Buddhism: what are the reasons for offering all the food, money to the monks?

Question

i've always wondered why my grandma would give monks or donate at the temple so much money all the times, and put the fanciest meal (like chicken, fruits, etc) on the street until they get all cold, then we would get to eat it after the "gods" have eaten it...

i'm doing a research paper on this question. plx help!

Answer 1

Monks live by a strict self of rules that they impose uponthemselves (not imposed by other monks). One of them is that they may never take something that is not given freely. They will never ask for food, even if they starve to death. In cultures with Buddhist monks, it is common for the lay people (people who go to a temple) to bring food and offer it to the monks. This is because they love their monks, and the monks have great compassion for them, and have a great deal of wisdom that they will give freely. But, you have to ask. They feel it is wrong for them to change your path unless you ask for advice.

All Buddhists believe in the eightfold path,a dn try to live by it:
Right View - Realizing the Four Noble Truths Right Intention - Commitment to mental and Ethical growth in moderation
Right Speech - One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way
Right Action - Wholesome action, avoiding action that would hurt others
Right Livelihood - One's job does not harm in any way oneself or others; directly or indirectly
Right Effort - One makes an effort to improve Right Mindfulness - Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness
Right Concentration - State where one reaches enlightenment and the ego has disappeared

Buddhists also choose to abide by one or more of the five precepts. Monks abide by all of them, plus another 150 rules or so:
To refrain from taking life.
To refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing).
To refrain from sensual misconduct (improper sexual behavior, gluttony etc.)
To refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).
To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.

Answer 2

They devote their entire lives to the people.
They do not receive salaries. They usually receive only one meal a day. Buddhists want to make this a special meal as a form of worship to thank the monks for their lifelong devotion. The money is for the monks to maintain the temples for the worship of the people. Money is impermanent and transient.
It is not a goal of Buddhists to become rich.

It is not true that this a practice of Taoism and not Buddhism. If not for this practice, the begging(mendicant) monks of Buddhism would not exist.

You may wish to study the religion of Taiwan where the religions of Taoism, Confucianism(really a philosophy), and Buddhism work together in harmony.

Answer 3

Hi.

There are 2 parts to answer here.

To your first question on donating money and food:
Firstly, the giving allows the giver to practice generosity which the Buddha encouraged.
Secondly, the giving allows the receiver to practice humility which the Buddha encouraged.

As for part 2 where you eat all the cold food:
Haha, this is more an Asian tradition of believing it to be "blessed" rather than a Buddhist practice. The idea is so much of offering it to be blessed and then consuming it to receive the blessing.

Answer 4

Offering food to the gods is the practice of Taoism and not that of Buddhism. When Buddhism was introduced to China, its teachings were combined with the cultures in China by the locals. Buddha did not ask anybody to pray to him, he merely told his followers to follow his teachings. A lot of buddhists today will have a statue of the buddha in their house or temple but the real reason for that is to remind the devoted followers of his teachings. It is just like like having photographs of someone closed to you who has passed away and keeping these photographs as memories. In reality, there's no idol worshipping in buddhism but a lot of people who do not understand the real buddhism or have the intention to ruin the reputation of this religion willl claim that it is idol worshipping. As for money donation to the temples, it is up to the devotees to decide to give or not to give. This practice is not only confined to Buddhism but it is a widespread practice for any other religions. In the past, monks will have a piece of land, planting their own vegetables (monks and nuns are vegetarians) and they do not have to worry about land tax, electricity bills,water bills, council fees and all sorts of other bills. Today all of these are part of the society. Donation is one of the ways that can help them to pay. Monks or nuns who threatened or frightened people into donating money are not true buddhists. They are basically deviants. Somepeople donated a lot money to build temples or any places of worship, that is their privileged. However, for these donors , they must make sure that these donations are being used for whatever they were donating for. A lot of chinese who claims that they are buddhists are actually a combination of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. In Buddhism, there is no such practice where one has to burn effigy, paper clothes or other world money to the gods. These are all the practices of Taoism and Confucianism or maybe they are made up by the chinese merchants to make a few bucks out of the devotees. To know more about Buddhism is to read more and feel more. Everyone has a Buddhahood seed implanted in their heart or soul.Your answers to all your questions lies in there. Let that seed grow and you will know the truth.

