Lessons from Agarwood incense sticks

Every morning while meditating, I sometimes lift my eyes to look at the image of the Buddha on the altar. In the dim light of a small lamp, the Buddha majesty meditates with a contemplative expression and a gentle smile, the incense stick in the incense bowl is placed in front of the Buddha statue that is quietly burning with a small flame like a pea, the thin blue smoke is winding vertically, giving off a faint, gentle scent.

The space is quiet, at this time most people are still sleeping, only a few elderly people get up early to walk in silence, sometimes there is a bright rooster crowing from certain houses in the neighborhood. Surrounding me is a silence, melancholy, stillness, the scent of incense is still light in the space, the scent is so elegant and gentle that the mind calms down and clears. The scent of agarwood is like a material to help us become more peaceful, peaceful, and at ease… When I released my meditation, the incense stick on the altar was also burning the rest of my body. Agarwood incense spreads more and more fragrant.

In the dim light of a small lamp, the Buddha majesty meditates with a contemplative expression and a gentle smile, the incense stick in the incense bowl is placed in front of the Buddha statue that is quietly burning with a small flame like a pea. and a thin wisp of blue smoke is winding vertically emitting a faint, gentle scent (Illustration image: Buddha altar at home of staff Tram Tue)

I opened the door to step outside, the pot of apricots was filled with white flowers that silently bloomed in the night. A gentle breeze carries the sweet scent of flowers. The night sky with tiny twinkling stars has also faded. On the horizon a thin cloud of clouds was blushing, signaling that the sun was about to appear and I took the first steps of walking meditation. This is how my day begins…

From the gentle and elegant scent of the incense stick, which is occasionally repeated in the early hours of a new day, every day, it has planted in my heart a very peaceful state with thoughts and worries. private in life. An association from the life of the incense stick to the human life in the human realm!

Human life since birth has raised a cry to be born as a signal to humanity that another being is entering the suffering world. Then we grow up with the years, when we reach adulthood, we wander around in human life with accumulated sufferings... but incomplete joy, with unfulfilled dreams and ambitions and countless Other worries and troubles surround us during this mortal life. Luggage into our life is full of "sex loss". Joy, anger, love, oh... are always present in us, we let the eight poisonous winds: gain-loss, praise-criticism, fame-bad reputation, happiness-suffering blow directly into our mind. In the vortex of life, those eight poisonous winds always affect us, making us float, cry and laugh with fate!

Until one day the law of impermanence affects our body in the most severe way that we can realize the harsh reality. A healthy, strong body that was once only left with an old and sick body. His once-stellar eyes were now dull and lost all their sharpness, and his eyesight was getting worse and worse. The legs that used to help us walk thousands of miles with decades of life in the world now become painful. Sometimes I can't go, I can't sit if I want to; and so many other miserable things are coming to life every day... Sit back and look at yourself, what have we done for the past few decades in the world or is it just the successive years that float along with fate? , live to pay the debt as a human and wait for the day to return to dust?!

Agarwood incense sticks were created by people to serve the spiritual needs of people. Incense sticks are lit in front of the Buddha altar, the altar of ancestors, grandparents, and parents as a means of showing respect and gratitude, as a means of communication between the deceased and the deceased. existing between the earthly world and the person who has returned to another world.

For me as well as many other Buddhists, the serene scent of frankincense spreading in the air during ceremonies, during zazen has an effect of making our mind calm, bringing peace and tranquility in our hearts. Mindfulness. Agarwood scent gives me a feeling of peace and quiet as if I've been away from the tumultuous world.

But in order to give life a scent of liberation and peace for such a person, the incense stick had to burn his body. Like at my house during zazen every morning on the altar of the Blessed One, in the quiet space it silently burned its body to release incense. A flame as small as a pea, a hazy blue smoke like smoke rose vertically. Over time, the more the body burns, the more the scent increases; The more the scent increases, the more it perishes!…

In order to serve the spiritual needs of people, the incense stick has quietly burned their body, it has helped people in the world to act as a means of expressing faith, giving off a scent to help practitioners on the path of practice to be purified. mind without asking for anything in return. Not even a silent gratitude cares; a sacrifice without any sense of gratitude or expecting anything in return.

In terms of the perfection of generosity, the incense stick has fully achieved that spirit, a present-day lesson that every Buddhist regularly encounters through ceremonies or zazen times. but few people realize it. A very vivid lesson for each of us in our spiritual journey to self-enlightenment and to serve the Dharma and the ideal. Compared to the sacrifice of incense sticks to serve others, we ourselves are nothing.

In the journey of practice to improve ourselves and serve the Dharma, sometimes we are also secretly proud of having contributed something to the world, to the religion for twenty years, thirty years or more... Or We have also contributed to the construction of this temple, that ashram... and we deserve everyone's respect and favor. The disease of the gods is quietly forming in us and has been enshrined deep in the mind, waiting for the day to come to pass. Indeed, that sacrifice is also silent and worthy of respect because we have made our vows in front of the Three Jewels, made our vows with our own conscience, and we have also made more or less meritorious contributions to the propagation of the Dharma. .

But what we can do, no matter how big or small, how much or how little.

Agarwood incense sticks burn the body to give off a pure fragrance to aid practitioners, as a good means for Buddhists to express their sincere heart to the Buddhas with a quiet, silent desire to know. Thank you, do not expect the return of others (Illustration image: Source: Internet)

Over time, according to our capacity to contribute more and more, in some hidden corner, in the deepest depths of consciousness, the "ego" silently grows along. It lurks discreetly in the deepest recesses of the soul like a cancer-causing virus in its incubation period, but just waiting for a chance to break out. As for the virus that causes disease, when our body is weakened, loses its resistance or thanks to a certain support, it will ravage, damage health and eventually bring death to the patient.

As for the virus that causes public illness, raising the ego is waiting for a certain opportunity, which may be when our "ego" is not satisfied, or when we realize that the people around us do not show their love. respecting our great "self" is that we feel like we are offended that it flares up. Unknowingly it causes the seeds of anger in our minds and, if not neutralized, from a small flame will ignite a rage of anger that consumes all our merit. Burns up all the superpowers acquired during practice and it breaks all good relationships with others, shatters what we have worked so hard to build...

Day after day, for many generations, the sun regularly sends its rays down to bring life to all beings carefree. The candle burns the body to give light to those who need it. Agarwood incense sticks burn the body to give off a pure fragrance to aid practitioners, as a good means for Buddhists to express their sincere heart to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions and for their descendants. offering to ancestors, grandparents, parents... with a quiet, silent expectation, not asking for gratitude, not expecting the return of others.

Let's contemplate together a valuable lesson that we learn every day from the incense stick; But why can't we accept it or have it but can't do it? Why is that?!
 
Source: vuonhoaphatgiao