Sitting Day 36, Incense

By offering incense we create the cause always to experience pleasant smells and never to be reborn in unpleasant places. We also create the cause to keep pure moral discipline and attain pure concentration.

Today, the thirty-sixth of the Tricycle's 90-day Big Sit, I continue to tinker with my morning practice. Each morning, prior to sitting down to meditate, I bow to both the chair/pillow and to the altar, then light both a white scent free candle and a single stick of incense standing in a small circular incense holder with the image of a lotus raised on its surface.

Just yesterday, after lighting the first stick of my third packet of incense, I actually had the (for me) unique experience of having a stick burn during the entire fifteen minute session (and very fragrantly I might add). I actually had to "butt" it out and saved it for the next mornings session.

The fact that the incense (at least this particular stick) remained lit and aromatic during the entire duration definitely helped me to maintain a higher level of concentration... why, I am not exactly sure. This pack of Sandalwood is from the same producer as the first packet I purchased three(!) weeks ago, but those sticks would generally burn out five to eight minutes after being lit, while generating very little aroma.

I hope the remaining fourteen sticks being me as much aromatic pleasure and focus as the first...

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!