Incense
Offering
The
offering of incense prior to meditation practice
(zazen)
symbolizes one's committment to practice, as well as an
overt desire for the fruits of one's practice to benefit
all persons. While there are a number of historical and
contemporary reasons for using incense, we will focus here
only on the use of incense at the Center
for Pragmatic Buddhism.
"May
the Fruits of Our Practice Extend to All Living Beings"
At CPB,
we conclude practice by saying, "May the fruits of our
practice extend to all living beings." This is similar to
the traditional "dedication of merit" in Buddhism, and is
meant to reaffirm that our personal development is also a
hope for social
betterment; by
working to refine and cultivate ourselves, we enhance our
capacity to help others and do good in society as a whole.
Offering incense prior to each formal practice in Pragmatic
Buddhism is an important reminder of the personal
and
social
nature of our practice.
The
Scientific Basis of Incense Offering
Incense
are powerful aromatherapy agents that can facilitate the
meditative experience in some scientifically proven ways.
Numerous receptors in the nose (olfactory
receptors) send
neurological responses to the limbic system, a vital region
of the brain where memory is formed from emotional
responses. Whether you perceive it or not, information
gathered by smell is "emotional" in nature. When the
aromatic agents from the incense land on these receptors in
the nose, they form a specific memory of the experience.
Since we offer incense during meditative practice, the type
of memories formed facilitate a quicker and deeper
meditative experience each time that same smell is
perceived. Additionally, research continues to demonstrate
that many of the scents used in incense also elicit a
calming effect on the nervous system in their own
right.
