China is the first country in the world to process and use spices, and the history of burning incense has reached 3000 years. The ancients found that all kinds of spices have the functions of refreshing, calming and calming the nerves. A column of incense, direct to the heart, clear the upper and lower, calm the body and mind, and have obvious effects on self-cultivation and enlightenment. In ancient sacrifices, incense has become a medium connecting man and god. Through burning incense and pious offering, you can go to heaven to listen, go down to the nether world and feel the communication of Taoism, which is incredible. Buddha Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, opened the forerunner of intelligent life. Let us gradually enter Buddhism through meditation, like a bright light in the night, to help the suffering of countless sentient beings. Sakyamuni Buddha is the son of filial piety. In order to save his mother, he spent 33 days talking about life. One day in the sky, a thousand years on earth, disciples worried that the Buddha would be far away from human life, so they burned sandalwood agarwood as a token and asked the Buddha to return to earth. Since then, Buddhists have started the custom of burning incense and worshipping Buddha.
Second, the materials, types and functions of Buddha incense
Foxiang is a perfume made of bark, resin, sawdust, roots, leaves, flowers and fruits. There are sandalwood, water fragrance, clove fragrance, tulip, borneol fragrance (the above five spices), incense, benzoin and so on. Because Buddhism respects life and protects living things, Long Xianxiang and musk secreted by animals are generally not used. Nowadays, most of the perfumes popular in society are synthetic and have many side effects.
There are two main kinds of incense: burning incense and painting incense. Burning incense is to purify the body and mind with fragrance after burning incense, so it is also called incense. The spices used are tower fragrance, pill fragrance, scattered fragrance, final fragrance (powder), refined fragrance and thread fragrance. The application of perfume is to apply perfume to an object or body to achieve the effect of purifying the body and mind. Perfume, sesame oil, fragrant medicine and so on are all used. In the past, balm and soup were also used in bathing, or spices were put into sachets and pillows to make sachets and pillows, which were naturally fragrant and achieved the effects of cleaning the environment, eliminating evil and avoiding filth.
Regarding the function of Buddha incense, first, it is a sacrifice with incense as a token; The second is to express identity with precious spices; Third, aromatize filth and beautify the environment; The fourth is to refresh the mind and cultivate feelings; The fifth is to help calm the mind and practice meditation; Sixth, disenchantment and righting, birth and death; Seventh, smell and deodorize, purify the body and mind; Eight is mosquito repellent and insect repellent; Nine is used to retreat and time.