What does it mean to light a lamp in front of Buddha?
In Buddhism, the lamp represents light and wisdom, which means to remind the world to pursue wisdom in order to get rid of ignorance. Offering Buddha with a lamp means breaking the darkness with a lamp, and symbolizes removing confusion with wisdom.
Extended data:
The origin of burning lanterns for Buddhism comes from a Buddhist story of "poor women offering lanterns". This story tells that when the Buddha gave a tree to the lonely garden in Sla Wasti, there was a poor and lonely woman named Nando who made a living by begging.
Nando often sees kings and subjects, big and small, supporting Buddhists and monks, and thinks, "I am so poor in my life because I committed a terrible crime in my last life." Although I met Fukuda, I have no resources to support it. " It's hard not to feel sad, remorse and sadness when you think about this. Nando hoped to get some money to support the Buddha, but he begged all day and got only one money.
She took the money to the oil mill and wanted to use it to buy oil. The shopkeeper asked her, "A dollar can only buy a little oil. What do you do? " Nando told him all his thoughts. The shopkeeper felt sorry for her and gave her double oil, enough to make a lamp.
Nando was so happy that he came to the Jingshe and presented the lamp to the Buddha. She put the lamp among the lights in front of the Buddha and made a vow: "I am poor now. I have nothing to offer to the Buddha except this small lamp, but I hope that I can get a wisdom lamp in the future, which can sweep away the ignorance and darkness of all beings and guide them to realize."
The night passed, and all the lights went out except the one provided by the poor girl. The next day, it was Mu Yu Lian's duty. Seeing that it was already dawn, he came to the temple to tidy up the lights. He saw that the lamp provided by Nando was on, and the lamp oil and wick were not damaged at all, just like the newly lit lamp. I thought, "daytime lighting is useless." It's better to turn off the light first and light it at night. "
He raised his hand and fanned the lamp, but it was still on and didn't go out. With the clothes fan, it is still as bright as ever. At this time, the Buddha saw Mu Jianlian's move and said to him, "Even if this oil lamp is filled with water from all over the world, or it is windy, it will not go out, because it was given by the people with great bodhicitta."
When the Buddha said this, it happened that it was difficult for Tuo to worship Buddha again. The Buddha said to her, "In the next life, you will be taken away by the second monk and become a Buddha. Buddha's name is light. " After receiving instructions from the Buddha, Nantah was very happy and immediately asked the Buddha to become a monk. The Buddha also agreed to her request and let her become a member of the monk group.