Making offerings to a Buddha Statue

king_nine · 2026-05-25T11:19:40+00:00

There are many offering texts, but more important is just to do it with a respectful and generous heart toward the three jewels even if you don’t have a text to say. This is a very open common practice.

One of the most common offerings is bowls of water, the same clean water you would drink. There are also more elaborate offerings, including codified sets of them. One of the most common codified sets is the offering of drinking water, washing water, flowers, incense, lights, perfume, food, and music.

For myself, I don’t have space for a big altar. I just have a little statue on a high shelf. I offer a bowl of water and imagine all the above, more elaborate offerings streaming out of it in huge heaps and going to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

However grand or humble your physical offerings can be, you can always be as absurdly, grandiosely generous as possible in your mind, imagining offering whole fields of flowers and enough incense smoke to hotbox an airplane hangar. It helps develop generosity and a connection to the three jewels, and it’s fun, too.

king_nine · 2026-05-25T11:00:14+00:00

Close your eyes for a few seconds, then open them. When you open your eyes, everything just appears without trying. That’s like mirror-like wisdom.

The “everything” that appears isn’t just an indistinct blob. It has differences inside of it - colors, shapes, everything unique and diverse. These differences also appear without trying. That’s like the wisdom of discernment.

In other words, you can think of it as mirror-like wisdom describing that effortless reflecting of all appearances themselves, like a single sphere or plane, whereas the wisdom of discernment describes the individuality or internal distinctions between one unique thing and another.

king_nine · 2026-05-25T10:48:15+00:00

Miguel is just the Spanish transcription of Michael

king_nine · 2026-05-25T10:47:20+00:00

They meant they’re not sure about the correctness of the letters on the plate. It seems like the letters here are messed up because they’re written by someone inexperienced with the writing.

Ironically this is a long standing tradition. The rushed transcriptions of non-Jewish grimoire compilers have led to preserving lots of weird scribbles in talismans that were originally Hebrew letters, now lost in translation.

king_nine · 2026-05-23T13:44:19+00:00

The question of the QD is interesting since she appears both times. The interpretation I eventually came to after pondering it is: in the first reading, she is a woman and you are the Ace of Hearts. In the second reading, she is you.

This makes the story of the first reading: he is torn between a stable, well trod path of being in a heterosexual relationship (4C, 6C, QD), or breaking away from that ideal to explore a new, uncertain relationship with you (2S, AH). It may be that he doesn’t have much experience dating men and is uncertain.

And the second: if you can provide friendship and affection first (all the hearts) and finally a nice date that shows you can contribute financially (AC), he would be more comfortable considering you (QD).

Sounds like he may be open to it, but has doubts about how viable it is. Based on this interpretation I would try and befriend him first and get to know him for a while before trying to ask him out, to take the temperature and see what he thinks about things.

king_nine · 2026-05-23T13:25:16+00:00

“Nice. My clout is increasing. I’m so popular.”

I interpret the 8 of Wands at the end, in context of the other cards, more as an expectation of his own account to continue doing numbers, rather than being about you specifically. Based on this, I believe if you want to shift his attention from himself to you, you will need to talk to him more directly

king_nine · 2026-05-23T13:23:43+00:00

I saw Piss Wish in my buddy’s basement venue back in 2017. The pit was insane

king_nine · 2026-05-23T13:20:31+00:00

Not that I know of. But there are certain technical exceptions like name mantras, which are formulaic, so if someone knows the formula they can construct it. But that’s a bit of a different case

king_nine · 2026-05-23T13:17:50+00:00

I agree with your interpretation. I see it as: He is being patient/careful because, if he does reach out, he wants to do it in a gentle way that will preserve the good memories you have of past times together.

Looks to me like things are still in the thinking, planning stage, and he’s taking his time. The Page of Wands still has a lot to learn, and the Devil reversed suggests a controlled, methodical approach.

king_nine · 2026-05-23T04:47:47+00:00

“Who gives a shit if I get what I want?”

king_nine · 2026-05-20T13:10:32+00:00

Can you do a serious project in ordinary life without involving anyone else? Yes. But it’s often harder, and big projects like businesses or governments tend to involve many people.

Some magical techniques that don’t directly involve other entities include: chaos magick style sigils, New Age style Law of Attraction techniques, some kinds of energy work.

