In traditional Chinese culture, burning incense and worshiping the Buddha is a very common way to pray for blessings, regardless of whether they are young or old, they will light incense candles in the temple, kneel in front of the Buddha, and tell their wishes.
If you have a wish to say to the Buddha, you must have a pious heart, otherwise the Buddha will not help you realize your wish.
However, many people only know to tell the Buddha their wishes, but they don't know that in addition to their wishes, they also need to say two words when burning incense and worshiping the Buddha.
Many people don't know this detail, resulting in not being blessed by the Buddha.
If you don't know, you might as well find out together!
The origin of burning incense and worshipping Buddha
Looking at the history books, Buddhism was not a mainland religion at the earliest, it first originated in ancient India.
The founder of Buddhism was a prince of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kapila.
Speaking of the prince's name, Siddhartha Gautama, everyone is relatively unfamiliar, but he also has a name, Shakyamuni, I think everyone has heard of it!
According to legend, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, he had a dream.
He dreamed that he had stepped on a colorful cloud and had come to the heavens, and he saw many people with golden lights sitting around here.
After waking up from the dream, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty asked the ministers, what is the description of this dream?
The learned minister said that there was a god in the Western Regions, and people called him Buddha, and the Buddha could bless the local people from illness and disaster.
When Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty heard this, he felt that it was necessary to invite the Buddha back to bless my people from illness and disaster, and to bless the longevity of the Han Dynasty.
Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty asked his ministers to go to the Western Regions to invite Buddhist disciples and some Buddhist scriptures, and gradually built a temple in Luoyang, which is now the "White Horse Temple".
It was also from this time that the people of the mainland began to believe in Buddhism, and until now, people also worship at the temple to seek peace and good luck for themselves.
The first word: Nam no Amitabha
"Nam no Amitabha" is a Buddhist mantra that many people have heard, but they don't know to say it when worshipping the Buddha.
"Nanwu" has the meaning of submission in Buddhist scriptures, "Amitabha" has the meaning of immeasurable, and "Buddha" is a general term for enlightened people.
So the meaning of this statement is that we should turn to this enlightened person and rely on his guidance to eliminate the troubles and karma in our hearts and thus attain a happy life.
In Buddhism, enlightened people live in a very beautiful and happy world called Western Elysium, and the administrator of this world is Amitabha Buddha.
He once made 48 wishes, hoping that all people could be freed from the sea of suffering and no longer suffer from suffering.
There is also a small story about the origin of Amitabha.
It is said that once upon a time, there was a staff member who had many long-term workers under him, and one of them was named Ami.
Ami is honest, and he works carefully and carefully, and he is deeply liked by the outside, and because of this, Ami will not accuse him if he does something wrong, and he will not be fined for his wages.
One day, there was a long-term worker who accidentally lost the piglets when he was herding pigs, and he was afraid of being punished outside the staff, so he didn't dare to go back to his house crying.
When Ami saw it, he told him not to worry, I'll take the blame for you.
In this way, Ami told the staff that because of his carelessness, he lost a piglet, and hoped that the staff could deduct it from his salary to make up for the loss of the outsider.
The staff is very rich and doesn't care about a piglet, so he said it's okay, just pay attention next time.
After this incident, everyone knows that Ami is kind-hearted, plus he is biased outside the staff, whoever does something wrong, as long as he asks Ami for help, Ami is definitely willing to take the blame for him.
There are more and more such things, and it's a little strange outside the staff, why has Ami, who used to be serious, always make mistakes recently.
One day, the clerk deliberately broke a plate, and he called the long-term workers and asked angrily who did it?
But none of the long-term workers came forward to admit it.
Later, the staff said that if no one admits it, then everyone will deduct their wages.
As soon as these words came out, everyone discussed, what should I do? And they are all accusing the long worker who broke the plate, how not to admit the mistake.
Later, Ami stood up, and he said that he broke it himself, and he should not deduct everyone's wages.
The staff already understood what was going on, so they told Ami that they would look for him after work.
After Ami finished his work, he went to the outsider, and the outsider asked him, I deliberately broke this plate, why do you say that you broke it yourself?
Ami said that other long-term workers are supported by their parents, wives and children, and they have heavy responsibilities on their shoulders, and deducting wages will affect their lives.
I'm the only one, and it's okay if I'm full or not, so it's okay to take the blame for them.
After hearing it, he felt very sorry for Ami, so he was going to celebrate Ami's birthday so that he could also experience what it was like to have a family.
At Ami's birthday party, a dirty, abscess-covered man came, and he grabbed the food on the table and ate it, ignoring the others.
When the staff saw him, they asked the other long-term workers to drive him out, but they didn't expect the long-term workers to dislike him for being too dirty, so they drove him away with wooden sticks.
Seeing this, Ami hurriedly stopped him, saying that I would carry him out.
I saw that as soon as Ami carried this person to the door, the sloppy man turned into a golden Buddha statue, and Ami also flew into the sky and never returned.
