How to Dispose?

[Jessie Fong]

Thank you for all your suggestions.

We now have :

* dispose/discard -- in a respectable way, of course
* give away to someone who is just starting on the path but do not have the financial means for a lot of offering items
* offer to the temple to gift to someone else


Hope Rainbow - you suggested for me to offer the new/expensive bowls to my Guru -- in doing so, I still have my old set - how / when will I ever "upgrade"?

[Manjushri]

You don't have to necessarily dispose of items offered on your altar,...you could always create a new altar in your home or work place and recycle the items! or yes, donate it to someone who needs/wants the items or the center or use it as a decorative item! hehe. Like diamond girl, I know that once an item is offered to the Buddhas sincerely from the heart, it's already counted. Of course, you don't go having a bad motivaiton, thinking that whatever you offer can benefit you somehow..then that's opposite to what an offering should be.

[Q]

You don't have to dispose the offering items. Sometimes you may need more offering items when you do a particular puja at home (especially when you reach higher practices) then you can use these 'older' offerings to set up an extra row of sensory offerings.

However, if you've changed everything, then the older ones which you do not use anymore, you can give them to a friend to encourage them to start their own altars, or even set up another offering set in front of a Buddha statue in your house that may not be your altar.

[pgdharma]

I started with a simple basic altar but since then I have done a lot of upgrading. The older offerings I kept them for use during retreat, while some I offered to newbies who are setting up their altar, provided they like what I have to give away. When I first set up my altar, I had a few things given to me by a good friend and some of them are still on my altar as I still like them.

Making offerings allows one to practice giving, express gratitude and respect.  It is an act of veneration for TheThree Jewels and making an offering develops wholesomeness and positive karma. While tangible objects may be given in abundance, the most perfect gift is an honest and sincere heart. So even the offerings are old or used but if given to another person who likes them, I think it is alright as the receiver visualized as a beautiful offering and offered up to The Three Jewels.

[ratanasutra]

For me I will choose to give to friends or someone who need it to help and encourage them to start up with their alters.
I received a small set of silver offering bowl from my friend a few years back as he just got a bigger set. I was very happy about it, not just because of it 'silver' but because of his kind thought and i grew up with the culture that believe that when someone give you a Buddha statue, pendant, image etc that relate to Buddhism or your practice we are lucky and the person whom give you are thinking and caring about you and your practice.

So later when I have a chance I bought lot of stainless steel bowls with motivation to make lot of water offering and i can offer to someone who i come across and want to set up the alter and i offered a few sets of them with happy mind. I also lend sensory offering to friends when they do retreat as well as we need to use many set of sensory offering for that.

We can choose ways that suit with us as long as it benefit someone and harmless.   

What hope rainbow said is true and thoughtful for a practitioner and student of guru.