Can an ordained monk who has broken the precepts be an object of offering?

All sentient beings can be given offerings, including monks who have broken the precepts. Even offering to cats, dogs, fish, or birds yields a hundredfold merit—how much more so offering to human beings? A monk who has broken the precepts is, first, a human being; second, a monk; and third, one who has broken the precepts—so offering to him still yields a thousandfold merit. Monks even give food offerings to ghosts and spirits; how much more should laypeople make offerings to monks who have broken the precepts? No matter how badly a monk has broken the precepts, he still has more blessing and virtue than animals and hungry ghosts, and the merit gained from offering to him far exceeds that gained from offering to animals and hungry ghosts. Everyone may make offerings, without exception, including extremely evil people such as Hitler. However, providing tools and funds for an evil person to commit evil deeds makes one complicit in the evil person's crimes, whereas providing basic food, drink, and clothing poses no problem.

The Influence of the Environment Must Not Be Overlooked

The constraining and permeating power of the environment is immense. A person's power of wholesome karma, power of merit, and power of wisdom are sometimes insufficient to resist and break free from environmental influences; one may still be unconsciously and quietly influenced and permeated without even noticing it, and end up being assimilated. If one is assimilated by wholesome dharma, that is fine; but if one is assimilated by unwholesome dharma, the defilements and afflictions of ignorance in one's own mind increase, binding one ever more tightly in the obstacles of birth, death, and karma. Therefore, the environment in which a person lives is very important.

The environment of the secular world is generally defiled, with very little that is pure, because sentient beings' afflictive habits are very heavy, almost deeply entrenched, manifesting greed, hatred, and delusion at all times. The environment within the Buddhist community is mixed, containing both defilement and purity, but defilement far outweighs purity in proportion and exerts the greater influence. Many people cannot discern whether the environment they are in is predominantly defiled or predominantly pure; they only look at surface appearances. Some people, after taking up Buddhism, follow groups heavy with afflictive defilement and are greatly influenced by them—the more they study, the heavier their afflictions become, without their even realizing it. Studying Buddhism this way is very dangerous. If sentient beings have mild afflictions and can remain transcendent, unaffected, and able to maintain their original aspiration in studying Buddhism, that is fine. What is feared is a Buddhist environment heavy with defilement and great in influence, which most easily causes people to lose their awareness and vigilance, and thus unknowingly to commit defiled karma along with it.