Proper way of offering incense

[Daiyo]

Hi all, I've observed in the local zendo that there is a specific way and gestures to handle and offer the incense stick.
Can you describe it or point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

Gassho,
Walter

#SatToday

[Jundo]

Hi Walter,

Incense is a powerful, ancient practice found in many religions serving to bring the olfactory sense into the sacredness of the moment, much as the sounds of chanting, sights of ritual and an altar invite the other senses. I very much recommend such as a practice if it calls to one's heart (and nose!).

That does not mean that everyone should or need offer incense, of course. Seated Zazen is the one Practice that holds all Practices, and in a moment of sitting all the sights, sounds, tastes, touches, scents and thoughts are held and manifest. Nothing more is needed. However, of course, that is the case whether one does not chant and light an incense stick ... or does chant and light and incense stick ... so feel free to chant and light! If chanting and lighting are also undertaken with a clear and sincere heart, as "the one Practice that holds all Practices", then each incense stick is Zazen too! (Got how that works!?)

I light incense for our Zazenkai, but I have cut down in small rooms with poor ventilation because, well, the particles are not unlike second hand cigarette smoke. It may be a carcinogen, and some folks are allergic too. (Of course, most scientific studies have been in Chinese temples, where the Incense is really a cloud ...)

http://health.usnews.com/health-news...es-cancer-risk

... and the way they use incense there is quite something ...



Cough cough.

Incense can be lovely, so follow your nose on incense and enjoy. There are other options too:

How about the invisible incense, seen clearly with only the mind's eye?

Or how about the unlit incense stick, which burns brightly in the heart?

Or how about lighting the stick briefly, then putting the lit end down into the sand ... thereby letting just a touch of smoke fill the room?

I do all of the above from time to time.

However, if one wishes to offer an incense stick in one's room, it is best that it is the short Japanese type (about 15cm / 6 inches long), not the very long Chinese type. It is best to be a mild sandalwood scent, not strawberry, vanilla or something like that.

So long as one offers the incense with a sincere heart, the specific content of the procedure does not matter. However, I would suggest placing the incense in front or near what one has as one's "Buddha Statue" (which, by the way, does not need to be a "Buddha Statue" as such ... but can be about anything which brings stillness to the heart ... a stone, a flower, an empty space). Gassho Bow, light a candle, and (if right handed) pick up the incense stick with the thumb, index and middle finger (representing perhaps Buddha Dharma Sangha). With left hand still in Gassho, light incense tip with candle and make sure it is glowing (One can also light directly from a lighter). Give a light shake or gentle touch to extinguish any flame at incense tip. Raise and touch the stick to one's forehead once or three times (again, for Buddha Dharma Sangha), place in a sturdy holder filled with non-flammable sand where it will not fall over and the ashes will fall neatly ... something like this ...



Extinquish the candle. Gassho Bow again. Back away respectfully.

If burning a candle, I recommend to extinguish it ... especially if one has cats or the like which may knock it over.

On the other hand, any respectful way is fine. Please make your own ritual.

Gassho, Jundo

PS - We had a related discussion of what is a "Buddhist Altar" ... and I am also of the opinion that there is no one right way, follow the heart. An empty space filled with Emptiness is fine.

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...ll=1#post27423

[Daiyo]

Thanks Jundo!

I'd noticed in the local zendo the taking of the incense to the forehead, and that made me ask for all the procedure.
I've also seen that when one takes the stick they use both hands like one covering the other with the three fingers grabbing the stick.
I was invited to do it once, and I broke the stick!


Thanaks again.

Gassho,
Walter

#SatToday

[Ongen]

Hi Walter,

That's a very nice question!
I also break the stick many times Then I have two sticks and twice as much smoke! In our local zendo they always light the sticks with a candle or a match, never with a lighter. Also the candle used is never blown out but 'waved' out by hand. No idea why. Usually they hold the lit stick between the two middle fingers in gassho position and bow once. Again, no idea why. I will ask tonight!

I like offering incense before I sit, many times I don't because only minutes after my morning sit the room will be filled with kids and wife having breakfast. And some breakfast tastes don't go well with incense

Gassho
Vincent

[Daiyo]

Hi Walter,

That's a very nice question!
I also break the stick many times Then I have two sticks and twice as much smoke! In our local zendo they always light the sticks with a candle or a match, never with a lighter. Also the candle used is never blown out but 'waved' out by hand. No idea why. Usually they hold the lit stick between the two middle fingers in gassho position and bow once. Again, no idea why. I will ask tonight!

