Lights

In all the worlds great spiritual traditions lights are offered in prayer and remembrance.

In Buddhist tradition, just as light dispels darkness, light offerings symbolize the clearing away of ignorance and the discovery of our Buddha Nature, the enlightened capacity that resides within all beings.

People offer lamps for many reasons; for loved ones suffering or facing difficulties, for those who have passed away, at times of personal challenge, and for celebrations and new projects.

Your offering of light in the temple will burn for years to come.

May this vessel become as vast as the entire billionfold universe!
May its wick grow as large as Sumeru, the king of mountains!
May the oil within become as vast as the great ocean at the edge of the world!
And may a billion such lamps appear before each and every buddha!
Their light banishing the darkness of ignorance everywhere.
From a Light Offering Prayer by Atiśa Dīpamkara