Food Offering Prayer to Dorje Shugden.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

One of the first vows most Buddhist take would be the refuge vows. That is to seek shelter and protection from the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.When one have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, one would need to keep up to a set of refuge commitments. One of the commitments being : To offer the first portion of ones' food and drinks to the Three Jewels.
Here is a food offering prayer to our protector king Dorje Shugden and an explanation on how and why we offer sustenance to the Three Jewels.
http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/dharma-readings/food-offering-prayer/.
How do you do your food offering?

[christine V]

Thanks for sharing this article Tenzin Malgyur.
Does anyone know, if we can't finished our food, can be dedicate or offer the unfinished food to hungry ghost? If so, how does we do it. The concerned is, if we always can't finished the food and offered, will the ghost following us because they knew they have food always?

[eyesoftara]

Thanks Tenzin. Food Offering is very effective because it is something we do a few times everyday and is also a cause of attachment. Food offering can act as a reminder for ourselves of our refuge to the 3 Jewels and to the Guru, Yidam and Protector. It acts to counter our attachment to food and life in general and as a cause for sustenance and growth of our practice in the future. Further, it acts as a cause for offering not just the "good" but also the "bad" to the Refuge objects, the enlightened Protector or Yidam. The "bad" are the senses, the 3 poisons and 5 aggregates. Food offerings can cause us to progressively let go of our samsaric causes.

[Aurore]

I came across a new learning recently and would like to share with everyone. When making food offering, it is best to recite food offering prayer in this sequence:-

Morning - Guru
Afternoon - Yidam
Night - Protector

I've compiled the complete prayers here to share. Hope you may find it useful.

-----
Offering Prayers to Lama

OM AH HUM (3x – purify food)

DAG-SOK-KHOK-CHE-TSE-KHE-THAM-CHE-DU
KUN-CHOK-SUM-DANG-NAM-YANG-MI-DREL-ZHING
KUN-CHOK-SUM-PO-GYUN-DU-CHOE-PA-LA
KUN-CHOK-SUM-GE-JIN-LHAB-JUG-PAR-SHUG
KYAB-SUM-KUN-DUE-LAMA-DOR JE CHANG
GANG LA DANG DUEL SHED NYEN TSUL ZUNG NE
CHOG DANG THUN MONG NGO DRUP TSOEL ZE PE
DRIN CHEN LA MA NAM LA CHOE PA PHUL

-----
Offering Prayers to Yidam

OM AH HUM (3x – purify food)

GANGCHEN SHINTEY SOLJEY TSONGKHAPA
NGODROP RIKPAY WANGCHUK GYALTSABJE
DO-NGAK DEPEY DAKPO KEDRUP-JE
GYALWA YABSE SUMLA CHOPARBUL

-----
Offering Prayers to Protector

OM AH HUM (3x – purify food)

GANGSHIG DRENPA TSAMGYI CHINANGI
BARCHE KUNSEL LESHEY TRINLEY NAM
TSOLDZE GYALCHEN SHUGDEN RIG-NGA TSEY
TANSUNG KORDANG CHELA CHOPARBUL

[pgdharma]

This is an easy way for us to generate merits and for us to be mindful to cut off our attachments for food as it can be recited daily each time we eat. Food offering is an offering of sustenance thus creating the cause for us to receive spiritual and material sustenance.  What a great blessings to offer a portion of our food to our sacred Protector, Dorje Shugden to create the affinity for us to be near Him and for our spiritual path to grow.

Thank you for sharing this information.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

Aurore, thank you so much for compiling the set of food offering prayers to the guru, yidam and protector. It is very useful to most who are new. Indeed offering the first portion of our food and drink to the Three Jewel is a good practice to train our mindfulness and to remember the kindness of the Three Jewel. Really makes me feel very thankful to be able to have access to food and the ability to consume the food. I would also like to add a little prayer that may all beings have sustenance and not go hungry.

[Freyr Aesiragnorak]

Thank you for sharing this with us. I have been doing the prayer to Tsongkhapa (Yidam) every time I eat a meal. But doing it the way mentioned above seems like a better way as we get to offer the food up to Dorje Shugden at the end of the day as well. I have been taught that food is one of the most common forms of attachment, so offering this prayer before eating if a good way to remember out practice of cutting attachment. My lama has said that food is simply nourishment for the body, but due to the way the body is formed ( eg. Having the ability to taste something) we form attachment. Making the food offering prayers is a way to gain merit from making offerings but also to remind us to cut the attachment to food.

[Kim Hyun Jae]

The point here is to offer our food before we actually eat the food. I don't think its advisable to offer left over food to the deities or our protector.

I have never thought of making offering of food to the Buddhas as offering up my good and bad attachments or the 3 poisions and the 5 aggregates.

I have learned something from this. Thanks for the 3 prayers to offer for morning, day and night. It does create mindfulness even before we get to eat our food.

