mon king to save lives sent in an assassin to kill the Burman king. It took the assassin a long time to get the opportunity to kill the king. Because he was starving he ate food that had been offered and was at a statue of the Buddha. Because of this he could no longer take a human life so he stole the crown and gave it to the Mon king.
However the war did not continue to go their way after the British joined the side of the crownless king. The Mon kingdom fell.

Basically taking the offered food was the same as taking precepts.

That’s the way I was told as a kid in Rangoon.

Paul
User avatar
lyndon taylor
Posts: 1835
Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 11:41 pm
Location: Redlands, US occupied Northern Mexico
Contact:

Re: Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later

Post by lyndon taylor »

When I would go to the South East Asian temples, the monks would often offer me to eat some of the fruit left as offerings, so I don't think its just left to rot.
18 years ago I made one of the most important decisions of my life and entered a local Cambodian Buddhist Temple as a temple boy and, for only 3 weeks, an actual Therevada Buddhist monk. I am not a scholar, great meditator, or authority on Buddhism, but Buddhism is something I love from the Bottom of my heart. It has taught me sobriety, morality, peace, and very importantly that my suffering is optional, and doesn't have to run my life. I hope to give back what little I can to the Buddhist community, sincerely former monk John

http://trickleupeconomictheory.blogspot.com/
dagon
Posts: 526
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:45 am

Re: Food Offerings To The Buddha Statue: What Happens Later

Post by dagon »

I think the cultural roots of offered food as being sanctified goes back to India in the Buddha’s time. Prasād or prasadam was food that had been offered to a Bhagavan (sanscrit) as god or god like person or deity. After it had been “consumed” by that entity it was then distributed to the Brahmans.

Paul
Post Reply