Question 43: Why must we be diligent in offering worship?  

Đức Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát teaches that we must practice diligent and regular worship for the following reasons:

"First, it trains our chơn thần (true spiritual self) to draw near to the Divine Beings, so that its inner light may grow radiant.

Second, it is the means by which we entreat the Great Compassionate One to forgive our transgressions and those of all beings.

Third, where there is ceremony and offering, the heart must naturally be moved; when the heart is moved, the response comes — and such response is the natural law.

Fourth, when the heart is stirred, compassion expands, and especially the faculties of conscience and innate moral intelligence gradually become sharp and luminous.

You must remember this.”

Offering worship is an expression of sincere reverence toward Heaven, Buddha, Saints, and Immortals. But Heaven and the Divine Beings do not save or bless us merely because we perform rites.

If one does not keep the precepts, does not understand the inner Dharma of the Holy Ones, then no matter how many rituals one performs, salvation cannot be obtained.

To worship without inner transformation is no different from attempting to bribe the Divine — yet the impartial Celestial Law does not accept offerings as bribes.

Furthermore, incense, candles, tea, fruit offerings, the altar, the sound of the bell and the wooden fish, and even the act of bowing — all these belong only to the outer form, the physical form of the Dharma.

More essential than all outer forms is learning to rely upon them in order to reach the inner sacred method, the hidden spiritual vitality within.

What, then, is this inner sacred method?

Beyond the meaning of honoring Heaven and Buddha, the acts of offering and worship also contain these deeper functions:

•  Restraining the body through disciplined posture — to lessen the karma of the body.

•  Reciting scripture — to lessen karmic faults of speech.

•  Fixing the gaze upon the Divine Eye, the incense flame, or the Thái Cực Lamp — to lessen the karma of sight.

•  Keeping the mind aligned with the meaning of the scriptures — to stop wandering thoughts and lessen karmic faults of thinking.

•  Maintaining meditative stillness, attending only to the sacred sounds of bell and wooden fish — to lessen karmic faults of hearing.

Without true faith — meaning without living honestly from the heart — one’s concentration, prayer, and worship lack spiritual power.

It is like a radio without electricity: it cannot receive any signal. In such a state, one may worship for a lifetime yet remain trapped in mere outer form, never touching the sacred essence.

Thus, when reading scripture, one must seek the Reason, the Meaning. Only when the intellect understands the teachings can it guide the body and conduct in accordance with true faith.