Incense burners

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Caoimhghín
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Incense burners

Post by Caoimhghín »

So I have a shallow and silly question for the Tibetan subforum. I recently fed the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism and bought myself some incense from Nepal. My incense game is only mediocre, and I am only really used to the Chinese-style incense I get at the supermarket. The Chinese joss sticks have a thin wooden section at the bottom so that you can put it in sand, or an incense holder, etc. These Tibetan-style Nepalese joss sticks have no wooden section at the bottom with which to affix them to a holder for burning.

What kind of burner would you use with these kinds of joss sticks? I am burning them in a Catholic thurible currently, because I am not using them for worhsip, but I am wondering what burner this style of joss stick is designed for.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
gendun
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Re: Incense burners

Post by gendun »

I burn all sticks in an attractive glazed pot I found in an antique market. It’s about 5 inches across. I fill it with raw rice which I change regularly. Nicer looking than sand. I stand the lit stick in the rice, upright.
When the incense stubs burn to the rice level it snuffs out through lack of oxygen. The rice does not burn.
Norwegian
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Norwegian »

Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:21 pm So I have a shallow and silly question for the Tibetan subforum. I recently fed the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism and bought myself some incense from Nepal. My incense game is only mediocre, and I am only really used to the Chinese-style incense I get at the supermarket. The Chinese joss sticks have a thin wooden section at the bottom so that you can put it in sand, or an incense holder, etc. These Tibetan-style Nepalese joss sticks have no wooden section at the bottom with which to affix them to a holder for burning.

What kind of burner would you use with these kinds of joss sticks? I am burning them in a Catholic thurible currently, because I am not using them for worhsip, but I am wondering what burner this style of joss stick is designed for.
If you enjoy showing the middle finger to the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism, why not just get a cup or a glass and fill it with rice or sand, and use that?
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Caoimhghín
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Caoimhghín »

Norwegian wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:39 pm
Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:21 pm So I have a shallow and silly question for the Tibetan subforum. I recently fed the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism and bought myself some incense from Nepal. My incense game is only mediocre, and I am only really used to the Chinese-style incense I get at the supermarket. The Chinese joss sticks have a thin wooden section at the bottom so that you can put it in sand, or an incense holder, etc. These Tibetan-style Nepalese joss sticks have no wooden section at the bottom with which to affix them to a holder for burning.

What kind of burner would you use with these kinds of joss sticks? I am burning them in a Catholic thurible currently, because I am not using them for worhsip, but I am wondering what burner this style of joss stick is designed for.
If you enjoy showing the middle finger to the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism, why not just get a cup or a glass and fill it with rice or sand, and use that?
Oh, I certainly could. However, my curiosity is as to what kind of burner this kind of joss stick is designed for. I'm not going to over the Internet buy a golden Tibetan incense burner based on advice from this thread, rest asssured.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
jet.urgyen
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Re: Incense burners

Post by jet.urgyen »

i use a rice pot, or any small grain pot.
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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Mantrik
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Mantrik »

Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:41 pm
Norwegian wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:39 pm
Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:21 pm So I have a shallow and silly question for the Tibetan subforum. I recently fed the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism and bought myself some incense from Nepal. My incense game is only mediocre, and I am only really used to the Chinese-style incense I get at the supermarket. The Chinese joss sticks have a thin wooden section at the bottom so that you can put it in sand, or an incense holder, etc. These Tibetan-style Nepalese joss sticks have no wooden section at the bottom with which to affix them to a holder for burning.

What kind of burner would you use with these kinds of joss sticks? I am burning them in a Catholic thurible currently, because I am not using them for worhsip, but I am wondering what burner this style of joss stick is designed for.
If you enjoy showing the middle finger to the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism, why not just get a cup or a glass and fill it with rice or sand, and use that?
Oh, I certainly could. However, my curiosity is as to what kind of burner this kind of joss stick is designed for. I'm not going to over the Internet buy a golden Tibetan incense burner based on advice from this thread, rest asssured.
There are incense burners (well, really stands) with holes exactly the right size for the sticks. But the sticks vary a bit so they aren't very good.
So, sand is a good idea, but what I did was to find a stone and drill holes in it with two sizes of masonry bit. Looks good, works really well, eco-ethical and costs nowt. Since then I've also found the odd hag-stone with a hole which works. ;)
http://www.khyung.com ཁྲོཾ

Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath

Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
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Caoimhghín
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Caoimhghín »

Mantrik wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:22 pm sand is a good idea
My only fear is wasting the portion buried in the sand. The thurible is working fine enough though -- I just have to break up the sticks first.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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Mantrik
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Mantrik »

Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:42 pm
Mantrik wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:22 pm sand is a good idea
My only fear is wasting the portion buried in the sand. The thurible is working fine enough though -- I just have to break up the sticks first.
Make some cones, I say, having always been too lazy. lol :)
http://www.khyung.com ཁྲོཾ

Om Thathpurushaya Vidhmahe
Suvarna Pakshaya Dheemahe
Thanno Garuda Prachodayath

Micchāmi Dukkaḍaṃ (मिच्छामि दुक्कडम्)
jet.urgyen
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Re: Incense burners

Post by jet.urgyen »

Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:42 pm
Mantrik wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:22 pm sand is a good idea
My only fear is wasting the portion buried in the sand. The thurible is working fine enough though -- I just have to break up the sticks first.
that portion, among other remnants of practice, is good to offer to weak beings, pretas, dead ones, and alike. they don't have merit to enjoy normal stuff but this they can.
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Incense burners

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Himalayan style Incense without a stick in the center is usually burned lying sideways on ash. You can ask a temple if they can supply you with some ashes from their incense burner.

