ABSTRACT
Among the profusion of ritual implements and other substances of the tantric cults, the offering materials are paramount because they are the most wide-spread in all the cults and of course stem from practices far more ancient than Buddhism itself. The Buddhist Tantras and their commentaries frequently mention certain ritual materials in sets as the five herbs, five perfumes, five essences, five grains, and five jewels; and sometimes the five ambrosias. In tantric commentaries one frequently notices the terminology of “outer” and “inner” offerings. Among the miscellaneous special offerings, there is the elaborate Tibetan rite of what Schubert calls the “rice mandala” and Lessing a “thanksgiving offering”. In the coercing service, included among the “terrible rites,” there is, for example, the offering made to the Lord of the Dead, Yama, and his retinue. The offerings are shown in more imaginative form in the Yama-offering tankas of Tibet, of which a sample is reproduced.