I like offering incense before I sit, many times I don't because only minutes after my morning sit the room will be filled with kids and wife having breakfast. And some breakfast tastes don't go well with incense

Gassho
Vincent

Hi Vince, now that you mention it, I seem to rememer that here they also hold the stick with the two middle fingers like a cigarette, but vertical, in the moment of putting it in the ash holder. Before they would have taken it with three fingers as Jundo explained, covering the right hand with the left one in a similar position.

I like incense very much for sitting, specially the Nag Champa fragrance, but I have the same issue as you, I sit early in the morning and then my family wakes up and the room is filled with fumes. My wife complains that gives her headache, so I've stopped using it in the morning.

Gassho,
Walter

#SatToday

[Jundo]

When in Rome offer incense as the Romans do. Please do not be too concerned about the orthodox way. A Soto Priest, if in full formal style, would have a much more elaborate ritual anyway, including the offering of powdered incense in addition to the stick ... as seen at the 2:00 mark here ...



But in Zen, ultimately, please offer the incense with no hands.

Gassho, J

[Myosha]

Hello,

" . . .please offer the incense with no hands.

Gassho, J"

Thank you for the lesson.


Gassho,
Myosha sat today

[Daiyo]

But in Zen, ultimately, please offer the incense with no hands.
Gassho, J

No hands?

The celebrating priest is Densho Quintero sensei.
The sensei in the local zendo, last month went to a retreat in Brasil with two more members of the sangha and Densho Quintero was there too. I saw him in the photos.

Gassho,
Walter

#SatToday

[Josan]

As an alternative to incense sticks, I use a few drops of essential oils (e.g. sandalwood) on a oil burner. The adding of the oil and lighting of the small candle add to the ritual, plus there are some nice medicinal benefits depending on the oil chosen.
Gassho,
David

sat today

[Kyonin]

Hi all,

I really like incense, but my girlfriend is allergic, so I get to use it rarely. However, I do use virtual incense everyday

It's smoke free, hypoallergenic and you can light thousands of sticks at the same time!

But seriously, I do offer a stick of "mind" incense everyday. In Zazenkai and when I really want to offer it to someone or the Buddha, I use a really nice Indian incense I got a few months ago.

I walk slowly to my little altar, I take the stick with both hands, light it, put it to my forehead 3 times for Buddha-Dharma-Sangha and place it in the censer. I bow again and then I chant the Heart Sutra. Then I'm ready for zazen!

Like Jundo says, as long as you offer incense sincerely, I think it's fine to develop our personal ritual for it.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Jundo]

No hands?

Yes, no hands ... yes, countless hands ...

[Joyo]

Hello, as an alternative you can burn a beeswax candle. I have a lotus flower candle holder on my alter. This is where I burn beeswax candles.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Jundo]

Also good to remember a quote from Dogen Zenji's Teacher, Master Rujing, which Dogen recorded in the Hokyoki, his diary of his travels in China, and repeated in his Bendowa ...

“According to the unmistakenly handed down tradition, the straightforward buddha-dharma that has been simply transmitted is supreme among the supreme. From the time you begin practicing with a teacher, the practices of incense burning, bowing, nembutsu [reciting the names of the Buddhas], repentance, and reading sutras are not at all essential; just sit dropping off body and mind.”

Of course, that does not mean that Dogen and Rujing, like almost all Buddhist monks, did not engage in endless hours of incense burning, bowing, nembutsu, repentance, and reading sutras besides ... and as each themself a manifestation of ... Zazen. They did! After all, one has to do something to fill the time, and one cannot simply sit around all day. As two of the most prominent Dogen historians note ...