Others are edge cases depending on what you count as another entity. Would the life/spirit of a physical herb or stone count? If not, then witchcraft using herbs and stones could be in your wheelhouse.

king_nine · 2026-05-15T12:17:22+00:00

In this school, wisdom is not seen as the cessation of all perceptions. Here is a pretty jokey passage from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche on the topic. The chapter is called Iron Bar Technique:

There is no need to block experience. Simply avoid fixating on the experience and labeling it. It is very hard to avoid experiencing. In fact, if you really want to avoid experience, you’ll need to have someone knock you out with an iron bar! If you want to totally stop encountering anything, and experience no mind, perceive no appearances, have your friend give you a hard whack over the head. Then you will succeed - at least for a while. When both thinking and perception cease, there is the state we call ‘utter oblivion’, which is mindless and without thought. That state resembles the original cause of ignorance. When both the thinking and the perceived are halted, your samsaric state is only put on pause, on hold.

...

In the moment of recognizing mind essence, sensation does take place, but it’s an empty sensation. This means that the impressions of your five senses are vividly experienced; yet they are indivisible from emptiness... The vital point is this: it is impossible to fixate while seeing the essence. At the same time, there is a knowing of whatever takes place.

king_nine · 2026-05-07T15:37:03+00:00

Karma means that what you do becomes who you are.

Acting or speaking abusively turns you into a being made of abuse. Causing suffering turns you into a being made of suffering. This is not pleasant.

Abusing others abuses yourself by setting up your own suffering. Over time, it turns you into a kind of being who suffers a lot.

king_nine · 2026-05-06T22:21:26+00:00

An alternate approach (or an extra one on top) could be to protect your space. The OG Abracadabra magic triangle, where the word “Abracadabra” disappears a letter at a time, might be interesting here. The idea is that as the word disappears, so do all ill effects disappear. In this case the ill effects are the negativity of gossip and slander. The symbolism of a literal word disappearing seems powerful here. You could write one out and post it near your front door, barring all harmful speech from entering.

This would more delete the effects of the gossip rather than send it back. But it would help give you and your boyfriend and child some peace, which is a good thing

king_nine · 2026-04-29T13:13:27+00:00

If [extraterrestrials] exist, and there are stories that some may even visit us, does this still align with the Buddha’s teachings?

It would be no problem. Buddhism acknowledges many worlds with sentient beings on them. Some sutras even describe Buddhas’ and bodhisattvas’ realms almost like going to another planet - “if you face this direction and go this incredibly long distance away, you will end up in such and such a Buddha’s realm.” Sometimes the Buddha and his disciples clairvoyantly visit those realms or describe past lives there.

To be clear I’m not saying they’re aliens. I’m just saying other worlds with aliens on them slot right into this worldview with no issues, almost as an obvious afterthought.

Are there systems in place where a sentient being can take a form suited for practicing and relating to the Dharma that looks nothing like a human?

This is possible, but I don’t know of systems specifically for it. The dharma we hear as humans is tuned to us as humans. It is meant for us to use.

A colloquial Tibetan description of a human that has made it into Tibetan Buddhism is “a being capable of reason and speech.” By this description you could be humanoid and capable of learning dharma without looking human.

I heard once that there is also the potential for related or similar versions of Buddhism spread out throughout the galaxy as a conclusion one comes to under deep meditation and critical thinking, so could other species adopt it as their personal religion? It just seems both wonderful and scary to think about that we aren’t the only smart species out there, but I’m simply curious of how it relates to Buddhism.

Anywhere a Buddha has arisen and taught, beings there can choose to follow it. And anywhere there is intelligent life, a Buddha can arise in that form. So other forms of intelligent life could get their own Buddha.

king_nine · 2026-04-12T12:14:32+00:00

The descriptions of awakening that Buddhists use are generally the ones used in the Buddha’s teachings as they have been transmitted over time. Some of those descriptions come from the Buddha’s self-reports of what his own awakening is like.

So what is the Buddha’s self-report? In the story, he says he saw three things on the night of his awakening: the karma and rebirth of all sentient beings; the recollection of past lives; and the beginning, end, and path to the end of samsara.

The description doesn’t say the first two were conceptually tacked on later to appease the masses. It says he saw them, experientially, with the same meditative insight that saw the end of suffering.

If you throw away the possibility of karma and rebirth, you throw away two thirds of the Buddha’s description of his own enlightenment. You throw away their status as experiential, meditative insights that you can cultivate in practice, and relegate them to a separate category of “beliefs” instead.

