Why offering incense is important pt. 2

Incense is a common practice in Buddhism. It is used in temples, homes, and even on the go. There are many different types of incense, each with its own unique fragrance. Incense is often burned as an offering to the Buddha or to the ancestors. It can also be used to purify the air and create a calming and meditative atmosphere. In ancient India, the climate was almost always hot and humid and sometimes just muggy. So as a way to welcome guests, incense is kind of used to relieve the sticky feeling. There are even mentions in the sutras where incense is used to invite the Buddha to give teachings.

There are many different ways to burn incense in Buddhism. The most common way is to use a stick of incense. The stick is lit on one end, then raising the incense level to your eyebrows, then placing the incense in the burner. The smoke from the burning incense rises and fills the air with a pleasant fragrance.

Incense can also be burned in cones, coils, powder, or granules. These forms of incense can be easier to use than sticks. They can simply be placed in an incense burner and lit, or you can shape the powder into a character with the help of a mold and lit at one of the edges. The more formal way to offer incense is by digging a small but deep hole in the burner, filling that hole with powder, then covering the hole with a layer of ash after igniting the powder. Then the officiant will offer wooden sticks and place them in the burning powder, creating a thick layer of offering smoke to the Buddhas.

In terms of ingredients, sandalwood, and aloeswood are the two most common that you’ll find. Before I would say that the latter is much more expensive, almost comparable to gold, but now with such a low supply that is available, some raw materials even have governmental export restrictions, even sandalwood is becoming more and more scarce. Sandalwood is known to help energize the self while aloeswood is known to help recenter and calm the self.

That being said, a lot of people opt to use blended incense. Not that I’m saying it’s bad or anything like that. Tibetan and Japanese incense is blended. Ancient forms of aromatherapy also use blended incense. But some people make blends that are…just not good.

In the market, you’ll see a lot of yellow-colored incense. Here’s the thing. the original reason behind the yellow, especially in Chinese incense is that yellow is actually a dye from a medicinal plant. End users at the time weren’t too excited about their sandalwood incense looking a grayish yellow or light brown color so they added this dye which does not add any additional aroma but brightens the color of the incense product. Nowadays, the dyes used are probably not from the fruit and the blends used are not only of low quality but can be harmful as well since the ash from the additional lime powder while burned can actually harm the skin for example. My suggestion is to shop around and do your homework.

Why offering incense is important pt. 1

Incense has been used for thousands of years in many cultures around the world. It is believed to have originated in ancient Egypt, where it was used in religious ceremonies. From there, it spread to other parts of Asia, including India, China, and Japan. Incense was also introduced to Europe by the Romans, who used it in religious and secular ceremonies.

Incense is made from a variety of materials, including resins, gums, and woods. The most common type of incense is made from frankincense, which is a resin that is derived from the Boswellia tree. Other popular types of incense include myrrh, sandalwood, and camphor.

Incense is burned by placing a small piece of it on a hot coal or charcoal. The smoke from the burning incense rises and fills the air with a pleasant fragrance. Incense can be used for a variety of purposes, including:

• Religious ceremonies: Incense is often used in religious ceremonies to purify the air and to ward off evil spirits.
• Aromatherapy: Incense can be used to create a relaxing and therapeutic environment. The inhalation of certain fragrances can help to improve mood, reduce stress, and promote sleep.
• Home fragrance: Incense can be used to add fragrance to a home or office. It can also be used to freshen the air and to cover up unpleasant odors.
• Gift: Incense can be given as a gift to someone who appreciates its fragrance. It can also be used as a way to show respect or to honor someone.

Incense is a versatile and ancient product that is still enjoyed by people of all ages today. It is a simple way to add fragrance to your home or office, to create a relaxing and therapeutic environment, or to show respect to someone.

Smoothing out the heart

This may apply better if you’re used to offering vertical sticks of incense. At one point, the ash accumulates and the burner starts to build this mass of ash and leftover sticks, it’s going to have to get cleaned up right? So how is it done?

In most monasteries, the maintenance of the incense burners occurs daily, but for some or even at some of the folk or Taoist temples, cleaning occurs at least once a year. First, the incense leftovers are filtered or pulled out depending on what form of incense is used. Then the ash in the burner is evened out and then smoothed until the surface is flat and somewhat shiny.

