About Incense and Incense Offering

Across all Buddhist traditions, incense is one of the most common and basic substances used as offerings to the Buddhas and enlightened beings. Within Tibetan Buddhism, incense is typically used as an offering to the Three Jewels — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It is also employed as part of Buddhist ritual to purify offering substances such as water, food and light.

In traditional Tibetan Medicine, incense is often used as a medicinal substance to treat certain ailments. Due to the healing qualities of its ingredients, Tibetan incense can soothe and calm a mind affected by depression, restlessness, anxiety and stress. Specific incense formulas can also be beneficial for common complaints such as migraines, cough, dizziness and insomnia.

On a spiritual level, the offering of incense reminds us to hold our vows purely and creates the causes for us to do so. In Buddhist thought, morality is considered to be one of the Six Perfections of a Bodhisattva practitioner. As such, it is one of the keys to reaching full enlightenment.

“Incense offerings should be done daily and consistently with great confidence in the supreme Dharma that liberates our mind from all sufferings and to the holy sage Buddha who has traversed over samsara.”
– Tsem Rinpoche

As we make incense offerings to the Buddhas, we generate the merits to become like them and hold our vows perfectly. This collection of merits is based on our Bodhisattva aspirations, and will lead us to the realisation of higher views which sees the faults of serving oneself as opposed to serving the needs of all sentient beings.

Therefore, offering incense of the best quality with the highest motivation may seem to be a simple spiritual act, but it leads to higher insight, integrity of practice, consistency of practice, generation of merits, and the ability to hold our vows which leads to the generation of higher attainments and insight within our mindstream.

About Vajrapani

An emanation of Buddha Akshobhya, Vajrapani represents the spiritual power and skilful means of all the Buddhas. He is part of the enlightened trinity known as Rigsum Gonpo or the "Lords of the Three Families” which comprises Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani. He is also the central figure of the combined triple deity practice known as Trakpo Sumtril, which includes Hayagriva and King Garuda.

For practitioners, his path of practice is a means of accomplishing fierce determination and symbolises unrelenting effectiveness in the conquest of negativity. It was Vajrapani who requested Buddha Shakyamuni to teach many of the Tantras that are practised today. He will be the last of the Buddhas to appear in this fortunate aeon, therefore making a connection to him and keeping him close will be of great benefit to us.

Further Reading

• Incense Offering by Tsem Rinpoche
• Smoke Offering Prayer to Dorje Shugden by Ganden Serkong
• Exaltation of The Foe-Vanquishing Devas (incense offering prayer)
• Tibetan Incense & Vows (video)
• 10 Herbs Used as Incense for Healing and Purification