The Offering of Tsok

“ Tsok is a gathering together of many elements; it is a gathering of yogis and yoginis who share pure samaya; it is a gathering of the samaya substances of food and drink representing skillful means and wisdom; it is a gathering of the wisdom-being guests, such as the Three Roots (lama, yidam, and dakini); and it is a gathering for the accumulation of merit and wisdom. According to Vajrayana, tsok is the most profound method of accumulating merit and wisdom, its special qualities that make one moment of tsok practice equal to eons of confessing downfalls in our samaya; of liberating obstacles, and of fulfilling the wisdom minds of the lama, yidams, dakinis and dharmapalas.

    Through the offering of tsok, the six guests are pleased; the root and lineage lamas are pleased by our understanding of the perfect view; the yidams are pleased by our samadhi; the dakinis and dharmapalas are pleased by pure samaya; the practitioners are pleased by the enjoyable qualities of food and drink; the invited guests, the outer and inner local protectors who have taken a vow to protect the dharma, are pleased by the remainder offering; the dakinis of the 21 and 32 sacred places are pleased by the singing of the Vajra song.”

                                                          -Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

The Offering of Butter Lamps

     “Offering butter lamps is the most powerful offering because their light symbolizes wisdom. Just as a lamp dispels darkness, offering light from a butter lamp represents removing the darkness of ignorance in order to attain Buddha’s luminous clear wisdom. The lamp offering is a sense offering to the Buddha’s eyes. Because Buddha’s eyes are wisdom eyes, they do not have the extremes of clarity or non-clarity. Our ordinary eyes, however, are obscured by the darkness of the two defilements – gross afflictive emotional defilements and subtle habitual defilements. While the Buddha does not have desire for offerings, we make offerings for the purpose of our own accumulation of merit and wisdom. Through the power of this accumulation, we can remove the cataracts of our ignorance eyes in order to gain Buddha’s supreme luminous wisdom eyes. When we offer light, the results are the realization of Clear Light wisdom phenomena in this life; the clarification of dualistic mind and the dispersal of confusion and realization of Clear Light in the bardo: and the increase of wisdom in each lifetime until one has reached enlightenment.

     Traditionally, butter lamps are also offered as a dedication to the dead in order to guide them through the bardo by wisdom light. We can pray as well that this light guide all beings of the six realms, removing their obscurations so that they may awaken to their true wisdom nature.

     With genuine faith & devotion, visualize that with your offerings, countless offering goddesses offer immeasurable light to all enlightened beings. You may recite the Butter Lamp Offering Prayer” from the Collection of Offering Prayers.”