According to Karmavibhaga Sutra the benefits of offering different types of items areas follows:
A. The ten benefits of offering parasols:
1. You yourself will become like a parasol for the world
2. Your body will not be tormented
3. Your mind will not be tormented
4. You will become an ornament of the world
5. You will perform and accumulate the karma of a sovereign lord
6. You will repeatedly attain the status of a chakravartin
7. You will be renowned as being powerful
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will soon pass into parinirvana
B. The ten benefits of offering bells:
1. You will attain an excellent body
2. You will have a pleasant voice
3. You will be endowed with attractive speech
4. Your speech will be mellifluous like the Indian cuckoo
5. You will keep your word
6. You will be supremely joyful
7. The music of vast resounding joy will reach your ears
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will soon pass into parinirvana
C. The ten benefits of offering banners:
1. You will yourself become like a victory banner for the world
2. You will be respected by officials, relatives, and siblings, who will elevate, honor, and worship you
3. In all the cardinal and intermediate directions you will enjoy great renown, and many sayings, words, and verses about you will arise
4. Your body will be excellent, pleasant to behold, and beautiful
5. You will live long in your future lives
6. You will be renowned as being powerful
7. You will be born into a respectable social group
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will soon pass into parinirvana
D. The eleven benefits of offering cloth:
1. You will be beautiful and pleasant to behold
2. Your skin will be smooth
3. Your skin will be soft
4. Dust and dirt will not cling to your body
5. You will have excellent clothes
6. You will acquire fine rugs and garments
7. You will have a perfect sense of modesty and decency
8. Others will be happy to see you
9. Your resources and wealth will increase
10. You will be reborn in the higher realms
11. You will soon pass into parinirvana
E. The ten benefits of offering flowers:
1. You will yourself become like a flower for the world
2. Your sense of smell will never be impaired
3. Your body odors will be completely purified
4. You will have a pleasant scent
5. The fragrance of your discipline will spread throughout all the cardinal and intermediate directions
6. You will be a great person within the world
7. You will attain delightful qualities
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will soon pass into parinirvana
F. The ten benefits of offering garlands:
1. You will yourself become like a garland for the world
2. Your body odors will be completely purified
3. The pleasant fragrance of your discipline will spread throughout the cardinal and intermediate directions
4. You will always smell fragrant
5. You will yourself be ornamented
6. Your servants and retinue will not become divided
7. You will be attractive to men and women
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will soon pass into parinirvana
G. The ten benefits of offering incense:
1. You will yourself become like incense for the world
2. Your sense of smell will be completely purified
3. All unpleasant body odor will be completely purified
4. You will always smell nice
5. You will attain an excellent body
6. You will be a great person within the world
7. You will attain delightful qualities
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will swiftly pass into parinirvana
H. The ten benefits of offering music:
1. You will have an excellent body and be pleasant to behold
2. You will have a pleasant voice
3. Your speech will be pleasing
4. You will enjoy the glory of fame
5. You will keep your word
6. You will always be joyful
7. You will always hear vast sounds of joy
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will swiftly pass into parinirvana
I. The ten benefits of sweeping:
1. You will have an excellent body
2. You will be pleasant to look at
3. You will become beautiful
4. Your voice will be pleasant
5. Your passion, anger, and stupidity will be restrained
6. Where you walk, there will be no gravel, no weeds, no grit underfoot
7. You will be reborn into a respectable social group
8. Your resources and wealth will increase
9. You will be reborn in the higher realms
10. You will soon pass into parinirvana
Elsewhere, in the Little House Sutra, the benefits of sweeping are listed as five:
Ananda, there are five benefits to sweeping. What are they?
1. Your mind will become serene
2. The minds of others will become serene
3. The deities will be pleased
4. You will perform and accumulate beautiful karma
5. After death, you will be reborn in the higher realms
As well as all those listed above, the scriptures describe many other benefits to be derived from making offerings. For instance, in the Questions of Jayamati Sutra, it is said:
· Wishing to attain all positive qualities, you should make offerings to the Three Jewels.
In the Kritigarba Sutra, it is said:
· All the happiness and joy in the world Come from making offerings to the Three Jewels. Thus, if one wishes to be happy and joyful,
One must strive in making offerings to the Three Jewels.
One must strive in making offerings to the Three Jewels.
From the mahayana sutra entitled Avalokiteshvara:
The great mass of merit earned by those who honor the pure tathagatas with pure intelligence, with flowers, garlands, incense, parasols, victory banners, draped standards, musical sounds, and unguents is inconceivable.
As for the extent of this merit, it cannot be exhausted even at the end of all future lives. The only exception to this is when it naturally exhausts in the final attainment of nirvana through one of the three vehicles.
From the Sutra of the White Lotus of Holy Dharma:
Those who offer just a single flower,
Or to a mural painting of the tathagata
Make mental offerings, even with a disturbed mind,
Will gradually come to see millions of buddhas.
Or to a mural painting of the tathagata
Make mental offerings, even with a disturbed mind,
Will gradually come to see millions of buddhas.
