If the temple is not allowed to burn incense
Recently, I have always seen articles about the prohibition of burning incense at Tsz Shan Monastery in Hong Kong, and I have also heard the praise of several monks on this matter. Not burning incense is from the perspective of environmental protection, but from the perspective of religion, I really don't understand.
It is said that Tsz Shan Monastery was donated by Li Ka-shing with the original intention of making it a purely religious shrine for the study and promotion of Buddhism. Whether it is in the exterior of the building, or the Buddhist atmosphere in the temple, it is among the best in our country. The most striking is a 25-storey outdoor bronze statue of Guanyin, which is the second tallest statue in the world, facing north and facing south.
Tsz Shan Monastery was not established for tourism development, and since its opening in 2015, only 400 people per day have been allowed to enter, and tour groups are not accepted. Unlike other temples, Buddha worship cannot burn incense, and is replaced by "water supply".
For thousands of years, the words "burn incense and worship the Buddha" have formed a fixed phrase, which also shows that the thing to do when going to the temple is to burn incense first and then worship the Buddha. Why burn incense? The expression of incense is "offering" and "almsgiving", which is the first step of the six paramitas, and is a "compulsory course" for the devotees.
Venerable Hui Law of the Manjushri Lecture Hall in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, led a group of people to visit Tsz Shan Monastery last year, and when he was invited to give a lecture to the public, he talked about this issue. Light incense, light incense, and dim sum incense, he doesn't know what heart fragrance is. "The Venerable Master spoke in a very popular way, and explained straightforwardly that Buddhism cannot be separated from incense, which is not only an aid to practice, but also a necessity for Buddhist rituals. I carefully looked at the relevant video materials of Tsz Shan Temple, and there were incense burners on the incense tables in front of the Buddha statues, but they were all relatively delicate and small, and the monks at the consecration ceremony completed the procedure of "incense sticking" while chanting "incense praise". This shows that incense is not completely forbidden, but is still carried out according to traditional rituals, and it is well controlled. Why not treat the issue of incense burning in the same way? The incense burner can be a little smaller, the incense can also be a little thinner, each person burns three, or simply one, as long as the incense is natural, what threat can there be to environmental protection!
We have been using natural incense for a long time, especially the morning incense, evening incense, Zen incense and other incense made by combining the natural conditions of the human body, which is not only safe and environmentally friendly, but also conducive to physical health. Normal incense, if it is not suspended in the air, not placed on the incense ash, will be extinguished if it comes into contact with any non-flame retardant material, and there is no problem of fire hazard. We can't just cut it all because of the existence of all kinds of irregularities -- no burning incense is allowed, and the majority of believers will think too much. I have heard such an emotion: "That temple was not built for us ordinary people."
Speaking of environmental protection, if we want to be more serious, the current construction of temples itself cannot be ultimately environmentally friendly. You want to dig up the mountain, right? Do you want reinforced concrete? The rosewood shipped from Africa is also ...... grown on the earthThese are environmental issues, and each of them is bigger than burning incense. I don't think Dr. Li Ka-shing knew about this, otherwise, with such a concept and mind, how could he have achieved such a huge business empire!
If one day the temple is not allowed to burn incense, what will you think?