香的前世今生 Before and after the incense is made……

 當你嗅息香的氣味時，可曾深觀這支香如何生成？如何來到你的手上，成為心底一抹悠長的馨香 ？

當你觸摸一支香，感受著它的質地、溫度、濕度、顏色、形狀、大小、長短；你已觸及天地萬有的滋養、支持與蘊生！

As you smell the fragrance of the incense, have you ever thought of how it was made and how it reached you to entertain you with bits of aroma? As you touch one incense stick, have you ever felt its texture, temperature, humidity, shape, size, and length? If you do, you have touched the sky and the land and are being nourished supported by mother earth!

  

一支香，蘊藏整個宇宙！

香的材料來自會散發香氣的植物，如沉香、檀香、丁香、乳香、龍腦、柏樹……，這些植物必須有陽光的普照、大地的支持、空氣的吸收、風的吹拂、雲霧雨水的潤澤。當所有的因緣具足時，植物的生命便會示現。每一片葉子、每一顆種子、每一段枝枒都已包含著地水火風空的元素，這些元素滋養並支持植物的生長茁壯。

 An incense stick comprises the whole universe!

The ingredients of incense stem from fragrant plants, such as agilawood, sanders, clove, frankincense, camphol, cypress, etc.. These plants require sunshine, earth, air, wind, rain, and even dewdrops. When all the conditions are right, the plants emerge. That is to say, each leaf, seed, or twig comprises the following five elements, including earth, water, fire, wind, emptiness. The growth of the plants relies on the support and nourishments of the above-mentioned five elements.  

 你撫摸每一種香材時，你已觸及整個森林、整個生態、整個宇宙。

 你嗅息每一種香材時，你已嗅息了陽光、空氣、大地、風、水的氣息。

Therefore, as you touch any ingredient, you have touched the whole forest, eco-system, and universe. As you smell any ingredient, you have inhaled sunshine, air, earth, wind, and water.

    香，被點燃時，火的溫度轉化了香的型態。香，成為香氣、輕煙、灰燼。一切似乎又消失了。但真的消失了嗎？香氣隱沒空中，青煙隨風而逝，灰燼回歸大地。香，用另一種存在……存在著。

    The temperature of fire transforms the state of the incense. Ignited, incense can turn into smoke of fragrance and finally ashes. Everything seems to disappear. But, do they really disappear? In fact, the smell goes with the wind and the ashes return to the earth. The burned incense actually exists in another form.

    

香的過去是陽光、空氣、大地、風、水的合和；香的未來會化為香氣、青煙和灰燼。但香，有過去、現在、未來嗎？其實，它們早就隱藏在你手上的這支香裡面。過去、現在、未來是同時存在的。

撫摸、嗅息、點燃一支香的時候，你既已參與香的過去、現在、未來；你也已經活在與香相遇的當下！

 Before the incense was made, it existed as sunshine, air, earth, wind, and water. After the incense is burned, it will turn into fragrance, smoke, and ashes. So, incense exists in the past, present, and future. As a matter of fact, the three tenses coexist in the incense stick you are holding.

Touch, smell, and ignite an incense stick, and then you can join the past, present, and future of the incense. Both you and the incense live at the moment!