SGM-AMALA

                 Greens, Candles, Incense and Other Offerings

 

The [traditional] basic material offerings to the Gohonzon are evergreens, candles and incense. This triad has symbolic significance: the evergreens, candles and incense represent the three truths, the three properties and the three inherent potentials of the Buddha nature. Hence the tradition is that "The evergreens (shikimi) that represents the property of action is made into incense, and this is lit with the flame of wisdom that represents the property of wisdom; together, they fill the realm of the Law. Thus it is called the offering of the Buddha's Three Properties of the Law, wisdom, and action."
Evergreens symbolize the "property-of-action", the Buddha's enlightened physical property or his compassionate action and the potential to form a correct relationship with the environment that allows us to manifest our Buddha nature. The evergreens are used to adorn the space before the Gohonzon, which is eternal and supreme.  Therefore, they should be something symbolic of permanence and purity. The shikimi tree remains the same throughout the year, regardless of season: it's an evergreen that always displays vitality. But unlike pines, cedars, and other evergreen trees and bushes, it's also an aromatic tree whose wood has a distinctive fragrance. This fragrance is thought to ward off evil and to have the power to purify. That makes shikimi the ideal offering to the Gohonzon.  However, in the Gosho, Nichiren Daishonin mentions flowers as an acceptable offering. The flowers offered to a Buddha are also symbolic of the faith of those worshipping the Buddha, as expressed by the old saying, "the reality of the votary is manifest [in the flowers he offers]." So the deep evergreen color of the shikimi's leaves also represents the unchanging steadfastness of believers' faith.
Candles stand for the truth of non-substantiality or the latent potential of life. They also represent the property of wisdom or the Buddha's enlightened spiritual property and they symbolize the potential wisdom to become aware of our innate Buddha nature. In the Yakuo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattva Yakuo sets his own elbows alight to offer light to the Buddha; in a parable called the "poor woman's flame," the light a poor woman offers to the Buddha with her utmost sincerity continues to burn long after those offered by others have burned out. Both express the depth and breadth of the merit that offering light to the Buddha brings. Since it extinguishes darkness and makes all things visible, light expresses the Buddha's property of wisdom and his wisdom itself so we also have expressions like "Light of the Law," "Light of the Buddha," and "Light of Wisdom." Burning candles thus also signifies incinerating earthly desires and the sparking of the flame of wisdom in the Buddha nature.
The last of the triad is the incense. It represents the truth of the Middle Way, the essential property of the Buddha's life or the property of the Law, and the potential of our innate Buddha nature. One to three sticks of incense are burned in a flat position so as to help engender a feeling of serenity before the Gohonzon.  The incense burner is placed in the center of the altar, and incense is burned from left to right. Incense serves to create a fragrant atmosphere and is burned in front of the Gohonzon during morning and evening gongyo. The Great Teacher T'ien T'ai wrote, "No color, no fragrance is not of the Middle Way." This indicates that all things encompass the True Aspect of the Middle Way, as well as elucidates that the fragrance of incense includes the virtues of the Buddha of the Law Body of the Middle Way. Thus burning incense, while spreading fragrance throughout the room, also signifies, through the fragrance's spreading throughout the environs, the universality of the realm of the Law of the Buddha's property of the Law.   Though stick incense is used most of the time, powdered incense is used under certain circumstances, such as funeral and memorial services.
Symbolically, the light (candle) signifies the light of the Buddha's wisdom, or his "property of wisdom" (houshin); the greens, the Buddha's conduct, or his "property of action" (oujin); and the incense, the life of the Buddha (i.e., his property of the Law Hosshin) which is the fusion of the realm of the Original Infinite Law and the inherent wisdom of the Buddha of Kuon Ganjo (kyouchi myougou). Overall, this expresses the Buddha, whose property of the Law inherently encompasses the wisdom of his property of wisdom, and the conduct resulting from his property of action; in other words, the flowers (greens), incense, and light represent the Three Properties (sanjin), the Three Truths (santai), and the Three Inherent Potentials of Buddha Nature (san in busshou). Break these down further, and the three represent the following:

1. The light, non-substantiality (kuutai) and the property of wisdom (houshin) in death;
2. The incense, the Middle Way, the property of the Law (hosshin), and the fusion of the realm of the Original Infinite Law and the inherent wisdom of the Buddha of Kuon Ganjo (kyouchi myougou); and
3. The greens, temporary existence (ketai) and the property of action (oujin) in life.

from:nichiren.info/Gohonzon/
pic taken:https:positiveatmosphere.com