Proper way of offering incense

[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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[Amelia]

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”.

[emoji1374] 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/showthread.php?15820-ATTENTION%21-Our-2017-AT-HOME-2-DAY-ROHATSU-RETREAT-PREPARATORY-LESSONS&p=213658&viewfull=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/showthread.php?6917-Gathas

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?8069-RECOMMENDED-At-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/from-zenju-earthlyn-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-dainin-katagiri-audio-archive/verse-of-offering-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

[Guest]

Proper way of offering incense

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?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVVf2kKlRNM

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