What is making offerings to sentient beings? Protecting the natural environment, sweeping the house, washing dishes, cleaning and arranging tables and chairs neatly, etc. are all offerings and respect to sentient beings. Littering everywhere in the house, on the street, throwing things around, destroying forests, polluting ponds, lakes, rivers, etc. is disrespectful to sentient beings, contrary to the Dharma of Extensive Offerings of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. People with these behaviors, no matter how well they recite Buddha's name, can only be reborn with their karma, and absolutely cannot be born into the Pure Land of True Report Adornment of great Bodhisattvas. Why? Because Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's Ten Great Vows are the conditions for being born into the Pure Land of True Report Adornment. Those who recite Buddha's name and want to be born into the Pure Land of True Report Adornment, every move must correspond to these Ten Great Vows. We ourselves cannot reach the level of One-pointedness in reciting Buddha's name because we do not know how to use our minds to do the things in the Ten Great Vows. Once these ten things are done to perfection, it will be the One Mind Without Distraction. Those who have attained the One Mind Without Distraction have not yet done these ten things to perfection; only those who have attained the One Mind Without Distraction can do so to perfection. Why? Because the Ten Great Vows and the One Mind Without Distraction are all completely revealed by virtue.

Most of the Buddha's disciples are very fond of the practice of making offerings. Rich people often make offerings of money for the construction of temples, monasteries, monks and nuns, and the poor. Does making offerings seem to bring blessings? Not necessarily! In the Infinite Life Sutra, the Buddha clearly stated the reason: "People in this world cannot see their own good and evil, good and evil, misfortune and blessing compete to create, their minds are deluded and dark, constantly creating karma, confusion and confusion, impermanence is the root, and they are obscure and confused." Although there are many people who study Buddhism, most of them are deluded and not enlightened. We are superstitious about the Buddha Dharma, not true believers in the Buddha Dharma. If you want to learn the Dharma of offering from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, you must truly have wisdom. Therefore, in the verse of the Three Refuges, there is the sentence: “I take refuge in the Dharma, wishing for all living beings to understand the sutras, with wisdom as vast as the ocean.” Why do we Buddhists have to make this vow? Because those who do not have the wisdom to understand the Buddha Dharma will definitely not be able to practice the Dharma of Extensive Offerings from Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Those who truly have wisdom cultivate blessings and wisdom, and will have blessings and wisdom. Those who do not have wisdom cultivate blessings and wisdom, and will create more sinful karma. Of course, this is related to good roots, blessings, and causes and conditions in past lives. Therefore, making offerings is absolutely not as easy as we mistakenly think! Where does the Buddha teach us to truly begin cultivating blessings and wisdom? I would like to say: Receiving, reciting Mahayana sutras, understanding Mahayana Buddhism to a fairly deep level, then you will know how to practice the Dharma of Extensive Offerings to create blessings without causing harm as the Avatamsaka Sutra warns: "Forgetting the Bodhi mind, practicing all good dharmas is called demonic karma." To put it bluntly, if you forget the Bodhi mind (enlightened mind or Prajna wisdom), then even if you can practice all good dharmas, it is only practicing demonic karma. Why? Because if you do not have the enlightened mind, all your practices are fake, only knowing how to care for your own benefit, so that mind will wander in the direction of external sounds, practicing like that will be contaminated with more impurities, creating demonic karma.

How should you practice offerings to truly be a field of blessings? Actually, it is not difficult to distinguish, just look at the results and you will know right away. For example, we make offerings to build a monastery. After the construction is completed, if every day the monastery propagates the Dharma to benefit living beings, teaches the sutras and teaches the Dharma, and leads the community to practice, then that place will truly be a place to sow a field of merit. On the contrary, after the construction of that dharma hall is completed, the community that resides there every day competes for fame, gains profits, quarrels, and seizes property, then that place will only be a place to practice demonic deeds, creating karma in Avici Hell, not a place to create a field of merit. If one does not make offerings to impure places, there will be no karma; the more offerings to impure places, the more karma is created. That is why the Buddha said: “People in this world cannot see for themselves the good and evil, good and evil, misfortune and happiness, they compete to create.” Making offerings to renunciants who truly practice diligently has great merit. But if we make offerings to monks so that they can save money in the bank, spend lavishly, and then become complacent and self-satisfied, thinking that their practice has been successful and they have such blessings, then the sins of the person making the offerings and the person receiving the offerings will be even greater. Why? Because when that person had no money, he had a religious mind, only thinking of Buddha, Bodhisattva and sentient beings, but once he had money in his pocket, he forgot about Buddha, Bodhisattva, let alone sentient beings. That is why, before his death, Shakyamuni Buddha advised and encouraged monks to take suffering as their teacher. The more suffering they endure, the less they are attached to the five desires and six dusts, so they can diligently practice and strive to escape the cycle of birth and death. People with wealth and money live very happily, but in their minds they always have thoughts of attachment to this world, not wanting to leave, so few people earnestly practice and pray to be reborn and escape the cycle of birth and death. Nowadays, we just need to reluctantly live in this world to get through the days, without needing to compete with others. If we can let go of all body, mind, and world, and sincerely recite Buddha's name, then that is truly the greatest blessing. Towards everyone, being respectful and worshipping with one heart, not creating any grudges on either side, always keeping a pure mind, not giving rise to any thoughts, not discriminating or having any attachments, then that is truly making Wide Offerings. People who make offerings like this are truly having a genuine field of blessings.