[maricisun]

Reciting a food offering prayer to Dorje Shugden is to thank the protector for the food we have and also to remind us how fortunate we are.
It is also a great blessing to offer the food to the protector and the 3 Jewels.
It also remind us to be mindfulness to cut our attachment to food as well.

[RedLantern]

Food offering to the Three Jewels is a meritorious act to remind us not to be greedy or selfish. I offered prayers to Lama Tsongkapa (yidam )and his sons before each meal everyday. A great reminder to reduce our attachments to food.
Thank you for sharing the prayer in sequence Aurore. This is a new learning for me too.

[dondrup]

It was mentioned in the book Liberation in the Palm of your Hand, Acharya Buddhajnana met a hungry ghost who had been wandering for twelve years in the human realm in search of food but had only found some dried spit after having fought with many other hungry ghost for it. The monk had dedicated the spit to the hungry ghosts as he was spitting.

Hungry ghosts can see human food from a distant, but when they approach it, the food disappears and they have to experience the anguish of disappointment. The only way that the hungry ghost can actually obtain human food is by its being especially dedicated for them.
 
Hence you can simply offer up your unfinished food to the hungry ghosts by dedicating to them.
 
We must realise hungry ghosts suffer from intense heat, intense cold, intense hunger, intense thirst, great fatigue and great fear. The real cause of rebirth in the hungry ghost realm is being miserly. Why do you have unfinished food? Do you take more than what you need? Clearly constant wastage from unfinished food which is eventually thrown way creates the causes not to have food in the future and a rebirth in hungry ghost realm!
 

Thanks for sharing this article Tenzin Malgyur.
Does anyone know, if we can't finished our food, can be dedicate or offer the unfinished food to hungry ghost? If so, how does we do it. The concerned is, if we always can't finished the food and offered, will the ghost following us because they knew they have food always?

[Galen]

I came across a new learning recently and would like to share with everyone. When making food offering, it is best to recite food offering prayer in this sequence:-

Morning - Guru
Afternoon - Yidam
Night - Protector

I've compiled the complete prayers here to share. Hope you may find it useful.

-----
Offering Prayers to Lama

OM AH HUM (3x – purify food)

DAG-SOK-KHOK-CHE-TSE-KHE-THAM-CHE-DU
KUN-CHOK-SUM-DANG-NAM-YANG-MI-DREL-ZHING
KUN-CHOK-SUM-PO-GYUN-DU-CHOE-PA-LA
KUN-CHOK-SUM-GE-JIN-LHAB-JUG-PAR-SHUG
KYAB-SUM-KUN-DUE-LAMA-DOR JE CHANG
GANG LA DANG DUEL SHED NYEN TSUL ZUNG NE
CHOG DANG THUN MONG NGO DRUP TSOEL ZE PE
DRIN CHEN LA MA NAM LA CHOE PA PHUL

-----
Offering Prayers to Yidam

OM AH HUM (3x – purify food)

GANGCHEN SHINTEY SOLJEY TSONGKHAPA
NGODROP RIKPAY WANGCHUK GYALTSABJE
DO-NGAK DEPEY DAKPO KEDRUP-JE
GYALWA YABSE SUMLA CHOPARBUL

-----
Offering Prayers to Protector

OM AH HUM (3x – purify food)

GANGSHIG DRENPA TSAMGYI CHINANGI
BARCHE KUNSEL LESHEY TRINLEY NAM
TSOLDZE GYALCHEN SHUGDEN RIG-NGA TSEY
TANSUNG KORDANG CHELA CHOPARBUL

Thank you Aurore for the prayers. It is most useful and a reminder for us to offer up our food before we gobble them down. What I find good is that whenever I cook at home, I will cook a bigger portion and offer a portion to my Buddha at my altar. There is no extra work but hopefully will have some merits collected.

[Aurore]

Oh dear ... I do leave food very so often due to being a small eater and food comes in huge portions when eating out. Is there any special dedication prayers to do when offering leftover food to the hungry ghost?

Hence you can simply offer up your unfinished food to the hungry ghosts by dedicating to them.
 
We must realise hungry ghosts suffer from intense heat, intense cold, intense hunger, intense thirst, great fatigue and great fear. The real cause of rebirth in the hungry ghost realm is being miserly. Why do you have unfinished food? Do you take more than what you need? Clearly constant wastage from unfinished food which is eventually thrown way creates the causes not to have food in the future and a rebirth in hungry ghost realm!

[bambi]

Thank you for the prayers! I have started to do the dedications the moment I saw this article!

I am very interested to know the answer for christine V's question. Especially the last sentence...

Does anyone know, if we can't finished our food, can be dedicate or offer the unfinished food to hungry ghost? If so, how does we do it. The concerned is, if we always can't finished the food and offered, will the ghost following us because they knew they have food always?

Can anyone help? How can we do this in a 'safe' way?