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2. Water

Water is so important to people that it's sometimes even referred to as "the mother
of all life"; so the act of offering water to the Gohonzon first thing in the morning is
very meaningful. Water offered to the Buddha is call "aka" in Buddhism. This is a
Sanskrit word that means "merit water."

Every morning, we set aside the first water out of the kitchen tap (traditionally, the
first water drawn from the well) for offering to the Gohonzon. This water we offer
to the Gohonzon immediately before doing gongyo, and then we take it down from
the alter right before doing evening gongyo.

When you offer the water, first you put a leaf from the shikimi tree (an aromatic
evergreen) into the vessel and pour the water over it. Then you put the water vessel
up on the alter to offer it to the Gohonzon, kneel in an upright position, chant the
Daimoku three times, and pray: I offer this water in devotion to the Three reasures
of the Buddhism of Sowing and to express my gratitude for their beneficence, Nam-
Myoho-Renge-Kyo (Namu Honmon Geshu Sampou, Houon

Shatoku no on-tame ni, Nam-MyohoRenRe-Kyo.)

Lastly, ring the bell three times and chant the Daimoku three times again. f he lid
for the water vessel should be left off during the daytime. Place it on the cup after
you've taken the water down in the evening.

This offering of water has a couple of other meanings, too. The most fundamental
one the Daishonin states in the Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life: "The function
of water is to wash away filth and impurity" (Shimpen, p. 514, MWI, p. 21). Even if
water itself is unclean, its function is to purify and remove filth. This is analogous

to the function of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which lets you remove the

"filth" from your life by extingishing your own bad karma and past slander.

Another significance is that just as water flows from a high palce downward

to lower ones; the Buddha's compassion and mercy flows from the heights of

the world of Buddhahood downward to equally benfit beings in the lower

nine worlds.