It’s not an easy process and takes a lot of time and patience. Back in the day, I remember using a top of a can to do the smoothing, but now there’s an actual instrument that looks like a stamp without the rubber stamp part that does the job.

Smoothing out incense ash with a flattener

The time it takes to smooth out the burner and the final result can be seen as a form of smoothing out the heart or kind of like a meter of how calm one’s mind is. The smoother and shiner the ash, the calmer the mind, at least a lot of elders say so. I actually like smoothing out the ash in the burners, if nothing else it’s a great mindfulness practice to try to do the job while making little to no noise, and to not let any ash fly out of the burner or build up along the sides. The next time you’re at the temple, ask if you can volunteer to give it a try.

How do you express your Buddhist practice through art?

I saw something similar in a recent issue of Lion’s Roar and it made me think about something that has been a recent addition to my tea meditation–the steel tank drum:

My teacher discovered this thing while hosting a tea meditation session out of state. While we were touring a local museum we found a similar piece in the gift shop. The price of the piece turned us away, but that didn’t stop my teacher from looking for alternatives. He tried a few different vendors and found this current one which is the same as the vendor I used to create the one in the above video.

The sounds from the drum are very calming, it can even be paired with the guqin as a part of a meditation aid. I have yet to see any studies backing up how the sounds calm the mind and all, but since the debut of the instrument, it’s brought up quite a lot of attention as far as I know.

The design on mine included mantras that are beneficial to any being that hears the sound, or the Tibetan explanation would be “liberation upon hearing.” One of the neat things about this drum, at least with the tunings that I chose for this one, is that you don’t necessarily have to play fully composed pieces, you can play almost anything or just randomly tapping the tongues and it can still sound good. I’m currently experimenting it with meditation sessions and so far the feedback has been positive.

The Beads

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I was buying groceries the other night and the cashier lady noticed the beads on my wrist.  She asked if she could see them, I gladly removed them for her to see up close.  Before the grocery store I was at the temple doing a bunch of recitations so I had a long mala with a bunch of markers and things on it, the cashier was facsinated with all the accessories on my beads and thought I was making a fashion statement.

Is that how these beads are being looked as nowadays?  I guess so.  People wear them for various reasons, and they come out in many different kinds of materials.  For example, for those that are into quartz there are beads that are made from quartz that carry the same healing properties, or those that are into precious stones, there are those available as well.  Most people I’ve encountered with wear beads for good luck, protection, or some combination of the two.  I’m not saying that’s bad, that was how I started out too.

Back in ancient India, these beads were meant to count things like currency, days, or something to that extent.  When Buddhism came around, especially when the practices of recitation became popular, these beads were used to calculate quantity of recitations. For example, you would recite the name of the Buddha, you move one bead, you recite the Buddha’s name again, you move another bead, and so on.  Or you can mix it up a little by reciting one round on a long strand and count that by moving one bead on a sort strand.  If you look at the beads used at the Japanese Jodoshu temples and how they’re being used, you might have a better picture.

The best explanation, and I think is the common explanation that most Buddhist masters give, is that wearing beads on your wrist, whether long or short strands, serves as a reminder that one is a practicing Buddhist and one should always maintain a connection with the Triple Gem.

Photo by Artem Bali on Pexels.com

The material of the beads is really of personal preference.  Of course different schools of practice prescribe different materials for specific types of practice, but I personally tend to choose a material that lasts.  Since these things have become so popular, everybody is mass-producing them as fast as sliced bread.  Especially with some of the wooden ones that are out in the market combined with the dry, hot weather that we’ve been having in the SGV, the beads tend to crack and break apart.  Maybe in the future I can share about some of the wooden materials that are being used to make these beads, like green sandalwood, black sandalwood, boxwood, etc.

There’s this one wrist mala I’ve been wearing for at least ten years–it’s a red carnelian material with drum-shaped beads and carvings of the eight auspicisous symbols on them.  When I made a recent visit back to the store I originally bought this mala from, the manager asked to look at it and showed it to her staff on how the material does transform gradually with constant human contact.  This is sort of like how jade transforms when people wear jade bangles for long periods of time.  I honestly didn’t pay much attention until the manager mentioned it but now every once in a while I hold it up to a bright light, or the lighted magnifying glass I got the other day, and examine it.  If you wear similar material beads, do yours transform in color?