香是一種療癒、修復、靜心、回歸、自在Incense helps us heal, recover, calm down, return to our original state, and stay at ease.

 香是一種療癒、修復、靜心、回歸、自在。真正的神明在內不在外，明白我們原本就是不生不滅、不垢不淨的自性之光，那才是香的真正意義。

Incense helps us heal, recover, calm down, return to our original state, and stay at ease. God exists inside rather than outside us. Incense leads us to realize the fact that we are never born and we never die and that we are neither clean or filthy in essence.

    

香是具祥瑞之氣的稀有聖品。 Peace emanates from incense, a rare treasure.

香是具祥瑞之氣的稀有聖品。

Peace emanates from incense, a rare treasure.

 在充滿祥和的氛圍中，就會轉換原本的感覺、想法，照見身心在當下的轉變，自然而然的，逐漸轉化內在的暴戾之氣，從緊張、恐懼、焦躁、不安中，昇華為安詳、篤定與恬靜。

In a peaceful atmosphere, our original feeling or thought can be transformed at the very moment. Naturally and gradually, our anger, anxiety, fear and fret can turn into peace and composure. 

一本特別的香道書，引你走入內在The special book on incense ceremony presents to you an inward path.

書名：《品香靜心》《The Fragrance of Incense Leads to Tranquility》

副標：築一香室、療癒、修復、靜心、回歸、自在的練習，找回最佳

的自己

Build up an incense chamber, and allow yourself to heal, recover, calm down, return to your original state, practice incense ceremony, and find the best of you!

沉香之美，氤氳無窮Agilawood is as captivating as can be.

    品一爐好香，可以修身養性、安神寧心。香不僅是中國古代文人的高雅生活，也是現代愛香人士的心靈安頓；而沉香在如此悠久的香道發展史中，始終備受青睞，其來有自。所謂四大名香─「沉檀龍麝」，沉香被列為首位，亦見其在眾香中的地位與價值。

Good-quality incense can calm us down and add pleasure to our life. Ancient Chinese literates enjoyed their life elegantly with incense and so do modern incense-lovers. In the long history of incense, agilawood has been thought highly of and there is a reason for it. Among the four famous incense materials, agilawood is considered the best, followed by sandalwood, ambergris, and musk. Presumably, the value of agilawood is greatly recognized.

心靜，則世界靜A serene state of mind leads to a peaceful world

 眾聲喧嘩的世界，紛紛擾擾，來來去去。

想讓世界安靜下來的唯一方法，

就是---

讓心安靜下來！

一縷青煙心自遠──香‧靜心‧情緒 Alienating from the mundane world------On incense, meditation, and emotions

         適當的情緒表現是與人相處的行為反應，但是基於某些原因，會害怕流動因而壓抑、漠視或切斷情緒，這些做法都會降低敏銳度及同理心。很多成人會忽略孩子的壓力和情緒反應，事實上，學童及青少年的壓力並不亞於大人，只是他們不善於說明。壓力會讓人肌肉緊繃、呼吸急促、腸胃不適、內分泌失調、失眠、焦慮、情緒化、容易哭泣……。這時，可以透過點香的方式，引導他們專注在呼吸上，讓香氣隨著吸氣進入身體，很快的就會感覺到身體放鬆。上班族在工作前點一支香，可為一天帶來美好的開始；午休時品一支香，補充耗散的體力，在緊張忙碌中，依然能夠保持愉快的心情；下班後點一爐香，釋放累積的壓力和情緒，修復流失的能量。

  

    

香---簡單又快速的提神良方 Incense---a simple and rapid tool to revitalize you~

   用香氣來治療疾病是20世纪70年代興起的新型療法，利用植物的根、莖、葉、花或果實散發出的氣味，來調節人的心理、生理機能，達到治療疾病的目的。波蘭「香味療法」協會會長瓦‧布魯斯介紹，利用香味療法治病有兩種方法：

Aromatherapy, based on the use of the all the parts of plants, cropped up in the 1970s and was utilized to cure diseases. It is believed that aromatherapy can regulate our psychological and mental functions and subsequently cure our disorders. According to the director of Polish Aromatherapy Association, aromatherapy can be operated in two ways:

香的價值知多少？ How much do you know about the value of the incense?

