top of page

Offerings

IMG_6246.jpeg

Tsog Offering

Monthly Tsog

Ganachakra (Tsog) offerings are traditionally made on two lunar dates each month — the 10th and the 25th: The 10th honors Guru Rinpoche, the Yidams, Wisdom and Compassion, and the Three Jewels and Three Roots. The 25th honors the Dakinis (Dakini Day), the Wisdom Activity Dakinis, and the Three Jewels and Three Roots.

​

Ganachakra (ཚོགས་འཁོར།) is what we call Tsog (Tsok). It simply means Accumulation Wheel (Gana ཚོགས་  is “accumulation” as in Accumulating Merit and Chakra (འཁོར) is Wheel)

Lamp Offering

Enjoy a Peaceful Stay

Offering butter lamps in Tibetan Buddhism is a meaningful and heartfelt practice that symbolizes the bright illumination of wisdom. The gentle light warmly dispels the darkness of ignorance, purifies negative karma, and gently generates merit to support practitioners on their joyful path to enlightenment.

​

According to the Tune of Brahma (spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha), offering lights provides ten distinct benefits: 

  • Presence: You become like the light of the world.

  • Vision: You achieve the clairvoyance of the pure eye and the devas' eye.

  • Discernment: You gain the wisdom to distinguish virtue from non-virtue.

  • Clarity: You eliminate the concept of inherent existence and the darkness of ignorance.

  • Wisdom: You receive the illumination of wisdom.

  • Guidance: While circulating in samsara (the cycle of rebirth), you never abide in darkness.

  • Abundance: You receive plentiful enjoyments.

  • Rebirth: You are reborn in favorable deva or human realms.

  • Liberation: You quickly achieve freedom from suffering.

  • Enlightenment: You quickly attain Buddhahood. 

  • ​

Additional Spiritual Purposes

  • For the Deceased: Lamps are frequently lit for 49 days following a passing to guide the deceased's soul through the afterlife (bardo) and help them secure a favorable rebirth.

  • Dedication for the Living: Practitioners sponsor lamps to pray for health, prosperity, happiness, and global peace.

  • Aiding Meditation: The focused, physical flame helps calm the mind during meditation, serving as a sense offering.

Temple Candles
Buddha-Weekly-Close-up-Tea-offering-Golden-Serkyem-Buddhism.jpeg

Evening Prayers

Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM  

Location: Kharchu Center

​

We invite everyone to join us for an evening of practice, No prior registration is needed, but please arrive 15 minutes early to settle in.

 

Practices Include

-  Söndeb Le'u Dünma (གསོལ་འདེབས་ལེའུ་བདུན་མ་): The Prayer in Seven Chapters to Padmakara  

-  Sölkha (གསོལ་ཁ་): Dharmapala petition offerings  

​

​

 

If you would like to offer “SERKYEM” and sponsor tea and snacks, please contact us personally at the center. 

Meals Offering

Food for Your Soul

Making a food offering (Dana) on special Buddhist days like Tsechu (Guru Rinpoche Day), Tse Chenga (Vesak Day), Nyer Nag (Dakini Day), and other meaningful days is a wonderful way to practice generosity. It not only creates a lot of merit but also helps nurture a mind free from attachment and greed. Plus, it sets positive karmic conditions that can benefit us in future lives.​​​

​

How to Practice

  • Sangha Dana: Offer prepared meals, fresh fruits, or staple dry goods directly to monks and nuns at your local temple.

  • Altar Offerings: Place symbolic food offerings (e.g., fruit, tea, or rice) on a home shrine while reciting traditional offering verses.

  • Charitable Giving: Prepare and donate food to local charities, shelters, or those in need in the spirit of compassion.

GettyImages-512277559.jpg
Tea Time

Tea & Snacks Offering

Sights to See

In Buddhist traditions, offering tea on an auspicious day (such as a full moon, Buddha Day, or a holy festival) is a powerful practice. The primary benefits are not for the enlightened beings, who need nothing, but for the practitioner's own spiritual development. It is considered a beautiful and transformative act with multiple core benefits: 

  • Purifying Attachment: Making offerings of precious or enjoyable items directly counteracts greed, stinginess, and worldly attachment. 

  • Accumulating Merit: Auspicious days multiply the positive potential of your actions. By offering tea, you generate karmic merit that supports your future happiness and spiritual advancement. 

  • Creating Abundance: In traditions like the Tibetan Serkyem (tea-offering), the act of pouring tea until it overflows symbolizes an abundant flow of wealth, virtues, and conditions favorable to your Dharma practice.

  • Promoting Mental Clarity: Tea is highly revered in Buddhism for its ability to clear the mind and soothe the body. Offering it reflects a desire for all beings to be free from mental and physical afflictions.

bottom of page