The incense that helps Uncle Ha's daily ritual, and it does not stain his ceiling.

Uncle Ha L was a Vietnamese immigrant. Thirty years ago, he came to Australia by boat as an asylum seeker. He was in his sixties, and he was an old school man. He preferred to see someone he knew in person when possible. He used his phone to call, not for social media, because the technology was too complicated.

Uncle Ha had a bakery store which he had been running for many years to feed his family.

He worked hard and believed in Buddhism. He also believed in some local rituals in Saigon, where he grew up. 

Does praying work?

If you asked him if praying worked, he would tell you he did not know. He came to Australia 30 years ago as an asylum seeker by boat. The boat he was on was extremely small and crowded. During his journeys to Bidong Island, Malaysia, the boat that carried him was about to sink multiple times. When he thought he would die, he closed his eyes and prayed. When his boat hit the rock, he prayed. Miraculously, he survived many times, again and again. So he believed his prayers were answers. He thought he was blessed, and he continued to pray daily. He heard that many people drown in the ocean during the hazardous journey, and many had been robbed by pirates. Some lost the whole family, others lost their children. 

The only thing he could do during his trip is to pray, which he did and survived. There were two "rituals" that Uncle Ha performed daily.

For his family health being

He prayed to the Goddess of Mercy. Usually, he offered fruits, a small cup of tea and one incense stick. Then he prayed for people to have more compassion, his family and his own good health.

For his small bakery store

He prayed to the God of Wealth and God of Earth.

As usual, at 3.30 AM, he arrived at the store and before start baking, he prayed to the God Of Wealth and God of Earth to bring him luck and a smooth, trouble-free day.

First, he placed a glass of tea (or coffee) on the altar. Then with three incense sticks in his hand,  he asked for a trouble-free and fruitful trading day. After that, he respectfully places three sticks of incense on the altar and starts operating this store.

Why did he burn incense?

Burning incense is a way of expressing gratitude to God. The aroma of incense creates a warm ambient makes him feel blessed spiritually. He believes that he will have a good day, and quite often, it is true.

If he did not use incense, he would feel that his messages would not be heard. Incense acted as a bridge, a vehicle carrying our messages to the Higher one.

The incense he had been burning had a simple but inviting aroma. He lit three sticks at lunchtime, and he noticed more customers were buying from him. His customers seemed to spend more time in his store 

And it was not a fluke at all, and it turned out there was research to back this up to his claim.

Scent influenced people emotions. The woodiness of his incense blended well with his freshly baked bread, creating a welcoming ambient. That was how his prayers were answered.

Things went well for a while. Unfortunately, one day he could not get the incense he has been getting because there was a lack of supplies. The shop assistant offered him a different brand which literally was half the cost, double the quantity with shiny packaging. Uncle Ha gave this brand ago because it sounded like a great deal.

A stained ceiling.

When he lit the incense, he found that the fragrance was too strong.

"Maybe I am not used to it, let’s try a week and see how it go". He thought.

After many days of lighting the new incense sticks at his home and stores, he found these new sticks were too smoky, irritating to the eyes and nose. The smoke also caused a stain in his ceiling, and the fragrance does not have the same descriptions on the package “natural incense”.

Stained ceiling due to burning long incense. The smoke rise and stay in the ceiling

For the above reasons, Uncle Ha had stopped using incense temporarily. If you had a ritual and wanted to stick to it, you must have all the material required for the ritual. Any missing material will make a ritual incomplete. Over time, it could stress a person out. I know many friends who had daily rituals. They shared with me that ritual help them to manage and ease out their anxiety. Uncle Han must have been frustrated because he did not get what he wanted.

Life went on until on a Saturday morning when Uncle Ha visited a friend named B. At B’s living room, there was an altar of Goddess of Mercy with a burning incense stick. The fragrance was soft, pleasant, and inviting. Out of curiosity, he approached the altar and found a lighter and a box of incense. 

 Shorter incense- smoke goes out the window before hitting the ceiling.

This story was shared with me by B (who is a customer of Grandawood). And thanks to B, Uncle Ha could resume his daily ritual with our irritating eyes and nose. The bonus: with a clean ceiling without stain.

People who use incense are usually looking for a connection. Burning incense is to establish a connection with nature and to communicate to the Higher one. So if you are after a genuine natural praying incense, get the Spirit Communicator and see the difference they make to your ritual. There are only three ingredients to make this incense: agarwood powder(*), natural plant-derived adhesive and a bamboo stick. There are no added essential oil, no synthetic oil, no funny stuff. 

Improve your ritual experience with out irritating nose and eyes, click here for more information

What if you are not a Buddhist?

It does not matter. Since you burn incense because you want to communicate to a Higher one, this natural incense could be what you need.

Your ritual is important, and so is your well being. Don't get synthetic incense.

Here is the link to our simple yet inviting agarwood incense.

(*)(a mix of spent and original agarwood)