As the saying goes, "Three sticks of incense are offered in front of Buddha." Many people offer three sticks of incense when worshiping Buddha. Do you know the true meaning of these three incense sticks in front of Buddha?

The manufacturer of incense bamboo sticks introduces the meaning of the three incense sticks before Buddha:

These three fragrances are called "Jie Xiang", "Ding Xiang", and "Hui Xiang". It represents the practitioner's body, mouth, and mind as offerings to the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, further strengthening their faith in practicing the three disciplines of precepts, meditation, and wisdom, eradicating the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, and transforming them into the three virtues of joy, compassion, and wisdom for good deeds.

Regarding the explanation of these three fragrances, the "Six Ancestor Altar Sutra: Repentance Products" states:

When Master Shi saw the scholars and commoners from all directions gathering in the mountains and pleasing to the ear, he ascended to the throne and announced to the crowd, 'Come! All good knowledge! This matter must start from one's own nature. At all times, one must recite self purification, self practice, see one's own Dharma body, see one's own Buddha mind, and self restrain, in order to obtain true enlightenment. Since they have come from afar and will be here for a while, they all have a common destiny. Now they can kneel down on their own feet, first to pass on the Dharma body fragrance of their own nature, and then to give it to them without repentance.' The crowd knelt down, and the teacher said, 'One ring of incense means nothing but no evil, no jealousy, no greed or anger in one's heart.' Without calamity or harm, it is called Jie Xiang. Er Ding Xiang refers to observing the state of good and evil, keeping one's mind calm, and being named Ding Xiang. San Hui Xiang refers to being unobstructed in one's own mind, constantly observing one's own nature with wisdom, not creating any evil, although cultivating many good things, not being stubborn in one's heart, respecting the upper and lower, and cherishing the lonely and poor, and being named Hui Xiang. Four ways to get rid of fragrance, that is, to have no attachment to oneself, to not think of good or evil, to be idle and unobstructed, and to be called getting rid of fragrance. To rid oneself of the perception of fragrance, one must have no attachment to good or evil in one's heart, and not remain silent. One must learn and listen extensively, understand one's own heart, attain various Buddhist principles, and connect with light. Without self and without others, one can reach enlightenment. True nature is not easy, and the name is to rid oneself of the perception of fragrance. Good knowledge! This fragrance lingers within oneself, do not seek it outside. ’”

From this, it can be seen that the Buddha's procession of three incense sticks is actually a reminder of his own spiritual practice. It is not advisable to forget the spiritual practice and focus solely on burning incense. Emperor Wu of Liang greedily asked Patriarch Bodhidharma, "I built a temple, ordained monks, gave alms, provided offerings, and set up a fast. What is the purpose of accumulating virtue and doing good deeds?" This is persistence, and persistence leads to accumulating virtue and doing good deeds. We do good things, but forget them in order to cultivate ourselves. And those who strive to burn incense and incense, hoping to have a "benefit exchange" with Buddha, are just like Emperor Wu of Liang, who is foolish and forgets to cultivate their own incense.

The Buddhist scriptures are concise but each word is precious, burning incense is easy but practicing is not easy. To truly achieve the three disciplines of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, we need to persist in our lifelong practice. When offering incense, believers should keep in mind the meanings represented by the three fragrances of precepts, steadfastness, and wisdom, in order to truly realize the meaning of offering incense.

Article source: Incense manufacturerhttp://www.dongfangxl.com/