為什麼拜拜要用香？ Why do we worship with incense?

用香祭祀，是源於上古時代的「燎祭」。當時人們將珍愛的玉器、布帛、牲畜、以及燃燒時會散發香氣的薪材一起燃燒，用來祭天拜神，祈求遠離災難，保護生命財產安全。這種祭祀行為流傳至今，成為日常拜拜的用香文化。

Worshipping with incense can be traced back to the flaming festival in ancient times. Back then, people set fire to their cherished jade, cloth, domestic animals, and fragrant wood in order to worship their Gods or heaven. That was done to pray for good luck, chase away disasters, and protect their belongings. Such a practice still lives on and is known as our incense culture.

彰化南瑤宮  歷史照片1

彰化南瑤宮  歷史照片2

由於香氣具有雅正、端整、潔淨的能量，能夠很快進入大腦深層邊緣系統的杏仁核，讓情緒轉為寧靜安詳。香立於香爐中，也象徵天地人的秩序，點香拜拜時，由於心意虔誠，更容易放下小我意識，以謙卑的心禮敬一切，很快地，就能與靈魂我、高我、自性我等更高的意識連結。

Since the fragrance of incense has decent and pure energy, the scent can rapidly reach our Amygdala and thus calm down our moods. The incense stick that stands right in the middle of the incense burner also symbolizes the order of heaven, earth, and mankind. When we sincerely and humbly worship our Gods with incense, we can easily let go of our ego and therefore we can quickly connect to higher consciousness.

  

 當我們改變自己的內在，也就改變了對外在世界的觀點。因此拜拜用香，從外在形式來看，是禮敬莊嚴的神明與諸佛菩薩；但真正的意義，則是禮敬我們內在本自具足的自性佛。

As we change inside, we also change our viewpoints about the outside world. Consequently, on a superficial level, we worship Gods or Buddha with incense to show our respect; however, on the deeper level, we truly show our respect for our inherent Buddhahood.