Burning sang offerings

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etinin
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Burning sang offerings

Post by etinin »

So, I have a small sang burner and have been trying to figure ways of burning it easilly. My first idea was to use charcoal but I haven't figured any way of lighting it quickly for daily practice without tainting the offering with starter fluids. I also believe alcohol shouldn't be used for this kind of practice. Any ideas?
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"Meditation brings wisdom. Lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back."
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by heart »

etinin wrote:So, I have a small sang burner and have been trying to figure ways of burning it easilly. My first idea was to use charcoal but I haven't figured any way of lighting it quickly for daily practice without tainting the offering with starter fluids. I also believe alcohol shouldn't be used for this kind of practice. Any ideas?
I use Riwo Sangchö incense because it is much easier to get it going fast. Before, when I used powder and charcoal, I used to break the charcoal in smaller pieces to get hem burning faster (also you don't need a lot if you are doing it inside). But it is difficult, you have to light them pretty early to make them be ready for the powder.

/magnus
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Karma Dorje
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by Karma Dorje »

etinin wrote:So, I have a small sang burner and have been trying to figure ways of burning it easilly. My first idea was to use charcoal but I haven't figured any way of lighting it quickly for daily practice without tainting the offering with starter fluids. I also believe alcohol shouldn't be used for this kind of practice. Any ideas?
What you need is the self-lighting charcoal that you can get from church supply stores that is used in censers. It's easy to light with a disposable lighter and has blackpowder embedded in the charcoal to ensure that the whole tablet lights.

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Grigoris
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by Grigoris »

The self lighting charcoal is the deal, I use it all the time. Just be sure to light it 5-10min before starting to pile on the offerings (a good idea to add the offerings slowly and in small portions rather than dumping it all in one go) or else you will choke the charcoal and it will go out.

PS If you are doing it indoors, light the charcoal outside first. Unless, of course, you like billowing, choking clouds of gunpowder smoke!
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pemachophel
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by pemachophel »

Yup, Self-lighting charcoal is the way to go. However, it can also be bought from "head shops" as well as on-line. Back in my day, we called it incense charcoal. Now, on-line, it's sold as hookah charcoal.
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by pemachophel »

BTW, speaking of sang, does anyone have translations for Dza Patrul's Sung-sang, Dudjom Lingpa's Nol-sang, Mipham's Sur-chod, and/or Guru Rinpoche's Nol-sang?

If so, you can PM me.

Thanks.

:namaste:
Pema Chophel པདྨ་ཆོས་འཕེལ
etinin
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by etinin »

Thanks for all the feedback!!
Purchased some hookah charcoal today. Gonna start using it for my practice.
--Karma Rigpe Wangchuk

"Meditation brings wisdom. Lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back."
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lobster
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by lobster »

keep the charcoal dry
in a tight container.
Otherwise it can be temperamental.
Glowing charcoal on the carpet is a good test of mindfulness and dispassion . . . :smile:
michaelb
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by michaelb »

In my experience, for sang, powdered incense, gugul, etc. chemical free bamboo charcoal is the best.
http://www.tibetantreasures.com/product ... duct=10314
I've found those other charcoal disks smell bad, are difficult to light, and give off too much smoke.
philji
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by philji »

I agree with a lot of the comments, I use the charcoal as described but it does take a few mins to get going......so sometimes I use riwo Sangcho incense because it is easier and there is no interruption to the flow of the puja.... If using charcoal and reciting the text is it ok to add powder etc a few times during the chanting as the smoke gets less or should one just put some on in the beginng and let it burn? :rules:
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Adamantine
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by Adamantine »

Actually the way I do it and a traditional way to do it is to lay a few well-lit sticks of incense down (at least 3) horizontal in your incense burner, or if it is a sang vessel then break them in half or however so they fit lying down horizontal, then sprinkle a generous amount of sang powder over the top of these sticks. As long as the sang powder is not too coarse, but indeed more of a powder, the fire of the incense sticks themselves will slowly burn away the heap of powder. Put a little only on the burning tips, then slowly increase the size of the heap towards the back.. then it will increase in intensity in conjunction with the amount needed to burn. Anyway, this is a decent way to do sang at home, as opposed to a real fire in a large vessel. This way you can use a riwo sang cho incense with all the appropriate ingredients, and then just a juniper powder, or the other way around-- a simple incense and a riwo sang cho special powder mix. I prefer not to use charcoal cylinders, the gunpowder is pretty noxious and probably not a great offering. There are little japanese style charcoals without all the gunpowder but they take a bit longer to light.
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Re: Burning sang offerings

Post by heart »

:good:

/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut

"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
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