When everyone saw this, they all said, Amitabha.
Later, people also wrote "Amitabha" as "Amitabha".
It is recorded in Buddhist scriptures that when people chant "Nam no Amitabha", Ami can hear it, and he can help people cleanse themselves of sins and fulfill their wishes.
According to the Buddhist scriptures, Ami lives in the Elysian World, where the Buddha and Bodhisattva lived, and the world we live in is the world of Buddha, and the two worlds are 108,000 miles apart.
If a person in the world wants to go to Elysium, he needs to go through continuous practice before he can reach Elysium after death.
People in the world need to go through the torments of birth, old age, sickness, death, love and hatred, and they also have to go through constant reincarnation, suffering from the seven emotions and six desires, but the people of Elysium can help them get rid of these sufferings and become Buddhas.
Buddhists often recite "Nam Mu Amitabha" to express their inner yearning for the world of bliss, and at the same time, by reciting this word, to clear their minds and eliminate distracting thoughts in their hearts.
When Buddhist disciples recite "Amitabha", they will also put their hands together, which is also a way to express their piety.
When we ordinary people burn incense and worship the Buddha, we can also eliminate distracting thoughts in our hearts and obtain the blessing of the Buddha.
The second word: gratitude
If a person wants the Buddha to bless you, if you want the Buddha to bless you, you need to learn to be grateful and be grateful for everything you encounter in life.
When we burn incense and worship the Buddha, we ask the Buddha, and at this time, we must not accept the Buddha's blessings in vain, but learn to be grateful.
There is no such thing as a pie in the world, and if you want to get something for nothing, the Buddha will not respond to your request.
A Buddhist disciple once told us that the Buddha is the embodiment of compassion and love, and that they only help those who know how to be grateful.
I once heard my grandmother tell a widely spread folk tale about burning incense and worshiping Buddha.
Fifty miles south of the city, there is a village where the people believe in Buddhism, and they go to the temple every few days to burn incense and pray for safety.
There is a rich man named Wang Dazhuang in the village, he is the most superstitious Buddha worshipper, he believes that only by worshipping the Buddha well, his wealth can continue to flow.
One day, Wang Dazhuang heard from others that there is a temple in the next village that is very effective, and the incense is continuous, and going there to worship the Buddha will definitely be able to fulfill his wish.
So, Wang Dazhuang hurried home to prepare incense candles and silver taels, and prepared to worship the Buddha.
Wang Dazhuang thought that only by burning incense on his head could the Buddha see his sincerity, so he hurried overnight and finally came to the temple when the sky was bright.
Who would have thought that there was already a pillar of incense on the incense table that had been lit.
He wondered who was earlier than me, so he decided to come and burn incense at midnight the next day.
But it turned out that a pillar of incense was still lit before him.
In desperation, Wang Dazhuang knelt in front of the Buddha and asked the Buddha:
Who is the head pillar incense? What should I do to make incense?
At this time, a voice came, Wang Dazhuang listened carefully, "I want to grab the first pillar of incense, Nanshan to find the answer."
Wang Dazhuang felt that this was a hint from the Buddha to himself, so he went to Nanshan to find the answer.
When he arrived in Nanshan, Wang Dazhuang wandered around for a long time, but he didn't find an answer, so he just rested on the baked cake stall on the side.
The seller of baked cakes was called Zhang Hai, and I saw him start the pot and burn the fire, and soon cooked two fragrant baked cakes.
Wang Dazhuang was going to get it, but he didn't want Zhang Hai to say that these two baked cakes were not for sale.
Wang Dazhuang said, I have money, I can pay a very high price to buy your baked cakes.
Zhang Hai's face still did not change, and said, these two baked cakes are for my parents to eat, and they are not sold for any money.
Wang Dazhuang asked, is there anything special about these two baked cakes? Why do you have to give it to your parents first?
I only heard Zhang Hai say that honoring your parents is the top priority, if you don't have your parents, how can you be where I am today?
After listening to Zhang Hai's words, Wang Dazhuang suddenly realized that he also understood what the Buddha meant by the head pillar incense, so he hurriedly packed up his things and went home.
Wang Dazhuang, who returned home, no longer clings to the incense of the head, but accompanies his parents and is a filial child.
Wang Dazhuang is grateful for the kindness of his parents, and everyone in the village says that he is a filial son.
And Wang Dazhuang, who knows how to be grateful, also began to take out his savings to help the poor in the village who had no money, and everyone praised him as a great benevolent person.
Slowly, his fame spread throughout the village, and his business became bigger and bigger, and he accumulated more wealth.
In fact, the reason why people burn incense and worship Buddha is nothing more than to seek spiritual comfort.
When encountering something, it is better to ask God for divination, or to burn incense and worship Buddha, it is better to ask yourself.
As long as we usually do more good deeds, be worthy of our hearts and deeds, and be worthy of heaven and earth, then good fortune will come naturally.