The saying "burn more incense, provoke more ghosts" means that the more incense you burn, the more ghosts and gods you attract. Some ghosts and gods will not only not protect you, but will bring more disasters.
In ancient times, burning incense to worship the Buddha was a very serious matter, and it was common to burn three incense sticks, not a large handful. Because burning incense is a sincere heart, if you have any other thoughts, even if you burn more incense, it is useless.
For example, a great evil man who does nothing evil, when he is doing bad things, in order to seek peace of mind, he runs to the temple to burn incense and worship the Buddha, deceiving the gods. Do you think such a person will be rewarded? Such a person cannot seek Buddhahood, but will encounter ghosts.
Through such a simple thing as burning incense, the ancestors told us a profound truth, that is, a person should find the right way to do things, stick to his heart, and cannot harbor evil thoughts and find the wrong direction.
If you don't go in the right direction, it will go against your goal. This saying has a deeper meaning, that is, to be down-to-earth and do what you can.
With the development of the economy, many people will look for spiritual satisfaction, and they often go to the temple to burn more incense. When I see others burning three incense sticks, I want to burn more of my own to overwhelm others and let the gods see my piety, but this is actually a kind of vanity, not a real burning of incense to worship Buddha.
There is such a story among the folk. It is said that in a remote mountain village, two people often pass by the temple. One of them believed in gods and Buddhas, and every time he passed the temple, he had to enter the temple and bow down religiously.
Another person scoffed at his actions, disrespected the gods and Buddhas, and sometimes even used the Buddha statues in the temple as stepping stones when the river was at high tide.
However, after this immortal saw this matter, he cast his magic power, and these two people had different encounters.
For the person who is devout in Buddhahood, this immortal has caused him to have constant minor calamities, but no major calamities. And the other person, the immortals, left him to fend for himself.
The little child next to this immortal looked very strange, so he asked strangely, why is this so? This immortal said that if a devout Buddha encounters a small calamity, he will burn incense and ask me for help, and I will help him solve it, and he will be more religious.
And the latter, even if they encounter a fatal disaster, will not have the idea of burning incense. If you encounter such a god and Buddha, can you still be called a real Buddha? How is this different from a ghost? Isn't this just praying to God to worship Buddha and worship ghosts?
In fact, the above story tells us that it is better to ask for others than to seek ourselves. Blessings and misfortunes in this world depend on each other, sometimes ghosts and gods are not terrible, what is terrible is the ugliness of human nature.
Therefore, we must always be vigilant, believe in ourselves, save ourselves, and cross ourselves. Only by crossing oneself in life can one cultivate the Buddha in one's heart.
There is a saying that wine and flesh pass through the intestines, and the Buddha keeps it in his heart. What I want to say is that as long as we have Buddha in our hearts, have good intentions, control our desires, stick to our original intentions, and abide by the rules. In this way, even if we do not burn incense or seek Buddha, we can still live openly, and good luck will not be far away from us.
In fact, Buddha is nothing, everyone has a Buddha in their heart, and this Buddha is yourself.