Butter Lamp in the Wind

Every action we perform is done through the gates of Body, Speech and Mind. We eat some food, we use some of the calories to perform some work, some of the calories go to our waistline and arteries, and the rest we try to sleep off. Some of the crude energy from food gets distilled into essence and supports our awareness. We are certainly very much like a butter lamp. What we do can make us like a light in the world, or our flame can be poorly maintained. We may either fail to recognize the purpose and structure of the set-up of our lives in general, or we may truly grok how important and rare and precious the opportunity of having a body actually is for attaining a better understanding of reality.

We can sit in a meditation posture, say mantras, visualize deities and make offerings such as butter lamps, food, fire ceremonies, water bowls etc. A butter lamp is very much like we are or could be. Different than a candle, butter lamps are made from a pure food. It takes time and effort to clarify the butter and make a wick, etc. Just like our lives could be, offering a butter lamp is an amazing but fleeting opportunity to bring light into the world that dispels the darkness of ignorance for ourselves and all sentient beings.

The Dharma activity of making and offering butter lamps is far less complicated than learning to make specific Tormas or to perform complicated rituals, etc. The butter, the flame and its light is a substantial offering and the light is a display of transformation of gross material into light. May we all be able to do the same in our lives.

These reflections arose while I was preparing some offering lamps made from clarified Amish butter. Although in earlier days these words would have been written in ink made from the black residue of such butter lamps, may these digitally self-arising emptiness words help all beings traverse the dark regions of ignorance and reach the astounding citadel of limitless light. This is offered by one known as Rangbar Nyima Ozer (Self-Blazing Rays of the Sun) even though my own teacher did wonder if I was ever going to be able to light my own bulb.