Taoist Orthodoxy VIII: How to Burn Incense

The practice of burning incense has ancient origins. The Zhou people raised smoke to sacrifice to Heaven, a practice known as 'Yin' or 'Yin Sacrifice'. It is described in the 'Rites of Zhou · Spring Offices · Grand Master of Ceremonies': "With Yin sacrifices, one worships the Great Heaven and Supreme Deity; with solid firewood sacrifices, one worships the Sun, Moon, and stars; with Xi Liao sacrifices, one worships the Lords of the Stars and Life, the Wind Master, and the Rain Master."

For later generations and common use, it was impossible to replicate these practices everywhere. Therefore, for convenience, firewood was simplified into incense, using the power of incense smoke to facilitate communication. This, however, gave rise to problems.

Originally, burning incense involved burning aromatic materials to create a fragrant aura, used to purify impurities, break evil, and cleanse the altar. This was the fundamental purpose of burning incense. In primitive sacrifices, the power of incense smoke was also used to ascend offerings to Heaven, communicating with deities. Note, however, that the deities communicated with here are still those within the incense smoke.

If the burning incense has issues, it cannot achieve purification. Righteous deities favor purity and are summoned by pure energy, while evil entities favor impurity and are easily attracted by mixed, impure energy. If the incense burned is poor quality, it will attract not righteous deities but evil spirits.

There is a common saying today that Taoist scriptures require not burning sandalwood. This needs to be understood correctly. This view is widespread largely because Taoism has only recently revived, and among the earliest promoters of Taoism, many discussed the 'Heavenly Queen's Law', which contains this specific prohibition.

However, if one reviews Taoist scriptures prior to the Tang Dynasty, such as the 'Three Caves Cultivation Ritual' or 'Supreme Secrets', there is no such prohibition in the sections on bathing, lighting lamps, and burning incense. Moreover, even in the incense formula for lily incense mentioned in the 'Heavenly Queen's Law', sandalwood is explicitly listed as a component. So why is this the case?

Interestingly, the reason is: Counterfeiting was rampant in the Song Dynasty!

If you read 'Old Affairs of Wulin' by Wu Zimu, a remnant official of the Song Dynasty, it mentions the production and sale of fakes: "In buying and selling goods, fakes are passed off as real, even using paper for clothes, copper and lead for gold and silver, and earth and wood for incense and medicines." How widespread were these fakes? Let's say it this way: even Emperor Huizong of Song drank fake tea.

Sandalwood is not domestically produced; it is an imported spice. Counterfeiting of this spice was extremely common, using miscellaneous trees as incense material, which naturally produced strange, bizarre, and impure smells when burned.

If you cannot understand this distinction, try buying a large bag of cheap 'Tieguanyin' tea for ten yuan on the streets of Guangdong. Take a sip, and you will understand.

Therefore, using such incense for worship is unreliable. Cheap and effective alternatives like cypress wood were used, so it was normal for regulations at the time to directly prohibit the use of sandalwood.

If you want to be particular and can afford it, you might consider incense from Japanese incense houses, as Japan has preserved the art of incense well. If you wish to burn overseas agarwood, try to avoid the Singaporean (Xingzhou) varieties. These are okay for carrying around to slowly release scent, but when burned, they have a smell like dead cockroaches mixed with dirt. Indian incense is generally too strong and is not usually recommended. If you want to support domestic products, Hainan's Chen Nan agarwood is also good, though very expensive.

Originally, Taoism had many types of incense. However, after extensive destruction of Taoism in modern times, Taoism currently lacks ideal brands in terms of incense. Incense culture has flowed into other religions, typically Buddhism, especially in Tibet where the cultural influence is greatest. Due to good cultural preservation, Tibetan incense is said to have a type called 'Tianmu' that can repel evil spirits from afar; this is actually just the heartwood powder of cypress, heavily mythologized. In fact, this too was transmitted from Taoism. If resources allow, you can contact craftsmen in Tibet to make specialized herbal incense, which is more natural and not expensive. Note that most Tibetan incense on the market is fake and smells bad, while some that smell 'good' are often due to psychological effects influenced by religion.

Although Taoism originally had high standards for incense culture, this can only be viewed as a temporary pastime after a cultural泛滥 (overflow), and does not need to be taken too seriously.

Other religions claim not to value external objects, but in reality, they cannot do without them. They erect tall statues, build beautiful temples, gild the statues, and attempt to spiritually control believers to achieve blind superstition.

Therefore, the only requirement for incense is that it has no impure smell. Whether it produces smoke or not is irrelevant. What communicates through the incense smoke and has an effect is only the power of intention. Thinking that burning better incense and spending more money brings spiritual pleasure and thus better sacrifices, relieving one's guilt, adds only psychological effects, not substantial ones.

As stated in the Taoist classic 'Baopuzi · Dao Yi': "Fortune is not obtained by excessive reverence, nor is disaster averted by lavish sacrifices. If life could be extended by heavy prayers, and illness removed by abundant sacrifices, then the wealthy could surely achieve immortality, and the noble could be free from disease."

