How to offer incense properly?
(Baonghean.vn) - The incense offering ritual has become a custom that almost all Asian people know. Incense has entered the cultural and religious life of Vietnamese people as a beautiful, close and sacred tradition.
Although not superstitious, in the minds of all Asians, we believe that when incense is burned, it acts as an invisible bridge connecting the visible and invisible worlds. However, in terms of spirituality and mystery, some people still have a vague understanding, especially about the meaning of incense offering according to the tradition of our ancestors...
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So what is incense offering?
Offering means to offer respectfully. And the word "huong" means fragrance, usually an object burned to worship the divine, also called incense and agarwood.
Burning incense on the ancestral altar is an indispensable traditional cultural feature during death anniversaries and holidays. When the incense is lit, people feel warm. Incense is no longer a normal commodity, but it has become an indispensable spiritual product of the Vietnamese people. Along with other traditional customs, incense has contributed to creating and preserving the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people.
When burning incense, how many sticks do you usually burn?
As always, Vietnamese people are used to choosing odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) for the number of incense sticks to offer. Or maybe people also burn a whole bunch of incense instead of choosing even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8).
There are different views about numbers.
- Number 1: shows sincerity
- Number 2: When visiting the coffin of the deceased and during mourning, people often light 2 incense sticks.
- The number 3 has many different concepts. It can be: Three Jewels (Buddha - Dharma - Sangha), Three Realms (Desire Realm, Form Realm and Formless Realm), Three Times (Past - Present - Future), Three Pure Studies (Precepts - Concentration - Wisdom) of Buddhism (that's why in the temple yard there are often 3 large incense burners).
- The number 5 is: 5 directions of heaven and earth/ 5 divine directions. According to Feng Shui, the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.
- Numbers 7 and 9 symbolize the "soul" of a person, when people want to ask for blessings for themselves (men seven, women nine).
In fact, 3, 5, 7, 9,... or 1 incense stick are all the same, no difference in meaning. "The reason why pagodas now encourage Buddhists to only light 1 incense stick is to avoid fires and environmental pollution for those around them." Therefore, just lighting 1 incense stick is enough. Never use fake incense (electric incense) in the incense burner.
The meaning of burning incense lies in the fact that when the smoke rises to the sky, people can send messages from the earthly world to the upper world, to their grandparents and ancestors. Incense sticks are no longer a normal commodity, but have become an indispensable spiritual product of the Vietnamese people.
Incense is a familiar scent in the homes of millions of Asians, a special scent on the first day of the year when going to the temple to worship Buddha. We always see very familiar images: old men, old women, young men, young women, holding incense and praying for a new year of peace, prosperity, happiness, longevity, health and peace... This is absolutely not a superstitious act, but a beautiful cultural feature that has existed for a long time.
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The meaning of offering incense in Buddhism
In Buddhist rituals, incense is one of the six offerings (six offerings), including: Incense; flowers; candles; tea; fruit, food (incense, flowers, candles, tea, fruit, food). However, many people do not understand the profound meaning of worshiping Buddha, so they display all kinds of food and drink like a banquet, which is a waste of money and effort and also distorts the meaning.
According to Buddhist concept, sincerity is shown through the billowing incense smoke, there is no need for a lavish banquet of meat, fish, pork, chicken... because in the true meaning of worshiping Buddha, one should only use fragrant incense, bright lights, fresh flowers, good fruit, and clear water.
Buddha is not on the altar, in the statues, but in the hearts of all people. In addition to burning incense sticks with hot flames, we can also use our faith to light “Heart Incense” – that is, incense from the heart.
That is why there are five kinds of incense used to make offerings to the Buddhas: Precept Incense; Concentration Incense; Wisdom Incense; Liberation Incense; and Liberation Knowledge Incense.
One thing we must remember is that every time we offer incense before the altar: not only do we offer incense with our sincere hearts, but we must also be mindful (concentrated). We should hold each incense stick with both hands and hold it straight, symbolizing an upright heart, regardless of storms and tempests, maintaining the style of a gentleman with a pure heart to leave a good reputation with the world and spread it everywhere...