The incense burner is a long, narrow box.
Sometimes there is a wire screen at the bottom, in case you have no ashes, so that air can circulate and the entire stick will burn.

You can burn incense for now Standing upright in sand.
In a month, you can pour the sand through a screen and retrieve all the unburnt ends. Those can be crushed into a powder and burned.
EMPTIFUL.
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gendun
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Re: Incense burners

Post by gendun »

You can..but they never smell as nice. :smile:
pemachophel
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Re: Incense burners

Post by pemachophel »

When I was doing pilgrimage in Sikkim several years ago, our guide was a Lama Jigdam, a close friend of my Teacher Lama Dawa Chodrak. We offered Riwo Sangchod every day. Sometimes there was no sang-bum (sang burning pot) where we were visiting. So we would have to look around to find some suitable vessel. One morning we found two offering dishes tucked away under the stairs to a temple, one clay and one copper. Lama Jigdam said to use the copper one. That led to a discussion of the relative merits of different offering vessels. The bottom line was that the more precious the vessel, the more merit was generated (given the same offerings in each). According to Lama Jigdam, tin is better than clay, steel iss better than tin, brass is better than steel, copper is better than brass, silver is better than copper, and gold is better than silver. You get the drift. Now I always try to use the best offering vessel I can for any of my offerings. When I came home from that trip, I even went to eBay and bought a bunch of old silver-plate bowls and dishes. With a little silver polish, they shine nicely.

In the same vein, once Anyen Rinpoche was chiding His American students for being cheap with our home shrines. His advice was to buy the absolutely best offering bowls and vessels one can afford as an indication of just how much we value and are devoted to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Norwegian »

pemachophel wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 9:46 pm When I was doing pilgrimage in Sikkim several years ago, our guide was a Lama Jigdam, a close friend of my Teacher Lama Dawa Chodrak. We offered Riwo Sangchod every day. Sometimes there was no sang-bum (sang burning pot) where we were visiting. So we would have to look around to find some suitable vessel. One morning we found two offering dishes tucked away under the stairs to a temple, one clay and one copper. Lama Jigdam said to use the copper one. That led to a discussion of the relative merits of different offering vessels. The bottom line was that the more precious the vessel, the more merit was generated (given the same offerings in each). According to Lama Jigdam, tin is better than clay, steel iss better than tin, brass is better than steel, copper is better than brass, silver is better than copper, and gold is better than silver. You get the drift. Now I always try to use the best offering vessel I can for any of my offerings. When I came home from that trip, I even went to eBay and bought a bunch of old silver-plate bowls and dishes. With a little silver polish, they shine nicely.

In the same vein, once Anyen Rinpoche was chiding His American students for being cheap with our home shrines. His advice was to buy the absolutely best offering bowls and vessels one can afford as an indication of just how much we value and are devoted to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Yes, all such implements, and especially samaya implements: Get the absolute best you can. Save up your money if you have to.
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Fortyeightvows »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:24 pm In a month, you can pour the sand through a screen and retrieve all the unburnt ends. Those can be crushed into a powder and burned.
If you are using the correct type of burner for these type of incense, there won't be any left overs.

But, you can go to a religious supply store and get one of these


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Fortyeightvows
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Fortyeightvows »

With this type of incense, has anyone ever heard if it is better to lay it down with the burning end in one direction or another ?
jmlee369
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Re: Incense burners

Post by jmlee369 »

Caoimhghín wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:21 pm So I have a shallow and silly question for the Tibetan subforum. I recently fed the corporate beast of spiritual consumerism and bought myself some incense from Nepal. My incense game is only mediocre, and I am only really used to the Chinese-style incense I get at the supermarket. The Chinese joss sticks have a thin wooden section at the bottom so that you can put it in sand, or an incense holder, etc. These Tibetan-style Nepalese joss sticks have no wooden section at the bottom with which to affix them to a holder for burning.

What kind of burner would you use with these kinds of joss sticks? I am burning them in a Catholic thurible currently, because I am not using them for worhsip, but I am wondering what burner this style of joss stick is designed for.
Decent traditional Tibetan incense burners for stick incense are surprisingly hard to find online. They're basically a long thin box with a separate lid that has a thin slit along the middle. Here are some examples of elaborate carved design, more contemporary design, and a simple design.
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Re: Incense burners

Post by narhwal90 »

I beg pardon for intruding, but getting the entire stick to burn is a thing in Nichiren-land sometimes. The burners I'm familiar with are a open-top box, the stick is lit (usually 3 of them), and laid flat on the accumulated ashes. Sand or salt as a starter is a bit of a pain, tending to extinguish the coal, so I usually break up a stick or two into short lengths laid crosswise to support the burning sticks. Usually the short sticks end up mostly burning too, from the contact. The process repeated until enough ash accumulates. I've only ever had a very few unburnt ends hiding in the ashes so its pretty effective.

Nichrien-land traditional burners are easily found, but I took a lesson from a friend and made my own from stained glass.

Another win is if you don't disturb the ashes they may tend to keep the shape of the incense stick, which provides much texture to otherwise undifferentiated ash, evidence of how assiduously you're practicing when someone comes to visit ;)

OTOH perhaps formulations vary and the sticks in question might not burn so effectively when laid on ashes.
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lelopa
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Re: Incense burners

Post by lelopa »

gendun wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:25 pm You can..but they never smell as nice. :smile:
If you clean the leftovers from ashes & the burnt black part they'll smell a lot better
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Re: Incense burners

Post by DewachenVagabond »

:bow: :buddha1: :bow: :anjali: :meditate:
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Incense burners

Post by Fortyeightvows »

SonamTashi wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:19 pm I use one like this
It’s good that the inside is metal
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