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Inspiring personal stories, and practical guidance for navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and compassion.

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Inspiring personal stories, and practical guidance for navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and compassion.

Present Online

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Inspiring personal stories, and practical guidance for navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and compassion.

The Offering of Four Requisites – The Offering of Food
2MQ34 dharma teaching1
January 31, 2024
Vol 34
By Venerable Shi Faliang
释法梁
Translated by Wu Xin

四事供养之食供养

The Offering of Four Requisites - The Offering of Food
The offering of four requisites refers to providing the Buddha and the sangha with the four daily essentials, viz. “clothing”, “food”, “lodging” and “medicine”. “Clothing” solves the problems of suffering from the cold and being bitten by mosquitos and insects. “Food” solves the problem of suffering from hunger. “Lodging” solves the problems of suffering from exposure to the elements and attacks by animals. “Medicine” solves the problems of suffering from illness. Through the offering of four requisites, the Buddha and the sangha are able to take care of their physical body, cultivate their practices and propagate the dharma to benefit sentient beings. Therefore, when we carry out the four requisites offering, we are safeguarding the triple gem and Buddhism.

With the above knowledge, we can broaden our understanding on offering of four requisites, as explained in the following paragraphs. Offering is the same as giving. Offering applies when the receiving parties are the triple gem, our elders or our equals; whereas giving applies when the receiving parties are our minors. Besides being a virtue, offering (giving) is also a practice that a practitioner should cultivate. In addition to accumulating blessings in the mundane world, it can also accomplish the supra-mundane wisdom (the paramita of giving). Thus, in performing offering, we should not focus on just “clothing”, “food”, “lodging” and “medicine”, but ought to recognise that in addition to the materialistic offering of wealth, there are also the non-materialistic offering of dharma and the spiritual offering of no-fear, so that we are on the right path towards the accomplishment of the paramita of giving. (Please refer to the write-up on accomplishing the paramita of giving in my book Nothing is Indestructible.)

The term "food" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Āhāra", which encompasses the meaning of nourishing the body and mind. There are nine types of "food", which include "segmented food", "sense-contact as food", "thought as food", " consciousness as food ", " meditative bliss as food ", "Dharma joy as food ", "vow as food", "mindfulness as food " and " liberation as food". The first four types nourish the physical body and are considered worldly food, while the last five types nourish the Dharma body and are considered supramundane food. "Segmented food" involves eating in segments. "Sense-contact as food" pertains to the sense-organs viz. the eyes, ears, nose, and body having the corresponding sense-objects viz. the visible forms, sounds, odour and tangible things as food. "Thought as food" pertains to the consciousness taking the corresponding mind-objects as food. "Consciousness as food" refers to having the discriminating mind as food. The above four types of food are considered worldly food. "Meditative bliss as food" refers to a practitioner taking the joy of meditation as food. "Dharma joy as food" refers to a practitioner taking the awakening to the Dharma as food. "Vow as food" refers to a practitioner taking their vows as food. "Mindfulness as food" involves having right mindfulness as food (the difference from "consciousness as food" lies in the latter’s lesser depth of awareness). "Liberation as food" involves having the mental state of liberation as food. The above five types of food are considered supra-mundane food.

In the context of the four offerings to the sangha, "food" typically refers to "segmented food." This includes five types of food: rice, barley rice, wheat, meat, and bread. There are also five types of chewing food: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Seven-day medicinal food consists of raw cheese, oil, aged cheese, honey, and rock sugar, among others. Finally, there is liquid food, which includes fruit juice, powdered juice, milk, yogurt, and broth, among others. In ancient India, these foods were obtained by Buddhist monks through alms rounds. Due to cultural differences, Chinese Buddhism could not carry on with the system of alms rounds but developed its own tradition of vegetarianism and self-cooking in monasteries. Despite the variations in food and practices, the intention of Buddhist practitioners to support and honour the Buddha and the sangha through food offerings remains unchanged.

When making food offerings, Buddhist practitioners can contemplate in the following way: By offering "food," one adorns the physical form of the Buddha and the Sangha and aspires to attain a dignified physical form oneself. By offering "food", one alleviates the suffering of hunger experienced by the physical form of the Buddha and the Sangha, aspiring to attain the result of an affliction-free Dharma body.
四事供养是指以“衣”、“食”、“住”、“药”四种日常生活最基本之所需来资养佛、僧。 “衣”能解决蚊虫叮咬、 寒冷之苦,“食”能解决饥饿之苦,“住”能解决日晒雨淋、野兽侵犯之苦,“ 药”能解决疾病之苦。借助于这四 事供养,佛、僧得以安顿色身、增长道业并弘法利生。因此,当我们在完成四事供养时,其实就是在护持三 宝、护持佛教。

有了以上的认识之后,我们可以更进一步的拓宽对四事供养的理解:供养其实就是布施,对三宝、长辈、平 辈称之供养,对下辈称之布施。供养(布施)除了是一种美德,也是学佛者该有的修持;它除了能累积世间 的福报,也能成就出世间的智慧(布施波罗蜜)。因此,我们在供养时不应只限 于“衣”、“食”、“住”、“药”这四者,而是要看到供养除了物质上的财施,尚有非物质性的法施和精神层面的 无畏施,让自己朝向布施波罗蜜的完成(请参阅拙著《无坚不摧》之成就布施波罗蜜)。

“食”梵语支缚罗阿贺罗(Āhāra),有增益身心之义;共有“段食”、“触食”、“思食”、“识食”、“禅悦食”、“法喜 食”、“愿食”、“念食”、“解脱食”九种。前四食为滋养色身,是世间食;后五食为滋养法身,是出世间食。 “段食”即分段而食,“触食”即眼、耳、鼻、身以所对的色尘、声尘、香尘、触尘为食,“思食”即意以所对的法 尘为食,“识食”即以了别的识心为食,此是世间四种食。“禅悦食”即修道者以禅定的喜悦为食,“法喜食”即修 道者以所觉悟之法为食,“愿食”即修道者以所发之誓愿为食,“念食”即以正念为食(此与“识食”差别在于“识 食”并未深入觉性)、“解脱食”即以解脱的心理状态为食,此是出世间五种食。

四事供养中的“食”指的是“段食”。其中有五啖食,即饭、麦豆饭、麨、肉、饼;五嚼食,即根、茎、叶、花、 果;七日药食,即生酥、油、熟酥、蜜、石蜜等;时浆,即果汁、粉汁、乳、酪、浆等。以上所说的这些食 物都是古印度僧人托钵时所乞得的,汉传佛教因文化上的差异,致使无法沿用托钵的制度,而另形成现今的 素食和寺庙自炊的文化。虽然在食物上、方式是有差异,但学佛者以食物供养佛、僧的护持之心却是可以依 旧不变的。

学佛者在供养“食”时可如此思维而修:以“食”庄严佛、僧色身,愿自己能有色身庄严之果报;以“食”去佛、僧 色身饥饿之苦,愿自己能有无苦的法身之果报。

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About the Instructor

  • 哈达瑜伽 - 美国瑜伽专业联盟200小时认证教师
    Hatha Yoga Teacher 200-hr Yoga Alliance

  • 哈达流动瑜伽 - 英国瑜伽专业联盟200小时认证教师
    Hatha Yoga Flow Teacher 200-hr Yoga Alliance

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  • 6年从事禅法结合瑜伽的教学工作
    Engaged in teaching work combining Zen and yoga for 6 years