http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=Y...0dogen&f=false

This chapter is based on a close reading of passages in the Shōbōgenzō
and elsewhere on sutra reading, which is one of the practices that
Dōgen says is unnecessary in the oft-quoted passage attributed to his
mentor Rujing, cited in Bendōwa (also found in Hōkyōki and “Gyōji”):
“You can only succeed by just sitting, without a need to make use of
burning incense, prostration, recitation of buddha names, repentance
ceremonies, reading scriptures, or ritual incantations.” Based on the
ritual practices that he followed, it is shown that Dōgen did not mean to
reject literally any of those standard Buddhist training methods. Why,
then, does he disparage them? The answer is actually simple and clear,
and is well illustrated in “Kankin”: one should engage in all practices,
ideally without attachment to them, but even with attachment if one
has not figured out yet what nonattachment really is. Nonattachment
for Dōgen is insight into the emptiness of dharmas, which in plain
English means the ultimately false (albeit useful) nature of all conceptual
categories, starting with the category of “thing.” From that point of view,
all practices (including zazen or sitting meditation) are rejected because,
after all, there is no such thing as “practice”—it is just a conventional
category—and yet all practices are also accepted and endorsed.

Zen guys often speak (and act) out of both sides of their no sided mouth!

Gassho, J

SatToday

[julie]

I realize this is an old thread, but I stumbled across it while finding my way through the forums. I have a special fondness for Japanese incense and wanted to mention that there are 'smokeless' incenses available should one wish to use it and if smoke be of issue. I use Daigen-Koh rosewood for sitting (an open window is also available where I sit), and before I took up practice I would use it for grounding and centering. It is a very mild scent with very little actual smoke. Also, to my nose it is the scent of the "Kwan Yin room" at the Nelson-Atkins art museum in Kansas City, which is so beautiful. I did not know of specific handling rituals, I just lit with a lighter and began to sit and as the scent came it would ease me into 'here and now.' To be fair, it is a long stick, 90 minutes' worth, so I break it. But it is inexpensive and contributes to the sense that "this is meditation time" and for a green beginner that is of so much help. Perhaps one day I will use it for aesthetic alone. But for now I will incorporate ritual handling as well and see if that will become part of my practice.

Gassho
sat today

[Kyousui]

Had to resurrect this thread from the archives as I've been enjoying using incense, especially with the incense gift from Jundo Roshi on his Omaha stop and put it in the smalll heart sutra cup he gave me. When I do my little ceremony, I touch my forehead, mouth and heart and then wave the stick in the 10 directions.

Sat Today LAH

[Shinshou]

Glad the smoke is clearing on this thread and it’s seeing the light of say again (see what I did there?). I’ve always used incense matches. They’re match-sized, light like a match, then only burn for a few minutes so a small space doesn’t get too smoky. Enough to smoke and add a fragrance, not enough to set off the smoke alarms.

Dan
Sat today


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[Geika]

Dan, those sound very handy. I will be on the lookout for those!

Gassho, sat today, lah

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[Troy]

Thank you for thread. Gassho


Sat2day

[Hōkan]

Time to resurrect again...

I've recently become aware of a couple of verses recited (silently) by some priests at certain times and have tried to adopt them. One is the Verse for Offering Incense, 燒香偈. I haven't been able to locate the source (Japanese? Chinese?) and there doesn't seem to be an official Sotoshu translation, but I have found several other translations.

My favorite is a version from Sanshin that seems to be a slight modification of a Katagiri-Roshi translation:

Sila, Samadhi, Vimoksha incense
Radiant light of the Buddhas pervades the Dharma World
Homage to the Buddhas in the Ten Directions
It permeates hearing and seeing, and manifests Nirvana


Sat

[Bion]

While I am not qualified to speak of the correct way of offering incense during ceremony, I am happy to share with you the verse I recite daily as I raise the incense stick and touch it to my forehead when offering it at the altar:

“I humbly offer this incense to all the buddhas, boddhisatvas and mahasatvas. May I embody their kindness, compassion and wisdom, for the benefit of all sentient beings. May my karma be beneficial to all, may my actions be as pleasant as the scent of this incense and my all my words be kind and compassionate”.

Sat Today

[Jundo]

Time to resurrect again...

I've recently become aware of a couple of verses recited (silently) by some priests at certain times and have tried to adopt them. One is the Verse for Offering Incense, 燒香偈. I haven't been able to locate the source (Japanese? Chinese?) and there doesn't seem to be an official Sotoshu translation, but I have found several other translations.