Stay calm and focus in whatever situation you are in.
Ciao! and take care.

Calm

Answer 5

These monks only eat very simple food once in 24 hours. They are busy in worship and don't work and the masses took the responsibility to provide them the food.

Answer 6

Monks are those that have turned their backs on most of what the world has to offer, in the knowledge that most of it ensnares the average person, including buy definatly not limited to earning a living in a traditional sense. Grandma gets to help them fill this void in their lifestyle, and she gets good 'karmic' points for it. All in all, its akin to the average person giving to a charity. It keeps her focused on ideals higher than her current life has to offer.

Answer 7

Making offerings to the monks and nuns are practices that has originated long before The Buddha's time in ancient India .

It was part of the social custom at that time, for religious people ( or Holy people) in India to sustain their lives by receiving offerings.

Thus, making offerings is not an exclusive Buddhist practice .Practitioners of Hinduism and most other religons at that time receive offerings to sustain their lives.

It was widely believed that if a lay person make offerings to these Holy people, one can then receive good fortune and blessings in return.

Those who received the offerings must pray to their gods for the welfare of the giver.

At that time, all religious persons which renounced the world has only one single occupation , that is : to seek the Higher Truth of the Universe.

They do not engage in money making activities or farming to sustain their lives .

They have already renounced the world to pursuit the Higher Truth . So, why is there a need to engage in those activities ?

It is of no exception for a Buddhist Monk or a Nun.

Their sole occupation is to practise the Buddha Dharma (teachings of the Buddha ) diligently , so that they can one day free themselves from suffering and the cycle of life and death.

In Buddha's time , Buddha also forbade the monks and nuns to grow their own food , because during the planting process, many beings in the soil , like worms , insects would be killed.

This would be in direct violation of the No Killing Precept expounded by The Buddha .

To sustain their physical bodies, The Buddha led the Sangha ( the community of monks and nuns ) to request for food from the ordinary people at noon everyday , in order to continue their spiritual practice.

This is also done to allow ordinary people to have a chance to accumulate spiritual merits, which would benefit them in this life time or the next.

After the food was received , The Buddha would bless the giver and consumed the food.

Now, in the modern world , 2500 years plus from Buddha's time, social norms have changed .

Buddhism has also spread from India to many different cultures, which do not necessary follow ancient India's customs.

In modern societies , especially cities, you don't find people prepare food and offer it to religious people at noon . Modern people are too busy. Maybe you still see this in certain places or countries and also in the countryside .
( In Thailand and some other asian cultures you may still see this )

But , you don't see this in modern cities ! ( I am open to correction, please correct me if I am wrong . I live in Singapore )

Buddhism is adaptive to the modern world.

A monk and a nun's sole occupation is still the same :to practise the Buddha Dharma (teachings of the Buddha ) diligently , so that they can one day free themselves from suffering and the cycle of life and death. They can then teach others how to end suffering.

But, on the matter of sustaining their body , they still have to adapt to the modern world.

For Buddhist Schools in China, they have monks or nuns in their community that took care of cooking.

Lay persons just need to donate money to the temple for them to buy foodstuff and to maintain the temple.

As for what your grandma practise , she is not entirely doing it the Buddhistic way.There is a mix of Chinese customs practice in it as well.

Most Chinese Buddhists do not offer fanciest meal on the street and especially do not offer meat.

If a Chinese Buddhist were to make food offerings, they would place it in front of the Buddha statue , why on the streets ?

And , they do not offer meat ! Only vegetarian dishes.

Most Chinese Buddhist know and practise the No Killing precept . Why would a Buddhist create bad karma for him/her self by offering meat ?

Offering fancy food on the street originate from local customs
in China and sometimes from Taoist practice. They are not really Buddhist practices .

Please check this out carefully. Talk to the people in pure Buddhist temples ( Not those which are a mixture of Buddhism and Taoism) . You should find out from them on whether 1) they offer meat to the Buddha 2) offer food on the streets.

Sigh ! I think I have already done you a big favour for your research and you should carry on the rest.

Due dilligence is a virtue.

Answer 8

Offering food to Nuns and Monks allow us to accumulate merit and thus improve our karmic fortune.

Answer 9

How else are monks supposed to live?

Answer 10

LA