Firewns asked: “You have mentioned before that it is meritorious to offer fruits and perhaps other food to devas, as the devas can manifest much more quantities of the food for their underlings. But what about the offering of flowers, incense and lights in certain East Asian countries? Can the scent of flowers and incense serve as food for devas as well? What about lights?”
I was going to write a post, but thought of just providing the key ideas first. In the end, it may be good idea to write a post after further discussion and inputs by others. I had written previously (at the discussion forum) about how offerings to devas are actually “consumed” by them, but I cannot find it. If someone finds it please post a link so that I don’t need to re-write that part in a future post.
1. The key point is that those “offerings” are not made just for devas.
– There are many kinds of offerings: meals to the bhikkhus are the most meritorious among the “giving” (dāna) category. Giving to poor or anyone in need and even feeding hungry animals are all meritorious deeds.
– Making offerings to devas is just another category. As you mentioned, I had discussed that before. The mechanism of how that works is hard to visualize for us. I don’t need to re-write that and if anyone remember that post, please provide a link. That would help me writing a post in the future.
2. Offering flowers, incense, etc do not belong to that “dāna” category, even though many people make such “offerings” to devas, especially in Hindu temples.
– In Buddhist temples, such “offerings” are made to the Buddha.
– In reality, these “offerings of the second kind” setup the necessary background for the mind to grasp the Buddha Dhamma, and thus to lead to “bhava uddha” (stopping existences in any of the 31 realms), which is the real meaning of “Buddha”; see, “A Buddhist or a Bhauddhaya?“.
3. For example, those flowers symbolize the anicca nature. They are pretty when they offered, but in a couple of days they become wrinkled and eventually wither away. The idea is not to admire the beauty of the flowers, but to contemplate on the anicca nature clearly displayed by the decay of those flowers.
– The incense offered emit an odor that conducive to mediation. Even though it is a pleasing odor, it is very different from those fragrances that one wears to a party, which has the tendency to encourage “seeking sense pleasures”.
– In other words, those fragrances worn to a party leads to sensual thoughts, whereas the smell of incenses is conducive to meditation, since it helps calm the mind.
4. Lighting of candles of oil lamps also provide a suitable background for meditation and contemplation. Light symbolizes wisdom.
– Comprehending Buddha Dhamma leads to the opening of the “Dhamma eye”, and enables one to “see the true nature of the world of 31 realms”, i.e., existence in ANY of those realms is NOT devoid of suffering.
– Furthermore, an oil lamp symbolizes the how the rebirth process is maintained by cravings. Just as oil keeps an oil lamp burning, cravings (tanhā) fuel the rebirth process.
5. When I was child in Sri Lanka, our family used to go to the temple regularly, especially on Full Moon days when bhikkhu would deliver a discourse (desana).
– We would go to the temple ahead the delivery of the desana, and would offer flowers to the Buddha, light some oil lamps and incense, and recite several gathas while make those “offerings”. Then we would sit and listen to an hour-long desana by a bhikkhu.
– That really helps calm the mind and get in to a mindset where one is able to forget about the day-to-day stresses and comprehend the desana.
6. That is a brief introduction. This is a topic to be discussed in more detail. For example, some people question the practice of “worshipping” Bo trees, stupas, or statues of the Buddha.
– In reality, it is not “worship” or “pay homage” to inanimate objects. One is paying homage to the Buddha, and cultivating a calm mindset in order to grasp the deep Dhamma that the Buddha taught in order to get to the “bhava uddha” or Buddha state.
– Furthermore, those aspects have nothing to do with making offerings to devas.