My favorite is a version from Sanshin that seems to be a slight modification of a Katagiri-Roshi translation:

Sila, Samadhi, Vimoksha incense
Radiant light of the Buddhas pervades the Dharma World
Homage to the Buddhas in the Ten Directions
It permeates hearing and seeing, and manifests Nirvana

Hi Hokan,

There is a version sometimes chanted in Japanese Soto Zen. Kokyo Henkel has a booklet in which he lists several such Gatha:

Incense Offering Verse {shōkō no ge 燒香偈} (origin unknown)
Virtue, concentration, liberation incense,
like bright clouds pervading the universe,
I offer to the boundless Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha in ten directions,
universally perfuming the realization of nirvana.

https://terebess.hu/zen/szoto/SotoZenTexts.pdf

I would say, however, that its recital is not so common in Soto Zen, as I do not find it listed in more "official" Soto Zen collections such as the Gyoji Kihan. The Gyoji Kihan (the more "official" "Standard Observances of the Soto Zen School" has something similar, however, that is recited in monastery rituals at certain times:

Verse of Purifying Place of Practice (Jōdōjō no ge 淨道場の偈).
Scattering flowers, we adorn everywhere in the ten directions.
We scatter a mass of jewel flowers, regarding them as a canopy.
Scattering flowers, we adorn everywhere in the ten directions.
We offer them to all the tathagatas.

sange sho gon hen jip-po 散華莊嚴徧十方
sanshu hōke ii cho 散衆寶華以爲帳
sanshu hōke hen jip po 散衆寶華徧十方
kuyō is-sai shonyo rai 供養一切諸如來

Now, at home, you may recite any one of these if they resonate with you, including the one you now recite, or create your own with sincere heart. Here is how such "Gatha" and "Verse" practice is described in our Treeleaf "RECOMMENDED 'At Home' Liturgy":

GATHA

'Gatha' are short, meaningful little recitation which can be recited before (and/or after) many 'ordinary' daily activities to remind us how sacred they are, and how all support our life and practice ... from eating to work to going to the toilet to washing the face ... Here are some and a discussion ...

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...l=1#post213658

Each can be recited out loud or silently within.

A very special 'Meal Gatha' might be recited by oneself or with one's family (much like 'Saying Grace') .. or during lunch breaks at work, etc (in voice or silently). Here is the one we recite during our annual 'Ango' period, but it is excellent as a daily practice and reminder ...

(Hands in Gassho) This food comes from the efforts
of all sentient beings past and present,
and is medicine for nourishment of our Practice-Life.
We offer this meal of many virtues and tastes
to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,
and to all life in every realm of existence.
May all sentient beings in the universe
be sufficiently nourished.

Daido Roshi's lovely book suggested some other Meal Gatha.

In fact ... one can make their own Gatha for ANYTHING ... which is exactly what Treeleafers have done for fun and personal inspiration ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...hp?6917-Gathas

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...t-Home-Liturgy

Lovely.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Hōkan]

Yep, I found the one you found and couldn't find the one you couldn't find. I also found this one from Zenkei Blanche Hartman via Zenju Earthlyn Manuel:

https://zenkei.sfzc.org/2015/06/17/f...rthlyn-manuel/

Incense Offering Verse

Sila ko (precept incense)
Samadhi ko (Samadhi incense)
Mukata ko (Liberation incense)
Illuminating the clouds of the Dharma realm
Serving innumerable Buddhas in the ten directions,
Perfuming the seeing of the tranquil world.

And, for completeness I should mention the Katagiri-Roshi version as found in a dharma talk here:
https://www.mnzencenter.org/the-dain...fering-incense

Sila, samadhi, vimoksa incense
Radiant light of the buddhas emits throughout the dharma world
Homage to the countless buddhas in the ten directions
Permeates into seeing and hearing and manifests nirvana.

Sat

[Chikyou]

I hope no one minds that I'm resurrecting this thread again. I hadn't been using incense for sitting until my Jukai ceremony, when I found it really added so much for me, getting in the right headspace. Since I set up a permanent home altar/sitting space, I've been using incense daily (currently Shoyeido Moss Garden, which is a bit heavy and smokey smelling, so I might switch to something else. I've only used Japanese incense for years because it's less smokey and smells better than Western incense.)

I'm currently getting into my new sitting routine (first thing in the morning after brushing my teeth and washing my face) and I've found that incense is a lovely addition.

