phyi-mchod

▪ Tibetan Buddhist rite

      in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies, the eight offerings of external worship, presented before the tranquil deities. They are basically the eight ways of honouring a distinguished guest—by offering water for drinking, water for washing, flowers, incense, lamps, perfume, food (the sacrificial cake gtor-ma), and the music of cymbals. In the regular, daily attendance on the deities, the offerings are often represented by small bowls filled with water, though special ceremonies and festivals require the full offerings.

      The phyi-mchod are distinguished from the nang-mchod (q.v.), or offerings of internal worship, also called offerings of the five senses.

      For honouring the wrathful Tantric deities, the presentations are six in number—a cemetery flower, incense of singed flesh, lamp burning human fat (or a substitute), scent of bile, blood (usually symbolized by red water), and human flesh (symbolically made from parched barley flour and butter realistically coloured and modeled).

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