In Buddhism, light symbolizes wisdom, the clear knowing that dispels ignorance.
The Buddha once said, “As a lamp lights another, it loses nothing of its own.”
To offer Lotus light is to wish enlightenment for all beings, and to reaffirm one’s own inner clarity.
Temples across the Himalayas and Southeast Asia keep thousands of butter lamps burning day and night. Each flame is a prayer for clarity — for the dead, the suffering, and the living who wander without direction. It represents every strong mind and unshaken will. Placing the light before the Buddha is a gesture of certainty and confidence, a way to draw strength and peace of mind from the flame itself.
What if we don’t have a physical lamp to offer? The truth is, the real lamp was never outside, it has always been within the heart.
The flame teaches interdependence: it survives through balance, too little oxygen, it dies; too much, it flickers. In this way, the lamp becomes a metaphor for the mind’s own cultivation. When darkness arrives, grief, uncertainty, depression, the mind collapses inward. We lose the sense that clarity exists at all. The Light Offering ritual gives that clarity form again.
When you feel overwhelmed or lost, our light offering ritual can help you. Our Lotus Light Offering Service allows you to dedicate a lamp, in a temple or digitally, to anyone you wish to bless.
Your lamp is lit by monastics, accompanied by a chanting of the Heart Sutra.
A single light will not fix the world, but it can restore your faith that illumination is still possible, and strengthen your believe in the light of buddha.