The Preliminary Practice of Altar Set-up & Water Bowl Offerings

Setting up the altar and making offerings are an integral part of the preliminary practices taught by Lord Buddha to enable us to engage in successful meditation. By doing this practice daily, our minds become ripe for realizations. This short text provides a complete explanation of how to set up a personal altar, how to make water bowl offerings, and how to offer them in the most extensive and beneficial way. "If you plant a seed in the ground and it has all the conditions necessary for growth (water, nutrients, and so forth), no matter how much you pray for it not to grow, it will grow. It is similar with the merit that we create through making offerings, prostrations, and so forth to the merit field. No matter how much you pray not to achieve enlightenment, you will achieve enlightenment from that, because once there is the cause of enlightenment, you achieve the result of enlightenment." - Lama Zopa Rinpoche