This means that fortune is not obtained simply by being reverent and praying to gods, nor is disaster averted by lavish sacrifices. If life could be extended by heavier prayers and illness removed by abundant sacrifices, then the rich could live forever, and the noble would never be sick.

This does not negate praying to gods or sacrificing, but points out that one should not expect to infinitely recover costs to get unlimited returns. This is impossible because the returns of these actions are limited within a range and cannot increase infinitely.

An extreme and absurd example makes this clear: for instance, detonating all nuclear bombs on Earth simultaneously under the guise of sacrifice...

Therefore, the matter of burning incense need not seek luxury and waste. If one has the ability to play with incense culture to improve cultural taste, that is a different matter; the two should not be confused.

First, one must understand that burning pure incense is to attract righteous deities. Attracting righteous deities requires pure thoughts. If the scent is mixed or impure, it will inevitably disturb one's thoughts. Even if the master at the altar remains undisturbed, it is hard to ensure the believers' thoughts are pure, so it is difficult to guarantee the effect of attracting righteous deities.

Thus, for burning incense, one only needs to choose a pleasant scent that is not disgusting or impure. Most incenses made with chemical essences on the market have poor smells and can affect health if inhaled too much. One method is to consider customizing natural incense with producers; as long as the scent is pure, there are many Chinese medicinal herbs to choose from. Another method is to choose incense that is odorless or has a light scent, which is not expensive.

In previous discussions, it was said that burning incense directly only communicates with the incense smoke and cannot directly communicate with immortal truths. However, immortal truths, when worshipped through incense, also have manifestations within the incense smoke. When burning incense, one respectfully faces the manifestation of the immortal truth, and the transformation of intention is directed towards these targets. This distinction must be clear.

When worshipping ancestors, one can follow the method of incense worship, as it often communicates with the manifestations of cultivated ancestors within the incense smoke. Whether to borrow methods or express respect, this is acceptable because it is part of the cultivation method.

Specific worship methods have been discussed online, so I will not elaborate here.

After being in the Tao for a long time, one needs to notice that worshipping immortal truths is different from worshipping gods. The manifestations of Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun, and Daode Tianzun in this world are Yuanshi Tianwang, Lingbao Daojun, and Taishang Laojun. The object of worship is different, directly relating to whether you are worshipping the Three Pure Ones or their manifestations in the world. Worshipping manifestations follows the path of gods, not the path of immortals, because immortal truths cannot be viewed as humans or gods. Immortal truths transcend all of this; misunderstanding them from the perspective of humans and gods leads to error.

Therefore, when worshipping immortal truths, one must be aware that one is not worshipping a god. Worshipping gods requires heart, attention to form, and cannot be confused. Worshipping immortal truths focuses more on the resonance with the immortal truth and requires the unity of mind and spirit. Although it appears more casual, it actually has higher requirements.

Taking the worship of the Three Pure Ones as an example, the correct method is: Vast and distant, silent and vast, existing before heaven and earth, before all things were born, empty and void, chaotic and undifferentiated, with nothing existing. After a long time, true essence suddenly appears, and spirit moves naturally. One Qi is born. This one Qi divides into Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang begin to transform, and the Three Powers emerge. The Dao generates One, One generates Two, Two generates Three, and the Three Pure Ones can be obtained. By worshipping in this way, one can truly worship or resonate with them. In other words, not everyone is qualified to worship the Three Pure Ones. This qualification is not given by others but cultivated by oneself.

This involves using the heart and using the spirit. What is heart? What is spirit? Normally, the heart is controlled by humans, while the spirit is not. The human body is like heaven and earth. What moves naturally is governed by the spirit, and what is decided by will is governed by the heart. Like blood circulation and heartbeat in humans, these are governed by the spirit, similar to the rotation and revolution of planets in the universe. Human consciousness, decision-making, and active thinking are part of the heart, such as doing things or picking up objects. In the human body, only respiration can communicate between heart and spirit. Breathing happens automatically, but can be controlled by consciousness, so it is between heart and spirit. Regardless of the religion in the world, during cultivation, controlling breathing and regulating mind and spirit is essential. It is when mind and spirit are united that the time is best to resonate with the Three Pure Ones.

Is this connected to cultivation? Yes, it is inherently so. Cultivation is the best way to worship the Three Pure Ones. If one does not cultivate, any magic used is merely incense magic. Although communication can be effective, the result is often benefiting others but not oneself, healing others but not oneself. Moreover, most people in this world do not know gratitude and will not hesitate to kick someone when they are down. Thus, often after a master has done good deeds all their life, due to not cultivating to strengthen the body, they end up with many ailments in old age, and are mocked by ignorant people in the world. This should be a lesson learned from past failures.

Since I have found that those who truly read my articles do not need too much nonsense, while those who do not read or do not understand will find any amount of writing useless. Therefore, after this article, for any professional discussions, I will no longer attempt to write verbose explanations to make them understandable.