Four-In-One Offering Bowls

In Buddhist teachings, the act of giving and offering is venerated. It both helps to reduce our habitual tendency of clinging to things as “mine”, and also accumulates a vast amount of merit. Thus, offering bowls are a timeless method by which you can make offerings daily on your shrine to the Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is usual to offer seven bowls of clean, pure water with a butter lamp on one’s shrine. These seven bowls are said to represent the seven branch practice of prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting the Buddhas to teach, requesting the Buddhas to remain in this world and dedication. In Paltrul Rinpoche’s tradition, an eighth branch of refuge and bodhicitta is sometimes included. Pure water is offered as it is easy to obtain and easy to offer without stinginess on our part.

In a slight adaptation of this traditional offering, we have made a set of eight beautifully carved offering bowls. We have carved the eight auspicious symbols, the eight auspicious substances and the seven possessions of a universal monarch along with the eighth object, a great treasure vase. Thus these three sets of carved offerings plus the actual offering of water represents four offerings in one, catering specially for people where space at home is a luxury.

Dimensions: 8.5 cm (diameter); 8 bowls per set