Offerings

Hello. Mr. Rainbow Man
I am with the person offering it.
Flowers are an expression of the heart.
What does offering flowers mean
To the Buddha
And it's to clean up my foolish mind.
When I start thinking about it with my head,
It seems like this world is full of useless things.
If you use your mind too, wouldn't that waste make foolishness an indescribable sense of humanity?
Living is foolish.
That's why I use my heart to make an effort to live even a little richer.

　If you're Mr. Rainbow Man, you may already know that offerings to the Buddha are called the Five Sacraments. Specifically, it refers to incense, flowers, lanterns, water purification, and food and drink. Flowers are also part of the Five Sacraments.

It is also an “offering” that we can give to the Buddha and our ancestors. Certainly, as you asked, if you look at it from one side, it is also possible to view it as an act that takes the life of a flower. However, on the other hand, it can also be said that they play a splendid role by being beautiful and majestic in front of the Buddha and in front of a spirit.

Every living thing, and we humans, live separately in the food chain. The food chain is “the weak eat the strong.” “Cruel.” There is absolutely no mistake in taking it negatively, but “it is being kept alive in the food chain.” “It was delicious. It was a treat.” I think there are many people who are living with gratitude.

I think the Buddha appreciates the beautiful blooming flowers and appreciates the act of offering them.

Plants are also alive, so if you shouldn't offer them, then it's a mistake to offer fruit. Or even rice. Both the sweetness and aroma are derived from plants. What about those?
The context is different, but even the preceptic Master Sumanasara said about this kind of sense of murder, “If you think too fundamentalist, you won't be able to move. (...) The point where you think “you can completely keep the precepts and live a perfect good life” is a mistake and misunderstanding in the first place.” It says (“Sanga Japan” vol.15, p.17).

When it comes to this kind of story, there is an opinion that only fruits and food are used, but flowers are cut from the root, so they should not be combined. It depends on the variety, but most flowers and trees are healthier if they are pruned. There are many things that will grow better the next year if you cut them from the root after watching the season. Plant habits are fundamentally different from mammals. Criticisms that don't understand the difference are childish, and anthropomorphism is viewed as a problem even in the field of bioethics.

I'm a little off topic, but whether it's food or flowers, it's up to me whether or not to waste it. Flowers have been offered to graves since 10,000 years ago.
http://science.newsln.jp/articles/2013071015070030.html
When you look at it honestly without any strange logic, seeing a beautiful flower... that alone invigorates people's hearts. It has been a common and natural feeling for over 10,000 years. Are you happy with that energy first, and then hope to share it with someone else? That's the essence of offering. Are you happy to receive artificial flowers for your anniversary? If that makes you happy, do whatever you want. But let's be aware that if you impose it on others, they won't like it.

Buddhism is not a religion where you practice and take your soul to the next level. In Buddhism, even though there is no pain in the heart as it is, I think suffering is born from kneading unnecessary arguments and bringing up likes and dislikes. Getting rid of those unnecessary things is ascetic practice.
Let's take a look at the Buddhist altar flowers again. What you felt there is just your heart. The Buddhist altar itself, including the Buddha statue, is like a mirror reflecting your heart. If you can look at the Buddhist altar and smile, the Buddha will be happy too. The Buddha wants it.
“Build the Pope Temple by throwing one stem of grass, get into the dust, and turn the Great Dharma Wheel” (Denza lesson)

Since the sentences I posted quoted Buddhist scriptures, treatises, ancestral records, etc. and did not specify the legal theory beforehand, the content of the answers was advice that placed a specific emphasis on popular values different from Buddhism.
There was a possibility that this answer would hinder people studying Buddhism, so I deleted all of the answers without permission.

Instead, I would like to give you a brief overview of Buddhism here.

“Buddhism”
There are a wide variety of approaches to Buddhism and its practices, but what lies beyond that path is liberation.

In Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhism begins when the Bodhi Heart appears to that person, many reincarnations are repeated, and while meeting many masters and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, all of that person is dedicated through a long period of ascetic practice, and the Bodhisattva mind is revealed there.
From the beginning of the path, people are guided by the Bodhi Heart and arrive at liberation, and what they realize there is also Bodhi Heart.

At the beginning of the road, personal bodhicitta, which was a desperate and pure desire to seek freedom from one's own suffering, eventually engraves indomitable will and devotion backed by prayers to save all beings into that person, and an impersonal bodhisattva is released.
People who walk the path to such bodhisattvas are called bodhisattvas, and the source of a bodhisattva's will, faith, and driving force is bodhisattva, which is realized during liberation.
On the road where the Bodhisattva walks, a wide variety of ascetic practices appear, which are the cause of insight, liberation, and complete fulfillment as a Buddha that continues beyond that.
The path of Japanese Buddhism also originates from this road, so all paths come back to that.

It is said that that person's path is a walk opened and led by an encounter with a wise man, who is that person's true mentor, and a reunion with a law friend who walked the path while a long time ago.
I hope there are no obstacles to meeting Mr. Rainbow Man and his progress.

I hope for this merit
Universal for everything
We and sentient beings
Minakyosei Buddhism

Gassho