        藥材的好壞決定了香的品質，為了確保品質優良，避免買到劣質香材或假貨，必須從香材的產地、氣味、外觀、色澤、質地來判定原料的優劣。

    The quality of the herbs determines the quality of incense. In order to make sure the quality of the incense is good enough, we cannot pay more attention to the origins, scents, appearances, colors, and textures of the materials.

調一款2016年的上等平安好香 Creating the Incense of the Best Quality for harmony in 2016

    感謝大家對「研香師的香道世界」的支持，特地在2016年的農曆新年，以東方智慧的古法香藝，為大家調製上等好香：祈禱在馨香的祝福中，一切平安。

In order to thank all of you for your support of the blog, as the Chinese New Year is around the corner, we would like to deliver to you our most sincere wishes based on oriental wisdom through text--our precious incense. Wish you a joyful and peaceful 2016.

沒有宗教信仰為什麼要點香？ Why do those who don’t have religious beliefs burn incense?

道教、佛教會點香，天主教望彌撒時也會點香，華人更有「逢廟必拜」、「有拜有保佑」的心理，香已經成為宗教祭祀的符碼；但是點香拜拜，並不是宗教的專用形式。

  People who believe in Taoism, Buddhism, and Catholicism burn incense, and on the other hand, Chinese tend to worship any god in any temple for good luck. Incense, in one sense, has become a token with which people deliver their wishes in their own religious rituals; however, incense is not specifically used on religious occasions merely.

天然香的美學 Seeing Natural Incense from an Aesthetic Viewpoint

  現代香品製作的原料可分為天然香料與人工香料，在中國古代香藝的發展中，皆以天然香料為主；如植物的根、莖、葉、花、果實、樹幹、樹皮；動物則如麝香、龍涎香。

The ingredients found in modern incense can be roughly divided into two types------natural and artificial. In ancient China, natural incense was the mainstream, and the ingredients included the roots, stems, leaves, blooms, fruits, bark, trunks of plants as well as animal components, such as musk and ambergris.

香道--喚醒沉睡的嗅息覺受 Tao of Incense---Awakening the Sleeping Sense of Smell

          一般人很少把注意力放在五感的微細感受，對周遭所發生的一切經常是走馬看花、甚至是毫無感覺的。為了提高我們對事物的敏銳度，可以藉由品香過程

的氣味辨識，提高身體覺受及內在專注力。例如：吸氣時，感覺氣味如何進入鼻腔、進入肺部、進入身體；感受氣味前中後段有何不同、如何發生轉變；覺察氣味如何影響身體和情緒反應。透過這樣的訓練，可以開啟更精微的覺受力，讓自己從毫無知覺的麻痺式五感，提高為被動式五感，最後成為明察秋毫的主動式五感。

    Normally, people do not pay attention to the subtle changes in our five senses; that is to say, we may feel numb or nothing about the happenings around us. In order to enhance our sensitivity to all the occurrences, we can manage to enhance our sensitivity as well as concentration by distinguishing the scents in the process of appreciating the incense products. For instance, we can lead ourselves to notice how the smell enters our nasal cavities, lungs, and finally all over our body. In the meanwhile, we can also manage to distinguish the changes of the scents in the beginning, middle, and end of the process. Furthermore, we are also advised to feel how the scents affect our bodies and emotions. Through such training, we can sharpen our senses step by step and finally become more and more lucid.

 

物我香忘──由疏離走向合一的專注力訓練 Melting Yourself in Tao of Incense---a training for concentration

        對學習香道的新手而言，看到香案上各種不同的器具和固定的操作過程，大都會很緊張，害怕做不好而貽笑大方。香道流程是一種專注力的自我訓練，首先必須要放鬆、自然、專注、甚至帶著一種輕鬆的玩心，讓自己身心更為柔軟、舒適。有些初學者往往因為過度認真而顯得緊繃不自然，這樣就會讓香具、香材、香人三者各自疏離，無法全然合一。

To the novices in Tao of Incense, the incense instruments and the way to use them can fret them more or less, since they may fear becoming a laughing stock. As a matter of fact, Tao of Incense is a synonym for concentration. For starters, we should learn to relax, focus, and maintain a playful mindset. Some beginners are overconcerned, so much so that they appear not comfortable. In such a case, we may alienate from the incense instruments and the incense, and thus cannot be involved in the training process.