The journey of the incense ash
During the burning process, the incense is surrounded by the devout prayers of the believers, and feels the sacred and unknown energy penetrating its body. It may not understand what happiness in the world is, but it seems to be called and follows the invisible energy resonance straight into the sky. When the incense ash lies quietly in the burner, it once thought that this was the destination of the journey.
It is lying in the Yonghe Temple, also known as the Lama Temple, the monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism located in Beijing, China’s capital. During the middle and late Qing dynasty, Yonghe Temple was the highest Buddhist temple in the country. Both Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty passed away here, also Emperor Qianlong was born here too, so Yonghe Temple became Qianlong’s blessed land.
Incense has always been crucial. In the communication with God, incense is an invisible bridge connecting the land and upper sky. In 1759, Emperor Qianlong ordered the painting of “Ding Guanpeng: The Buddhist Paradise” for his mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing, who was a devout Buddhist. In the smoke from the burning of incense, thousands of gods and Buddhas appeared simultaneously.
Being able to participate in such a solemn event, the ash deeply felt that its mission had been completed. When the incense ash lay quietly in the burner, it felt that its body was getting lighter and its perception was getting weaker. However, before it returned to nothingness, a powerful force pulled it back to the world.
A sudden burst of high temperature, that is, the glass liquid heated continuously at 1400 degrees, threw itself into the arms of the incense ash without hesitation, and quickly took shape under the wrapping. At the same time, it also integrated the incense ash, gold sand and silver foil into its round body.
Now the incense ash has a more fixed form, it has become a Chinese crystal bead. The high temperature has caused amazing changes in the chemical substances in the incense ash body. Now it no longer looks dusty, glossless, but lightful and radiant.
Monks classified the crystal beads according to color and endow them new and beautiful meanings. Yellow represents wealth, green represents career, red represents love, blue represents health, and white represents wisdom. Combining these five colors together represents perfection and harmony, can make the wearer’s wishes come true.
The incense ash of Lama Temple is believed to have sacred power. The crystal beads are engraved with auspicious symbols in Buddhism. The energy is enhanced through the eye-opening ceremony, making it more powerful to protect peace, eliminate disasters, increase blessings and improve Feng Shui.
With each ritual, the incense ash feels a stronger sense of mission. At this moment, it realizes that its journey is far from over. As a container born by chance in the universe, it will experience more unknowns with the invisible energy.