We are going to vacation…
As we are small family business, there won’t be any employee to handle and ship orders.
The last day we can bring parcels to the Post office is Aug 6th, so the last day you can make your orders is Aug 5th.
After this date, all your orders will be shipped on Aug 18th.

Great and blissful summer to everyone!

Vacation in Tibetan Incense Shop

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Incense offering, or Sang-sol, is a ceremony performed by Tibetans from all walks of life to mark important events in their lives. A widespread national custom, it can be preformed individually or in groups, on occasions such as the Dalai Lama’s birthday, marriages, third day of the Tibetan New Year, or preceding other important events.

Incense Offering (c) massimoconti

Origins

It is not clear whether the Tibetan custom of offering incense originated in India or not, as only two references to such practice can be found in the Indian texts. It is mentioned in the Guhyasamaja Tantra that one should know about the three kinds of fragrance. The other reference is to be found in the story of Bhadri of Magadha, which tells of how she invited the Buddha to her house and made offerings of smoke to him from the roof.

According to the writings of various scholars, it seems that incense offering was carried out in Tibet from the very early times when the teacher Tonpa Sherab, founder of the Bon religion, first came from Zhang Zhung (Afghanistan/ Tadzhikistan?) to spread his doctrine in Tibet.

The oldest extant text on incense offering, dates back to the eight century, when the Indian master Padmasambhava came to Tibet and built Samye monastery. This manual, containing detailed instructions on how to preform the ritual, was then hidden by him to await discovery at some appropriate juncture in the future. Several centuries later, two Treasure masters (tertons), one from northern Tibet and another from the south, discovered and revealed it. based on this Treasure (terma) text many Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya lamas composed the incense offering. Later at the time of the third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, a lama by the name of Yeshe Wangpo, wrote a text on the incense offering from the Gelugpa point of view. Subsequently, three works were written on the subject by Panchen Lobsang Chogyen (1570-1662) and another by the fifth Dalai Lama.

The Ritual

The Incense offering should be done in the morning on a clean and elevated outdoor site, free of insects., either on a hill or the top of a house and inhabited by many local gods and nagas.

If performed during a festival, all the inhabitants of a locality may assemble and, at the end of the offering, stand in a row and throw a handful of tsampa (roasted barley flour) in the air. As this is usually a happy occasion, a dance often follows. In the summer, incense offering is often associated with picnics on top of mountains. It is closely linked with the hanging of prayer flags from trees or tall poles, especially on the third day of the new year, but also on other auspicious days.

The incense should be burned in a large urn-shaped burner (sang-khun) and should not have been trampled by people or animals. Wood, not coal, should be used as fuel and the substance to be burned as incense should be fragrant, such as the leaves of fern or juniper, or the branches of coniferous tree, rhododendron, and red or white sandalwood. In addition, tsampa, butter, sugar, and medicinal plants, and other substances free from the taint of alcohol, onion or garlic are burned.

When offering incense, people should examine their motivation and reflect that by making this offering to lamas, meditational deities and religious protectors, they will accumulate merit, which they should dedicate to the benefit of all sentient beings. If they have any specific requests, such as prayers for longevity or the removal of obstacles to religious practice, they should be made at this point. Next the practitioners take refuge, meditate on the four immeasurable wishes, love, compassion, joy, equanimity, and visualize themselves as deities. The objects to be offered are then blessed, rid of their ordinary appearances and transformed by meditation, gestures, and mantras into an inexhaustible source of great bliss which will please those to whom they are offered.

The offering ends with the practitioners asking the deities to forgive them for any mistakes in the performance of the ritual, such as improperly or incompletely reciting the words of the text. the deities are then asked to return to their abodes and auspicious verses are recited.

Incense offering can thus be preformed as an elaborate religious ritual, an offering of a fragrant purified of its ordinary qualities and appearance to lamas, meditational deities, religious protectors, nagas and local worldly gods. The offering is intended to please the deities, who rejoice at the merit of those making the offering. However, incense offering can also be preformed simply because it is an ancient custom, and a traditional means of purifying the atmosphere. Incense offering is also done to mark the passing away of important people, lamas or officials and in these ways it is a practice common to both Buddhists and Bonpos.

(Transcribed from “ME-LONG, The Newsletter of the council for Religious and Cultural Affairsof H.H. the Dalai Lama”, N0.6, April 1990)

Source: sacred-texts.com

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Post tags: Add new tag, Buddhist Symbols, Dalai Lama, Incense, Practice, Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Incense

Due to technical reasons, our shop and blog were not available for about 14 hours.

Now everything is fixed and works flawless again!

We will make everything to ensure that such issue will not happen again.

Have a wonderful week everybody!

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Well, it took us longer than we expected…

But now everything is on site!

We now have more than 550 kinds of best Tibetan Incense - sticks and powder!

Go check out new series of Bhutanese incense. They are simply sooooo great that we even think about shutting down all the business and trade only incenses from Bhutan… (just joking…) I swear to you, it’s a whole different Universe.

Mandala Incense From Bhutan

Of course, picture doesn’t transmit a smell…

Apart of the incense, we have new brocades, prayer flags, great door handles and locks in traditional Tibetan style, offering bowls and more…

Ganesha Door Handle

Offering Bowls

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Post tags: Bhutan, Buddhist Art, Shop, Tibetan Incense

Well, we are overwhelmed by number of orders during the Sale… Amost all old stock is sold out!

