We acquire merit even if we offer a tiny thing to anyone with a good intention. And, particularly, offering a profound, greatly extensive feast in this degenerate age is meritorious and wonderful. Therefore, to the following is an explanation of its nature, etymology, types, and articles; how to offer it; and its benefits.
1) Nature
This is an aspect of the articles through which we can accumulate merit and confess, and please goddesses, lamas, brothers and sisters.
2) Etymology
In Sanskrit, it is called gana, which means tsog in Tibetan (‘mass offering’ in English). Arranging the amassed articles of wisdom and method of various desired qualities is known as tsog.
3) Types
There are four kinds: outer, inner, secret and the ultimate feast.
- Outer Feast
In the outer feast, one should visualize the four continents, Mount Sumeru, the seas of enjoyment, and other items as the natural articles of the feast in a vessel of the powerful golden ground. The beings who are the inhabitants of this world are naturally established as the ornaments of the feast since beginningless time. Existence and appearances are the natural and wonderful outer feast offering. Offering this innate and self-arising feast to the guru, deva and assemblage of dakinis is called the outer feast.
- Inner Feast
All that is edible and drinkable are the materials of method and wisdom respectively. Briefly, the offering of whatever wealth we obtain by blessing it as the offering articles is known as the inner feast.
- Secret Feast
Offering one’s flesh, blood and sense faculties, including the heart as wisdom nectar, in the vessel of one’s own skin is called the secret feast.
- Ultimate Feast
In the vessel of great limitless space, mind, thought, consciousness, and the collection of faculties, blessed by the wisdom of self-awareness which is free from all conceptual thought, all the inconceivable subtle and gross thoughts are the naturally arising feast. Realizing the innate nature that is devoid of subject and object of offering is the purest aspect of the feast offering. Therefore, in short, we have to realize that existence and appearances of all phenomena, the inner or outer world, is the natural feast.
4) Articles
Generally, there is no object such as form, sound, odour, taste, feeling and others that is not a suitable item for the tsog feast.
5) How to Offer
First, one should arrange whatever feast materials have been obtained—edible items whose nature is method, beverages whose nature is wisdom, and others—in the proper order. Then visualise like this: the light radiates from the manifestations of wisdom—fire, water and wind—represented by the syllables Ram, Yam and Kham, purifies all the stains of delusion, the conventional truth and all non-virtue. The rays from the manifestations of wisdom and the three kayas represented the three syllables (Om, Ah, Hung) help to obtain the wish-fulfilling treasury of the pure and great nectar of bliss. This can be presented as an article of offering to the higher objects, such as the goddess of mandala. It can be dedicated to the dharma protectors as an article of confession according to their wishes. It is considered as a material of samaya for achieving attainments. Offer whatever is left over to the ksetrapalas and dakinis. Offer it to all higher and lower objects based upon their wishes but do so with pure vision, devotion, compassion and pure determination, without mingling with the conceited mind, yearning thought, stinginess, expectation, doubt, and so forth.
Whenever we obtain any desired qualities such as joy or others, they should be offered without any thought of avarice or clinging. If we are unable to collect varieties of articles, it is fine even if we offer water. If we are skilful in transforming whatever it is with pure thoughts and the stages of meditative concentration, we can take all appearances as the state of the great natural display of dharma, since there is not a single atom which is not the nature of the feast.
Whatever food or drink we enjoy, it should be visualized as a magnificent mass offering; as all the aggregates, elements and sense-spheres are innately established as the mandala of the buddhas. The twenty-four outer abodes are the forehead and the inner abodes are the vajra body. Vajra dakas, the luminous father, and the mother of these abodes are naturally established as the channels, winds and drops in the inner body respectively, as is described in all tantra teachings.
If a person endowed with stable concentration offers the feast just once, he can obtain merit equivalent to that obtained from making offerings to the assemblage of the dakas and dakinis of the twenty-four outer great abodes. Furthermore, according to the perfect vehicle of Dzogchen, there are thirty-six peaceful deities in the luminous part of the heart, fifty-eight wrathful deities in the brain, the assemblage of vidyadharas and dakinis dwells in the channels around the throat, and the six buddha families in the six channels. They all are the wrathful and peaceful deities who are non other than the buddhas. Every pore of hair is said to be the abode of hundreds of thousands of dakinis. Therefore, it is important to know that food and drink are the nature of tsog feast.
In brief, generally, one should offer a vast array of feast to the guru, devas, dakinis, dharmapalas, and one’s assembled dharma brothers and sisters. Offer the tsog of the illusory body that is imbued with stable concentration, particularly, to the all gods and demons of the universe. Offer the feast of food and drinks that we consume daily, which are not obtained through wrongdoing, to the mandala of the buddhas. When offering the innate ganachakra, one should recognise all appearances to be the state of primordial pure cognizance—self-arising, self-liberated, free of distraction and illusion, devoid of the two graspings, beyond formation and cessation, and free of refutation and establishment. This is the perfect ganachakra.
6) Its benefit
The purpose and benefit of offering the feast are described in a Dzogchen tantra as follows:
If we turn the wheel of the feast,
Before the wrathful and peaceful deities,
All immeasurable defilements of the past and future will be
Purified within an instant.
Wherever we will be reborn,
We will never be poor.
Instead, will always be born as a universal emperor,
Enjoy precious wealth,
And will become prosperous.
These are the temporary benefits. We can also gain ultimate benefits from it, as said in a tantra:
In the intermediate state, our wisdom will recognise pure appearances.
As a result, we will be liberated and will achieve the immutable state.
Our manifestations will pervade in the three thousand universes
And will benefit beings.
In short, the benefits of the feast offering are inconceivable. We can obtain numberless benefits as stated below:
We can also accomplish pacifying, enriching, subjugating and wrathful activities through it. It has the power to restore broken and degenerated samaya. It causes goddesses, spiritual masters, guardians, and dharma brothers and sisters to rejoice. It can dispel discordant circumstances and obstacles. It is a perfect method for accumulating merit and wisdom. Through it, we can reach the noble and common levels of a siddha simultaneously. One should practice these all the time as it is a profound method and a wondrous quality of the inner class of the Vajrayana.
Colophon
I (Natsog Rangdrol) have written this brief explanation on the feast,
Urged by the tantric holder Karpowa Kunga Tenzin,
Who is wearing gorgeous white robes.
May this benefit all sentient beings.
Though I can elaborate more on this based upon the renowned tantra texts on how to engage in the tsog feast, it is just a waste of my effort as it is rarely practised in this degenerate age. So, I think this is sufficient. May this be virtuous!
Translated by Jampel Thinley
7th Year, NNI