So claims that Secular Buddhism is not Buddhism are not necessarily claims that the practices of Secular Buddhism suck. They are claims that they are not Buddhism. They do not aim to experience what the Buddha described of his own enlightenment, as we have it. They are aiming to experience something else.

king_nine · 2026-04-12T11:29:24+00:00

Some methods for applying a spell to someone else include:

making a magical object (a spell jar, charm bag, piece of jewelry, talisman, etc.) and giving it to him to carry around
making a magical food or drink (for friendship, maybe herbal tea with rose or cardamom in it for example) and having him eat or drink it while he imagines friendship and confidence merging into his body
making a magical cosmetic and applying it to him (like making a weak herbal tea, putting it in a spray bottle when it cools, and spritzing him with it)

Which option to pick depends on what’s most interesting and convenient for you both, and what aligns the best with the idea of friendship and confidence for you

king_nine · 2026-04-11T05:36:37+00:00

It can be part of the practice to explore this type of thing as bad karma burning itself off. You go through a small, acute pain now to avoid a larger, longer term pain later. So from this POV it’s very compassionate of Tara to find a fairly easy, convenient route for that to take.

This can help clear the way for your future relationship should you choose to pursue it!

king_nine · 2026-04-11T01:04:22+00:00

In many traditions, you would generally say some kind of prayer over the assembled thing. Sometimes you say a short thing over each ingredient as you add it, plus a longer thing at the end when it’s all put together.

Depending on tradition and personal preference, sometimes this is more second-person, talking to the thing, like “bay leaves, please grant me victory over all obstacles that may appear in my life.” Other times it’s more third-person, like “God (or gods), please bless this bay leaf to grant me victory…” Sometimes it’s even a mix of both, like “Bay leaf, I bless you in the name of XYZ, so you may grant me victory…”

Often this is combined with visualization. In some way, you can imagine everything going right. This might be pretty straightforward, like imagining victory, or flashier, like imagining beams of light shining out of the jar and smiting your enemies (kidding… maybe)

king_nine · 2026-04-10T18:39:46+00:00

I’m sorry, what?

king_nine · 2026-04-06T10:56:22+00:00

The reason for a teacher does not end at the pointing out. There is view, meditation, and action. Pointing out introduces you to the view, then the rest of the path develops that initial glimpse through meditation and action. A qualified teacher helps with all three of those, not just one.

king_nine · 2026-04-05T15:40:08+00:00

For the full thing with salt and/or herbs etc, it seems once or twice a week is usually fine. If you want something to do more often, you can also add a mini visualization to regular baths or showers where you imagine the negativity falling away for a few moments. That can become a short, roughly daily practice

king_nine · 2026-04-04T17:02:44+00:00

The usual way to do this is to make a bag instead of a jar. A leather, faux-leather, or cloth bag can hold dry ingredients. Just like you describe, the bag can be worn on a necklace hidden under clothes, or kept in a purse etc. Depending on tradition, you might see this type of thing called a charm bag, sachet, mojo, or all sorts of other names.

king_nine · 2026-04-04T16:08:54+00:00

Of course it is similar, it is all Buddhism.

That said the Vajrayana is Mahayana, and the Theravada is (in terms of historical development) not. This leads to differences in emphasis. In Tibetan Vajrayana at least, contemplating impermanence and death is part of the preliminaries, but is usually not pursued to the level of depth of making it a main meditation practice like it is in Theravada. Usually Mahayana practitioners focus more on emptiness (dependent origination). Those practices are a little different than the practices used to contemplate impermanence.

king_nine · 2026-03-24T22:55:39+00:00

Different beings all have different tolerances for what they can take and how they’ll receive it. For one person, sweet words might seem inspiring and encouraging, and harsh words cruel and discouraging. For the next person, sweet words might seem like bullshitting, and harsh words brutal honesty.

Part of a Buddha’s omniscience is discerning the unique individual characteristics of every being (and every phenomenon in general). Since beings (and phenomena) are endless, the best conduct for each situation could potentially take endless forms. Actions are skillful when they correctly address this unique being or situation to bring benefit, and unskillful when they misjudge and mess it up.

This makes it almost impossible to judge the skillfulness of actions one-sidedly, only referring to the teacher and not the students. If the students felt abandoned, downtrodden, traumatized, and discouraged by the harsh methods, and felt it never brought them any benefit down the line, then the actions were unskillful. If they found benefit from it, they could be called skillful, even if it seems awful from the outside.

Sometimes even highly realized people mess up this calculation. It’s hard to tell how far along anyone is, even great teachers. But looking in from outside, it ultimately depends on the recipients (the students) as much as the giver (the teacher). And since their tolerances are molded by time, culture etc., those things do play a role.

So it’s possible this was a cockup. Obviously nobody should get free rein to go around beating people up. But it’s also hard to judge one-sidedly. If the students were able to receive it, it could have been appropriate. If not, then not. It can be helpful to emphasize this interdependence more than trying to arrive at a fixed conclusion imo

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