I promised to put all the new stuff on site just after the Sale end, but apparently we need so much time to handle all the orders that we can’t work on the site now and it’ll take one-two more days…

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

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Post tags: Incense, Shop

We have new stock in the Tibetan Incense Shop!

And therefore we are happy to announce a clearance Sale on all of our old stock.
So come on in and get 50% off all of the items on sale!

Once announced, the sale lasts for only 24 hours. So hurry!

The Sale starts on July 2nd @ 12pm EDT (9am PDT, 17:00 BST) and ends on July 3rd @ 12pm EDT (9am PDT, 17:00 BST).

New Arrivals and Total Sale - 2010

The next day we open with new stock - now more than 550 kinds of Tibetan Incense!

Hope to see you amongst our happy regular customers.

Peace, Karmapa Chenno, Om Mani Peme Hung!

** Prayer Wheels are not included to the Sale.
** During the Sale, all our discounts and free shipping are not applied.

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Shop - Blog, 2010. | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Times, May 22, 2010

The Dalai Lama tried to hold a rare direct conversation with people inside China on Friday, answering questions live on Twitter about the fate of Tibet. The hourlong session with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was conducted by Wang Lixiong, a Chinese writer and convert to Tibetan Buddhism who lives in Beijing and who met the Dalai Lama for Friday’s online conversation in a hotel room in New York, where the Dalai Lama is visiting. Through a Chinese interpreter, the Dalai Lama sent messages criticizing China’s policies toward Tibet and words of welcome to Chinese citizens. Twitter is blocked in China, but has become popular with thousands of Chinese, especially activists, who find a way around controls. Mr. Wang’s Twitter feed, where the conversation was posted, had more than 8,000 followers as of Friday night.

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Post tags: China, Dalai Lama, News, Politics, Tibet

Finally, we have a first lot of Prayer Wheels in our shop!

Prayer Wheels in Tibetan Incense Shop

Prayer wheels have been used by Buddhists for praying, meditation, healing, purifying karma and protection from negativities. Some of the most advanced Buddhist Masters such as Padmasambhava, Marpa and Mahasiddhas such as Tilopa, Naropa and Nagarjuna used and distributed prayer wheels to benefit sentient beings and to protect the environment especially of sincere Dharma practitioners.

Turning a prayer wheel creates extensive benefits for all beings because prayer wheels are the manifestation of the Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion, holy speech. As a holy object, a prayer wheel has tremendous power to eliminate the self-cherishing mind that keeps us from realizing perfect bodhichitta and thus reaching enlightenment. By turning a prayer wheel with a motivation of compassion for all beings and reciting the mantra OM MANI PEME HUNG you will accumulate extensive merit and purify obstacles.

These Prayer Wheels are handmade by Galgamani, Israel.

Buy Prayer Wheels in Tibetan Incense Shop

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Shop - Blog, 2010. | 1 comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Buddhist Art, Buddhist Symbols, Shop, Tibetan Buddhism

Two Nobel Peace laureates hold White House talks, despite Chinese warnings.

Every sitting U.S. president has met with the Dalai Lama since George H. W. Bush in 1991, with then-president George W. Bush awarding the leader the Congressional Gold Medal in a high-profile ceremony in 2007.

While Obama will not appear in public with the Dalai Lama and, like his White House predecessors, will deny him the symbolism of meeting in the Oval Office, there are already signs that Sino-U.S. relations may be deteriorating since Obama’s November visit to China.

On the eve of the Dalai Lama’s visit, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted the United States and China — the world’s largest and third-biggest economies — have a “mature relationship” capable of withstanding disagreements.

Beijing said it was “strongly dissatisfied” about the meeting and expected Washington to take steps to put bilateral relations back on a healthy course. (...)
Read the rest of Dalai Lama - Obama Meeting Results (228 words)

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Shop - Blog, 2010. | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: China, Dalai Lama, News, Obama, Politics, Tibet

New arrival in the Tibetan Incense Shop - Chenrezig Mandala Thangka.

Buddha Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara in sanskrit), the Compassion Buddha, is the embodiment of the universal compassion of all enlightened beings. By relying upon him, we naturally increase our own compassion. His first two hands hold a jewel, symbolizing his own enlightenment; his second left hand holds a white lotus flower, symbolizing his complete purity of body, speech, and mind; and his second right hand holds a crystal mala, symbolizing that he can free all living beings from samsara.

Chenrezig Mandala Thangka

Thangka is traditionally framed in borders of silk brocade.

Size of Painted Surface 15″ X 20″ (36 X 51 cm.)
Size with Brocade 26″ X 44″ (65 X 112 cm.)

Painted in Buddhist Monastery in Kalimpong, North India.

Buy the Chenrezig Mandala Thangka for usd 295 only, free shipping worldwide!

More pictures:(...)
Read the rest of Chenrezig Mandala Thangka (36 words)

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Shop - Blog, 2010. | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Buddhist Art, Buddhist Symbols, Pictures, Shop, Tibetan Buddhism