Offerings

At the time of the Buddha in ancient India, it was the custom to make offerings to the Buddha and his monks and nuns as they traveled. Typically they would be offered clean water for drinking and bathing, flowers, incense, light or a lamp, perfume or fragrance, music and of course food. These same offerings are still used today as a way to express gratitude and respect for the Buddha. 

Making offerings helps us develop spiritual qualities as a result of the accumulation of method and wisdom. Any act performed with a virtuous motivation develops wholesomeness and positive karma, and the purer the objects of our offering are, the greater the merits will be.
As you make offerings, think that what you are offering is in nature your own good qualities and your practice, although it appears in the form of external offering objects. These external offerings should not be imagined as limited to the actual objects, but should be seen as vast in number, as extensive as space. 

The most important offering that we can give to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas is the offering of our own practice. This means practicing the Dharma until we can get some accomplishment and be able to truly benefit others.

art by Zeng Hao