What I'm seeing from reading this thread, though, is that I really should get into more of an offering mindset when I light the incense. Currently I light it (my candle is electric for safety so I use a lighter) and bow 3 times. I would like to learn/recite a gatha as well.

Sorry for running long

Gassho,
SatLah
Chikyō

[Tai Do]

It has been more than a year since I lightened a incense at my home: this has become my wife’s daily activity. She doesn’t sit (a kind of trauma from a temple sitting in 2011 - and she doesn’t follow the Zen Path), so it is her way to practice at home, together with acting compassionately and creating a good karma (she believes literally in karma and rebirth).
Gassho,
Tai Do
Satlah

[Daiman]

I hope no one minds that I'm resurrecting this thread again. I hadn't been using incense for sitting until my Jukai ceremony, when I found it really added so much for me, getting in the right headspace. Since I set up a permanent home altar/sitting space, I've been using incense daily (currently Shoyeido Moss Garden, which is a bit heavy and smokey smelling, so I might switch to something else. I've only used Japanese incense for years because it's less smokey and smells better than Western incense.)

I'm currently getting into my new sitting routine (first thing in the morning after brushing my teeth and washing my face) and I've found that incense is a lovely addition.

What I'm seeing from reading this thread, though, is that I really should get into more of an offering mindset when I light the incense. Currently I light it (my candle is electric for safety so I use a lighter) and bow 3 times. I would like to learn/recite a gatha as well.

Sorry for running long

Gassho,
SatLah
Chikyō

Hi Chikyou,

I have used some Shoyeido Honoka(Silhouette) incense which is less smoke. The Honoka is not that expensive and is a blend of sandalwood and frankincense and quite nice. Moss Garden is sandalwood too but has patchouli which is typically strong. Anything in that line if low smoke are good.

Gassho
Daiman
ST/LAH


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[Jundo]

We actually had a couple of fires from incense reported recently, here in Japan, so always take care with any incense and candles!

According to the Tokyo Fire Department, between 2013 and 2017 there were 182 fires caused by candles and incense sticks used at Buddhist altars and elsewhere, resulting in two deaths. In one case, a fallen incense stick set light to a cushion. Another was caused by putting the wrong-sized candle into a candlestick. The candle broke off at the base, toppled over and set fire to the area around the altar.

By month, the largest number of fires occurred in January, when many relatives gather for the New Year, with 23 cases. This was followed by 21 cases in March, the month of the Buddhist holidays around the spring equinox, and 18 cases in September, the month of the autumn equinox holidays. The timing of these blazes coincides with the increase in incense offerings at Buddhist altars, and there have reportedly been countless similar fires since 2018.

Fires caused by incense sticks are called "flameless burns" because the sticks smolder in the absence of flames. If the smoldering continues and there is wind blowing in or contact with other combustibles, a flame may rise and develop into a large fire.

Kentaro Hamada, assistant director at the Fire and Disaster Management Agency's fire prevention division, said the following measures should be taken: Keep your eyes on burning incense and candles; do not place curtains, paper, garbage or other items that can be a fire source around a Buddhist altar; and use battery-powered incense sticks and candles. Hamada added, "Incense sticks carry a risk of burning things around them if they fall over. If you shorten them when offering them (by breaking them, for example), they will be less likely to fall over and their burn time will be shorter. Do not leave the area while the incense sticks are burning."


https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/020000c

Of course, use in a well-ventilated area because, yes, there are "second hand smoke" concerns.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2377255/

Some Zen groups I know will light the incense briefly, then place it in the burner with the burning tip down, into the sand, to extinguish it right away. Another way is just to light the stick and candle "in the heart alone," which is perfectly fine.

Some of the LED electric ones actually come with "scent cartridges" ... but how healthy is that? Kind of like bathroom freshener, no?

Of course, that is maybe more of a concern if your house looks like this ...

Gassho, J

stlah

[Chikyou]

Hi Chikyou,

I have used some Shoyeido Honoka(Silhouette) incense which is less smoke. The Honoka is not that expensive and is a blend of sandalwood and frankincense and quite nice. Moss Garden is sandalwood too but has patchouli which is typically strong. Anything in that line if low smoke are good.

Gassho
Daiman
ST/LAH


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Ah, patchouli! That's what it is! I'm a big fan of Nippon Kodo incense as well.

Gassho,
SatLah
Chikyō