Alan Watts: Get out of the mind once a day

(Simply Art- Inspire) Go out of the mind once a day: Alan Watts on Buddhist meditation

• Alan Watts every week on Buddhist Radio Los Angeles (Something's Happening honoring Roy of Hollywood Tuckman), Sundays at 8:00 am (PT) and Thursdays at midnight with Speech Impediment Buzz and Nurse Diane. FREE worldwide live online (kpfk.org) and in the archives for the following 90 days
• AlanWatts.org via Simply Art- Inspire (YouTube); Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Why's sacred sandalwood so expensive?

Jakarta Post; Business Insider | So Expensive; Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ancient Vedic, Hindu, and Buddhist wisdom all agree on ahimsa, or "nonharming," advising that we should be like the sandalwood (Santalum album) tree that sprinkles its sweet fragrance even on the axe that cuts it down. From time immemorial something special was sensed about the scent of the sacred sandalwood tree.

Why sandalwood is so expensive

(Business Insider, March 12, 2022) Sandalwood is one of the most expensive woods in the world: One kilogram of Indian sandalwood can cost $200. Its unique, long-lasting aroma makes it extremely sought after. And when that aroma is distilled into oil, a single kilogram can cost $8,000. Today, sandalwood oil is a coveted ingredient for perfumes, soaps, and incense sticks. What's so special about sandalwood's aroma? And is that why the wood is so expensive?

What's the use of incense?

(Margaret Brown/Flickr)

(Healthandyoga.com) It is worth wondering why incense has regularly been involved in various spiritual practices across religions -- Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, and more. One of the most important reasons is that it purifies the air. It also has an extraordinarily soothing effect on the mind. Just like candles brighten an area, the aromatic effects of incense offer tranquility.

Incense is said to have several medicinal effects as well. Many earlier civilizations used it as herbal medicine for treating various disorders. This, in fact, forms the basis of aromatherapy. Many natural incense ingredients [never their synthetic imitations] are used as primary medicine all over the world.

During meditation, incense is said to dissipate negative energy. Burning it helps create a positive state of mind and helps condition the mind to associate typical fragrances, such as sandalwood or frankincense, with meditative calm. Since successful meditation depends on the mental state of the meditator, incense can facilitate one's practice by adding relaxation and clarity.

Whereas a candle has a positive visual impact, certain fragrances impart positive impulses to the brain. More importantly these positive impulses, over time, become a natural [Pavlovian] response to that particular scent. The mind becomes "conditioned" to respond in a particular way when that scent is used. For the best effect the incense used during meditation should be of a special (non-synthetic) type used only during meditation. More>>

Danger: Incense

Long-Term Exposure to Incense Raises Cancer Risk

Amanda Gardner (HealthDay News 8/25/08)

Exposure to burning incense over long periods of time raises the risk of developing cancers of the upper respiratory tract, a new study shows.

Interestingly, the practice did not increase the overall risk of lung cancer.

"Given that our results are backed by numerous experimental studies showing that incense is a powerful producer of particulate matter and that incense smoke contains carcinogenic substances, I believe incense should be used with caution," said study author Dr. Jeppe Friborg, of the department of epidemiology research at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. "That is, frequent use in rooms where people live should be minimized, or at least sufficient ventilation should be secured. In our study, we find the increased risk of cancer to be present in individuals reporting frequent use of incense for many years, thus, repeated exposure for years should probably be avoided."

Some believe that incense does more than brighten a room with fragrance (Spiritual Science Research Foundation).

Others echoed the thought. "The American Lung Association is going to add it as a risk factor," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the association. "It's not nearly the danger of smoking a pack a day for 20 years, but it's a danger."

Not only is incense burned regularly as part of daily life in large swaths of Asia, the practice is also popular among certain segments in the West.

Incense burning produces particulate matter and is known to contain possible carcinogens such as polyaromatic hyodrcarbons (PAHs), carbonyls and benzene.

There have also been reports linking the burning of incense with cancer but the results have been inconsistent.

For this study, researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with more than 61,000 Singapore Chinese aged 45 to 74 who were cancer-free at the beginning of the study.

Incense burning almost doubled the risk of developing squamous cell upper respiratory tract carcinomas including nasal/sinus, tongue, mouth, and laryngeal. There was an increased risk both in smokers and in nonsmokers, pointing to an independent effect of incense smoke.

There was no overall increased risk of lung cancer, but it did heighten the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

Will incense go the way of tobacco? Not necessarily, said some experts.

"Certainly I think bathing yourself in particles is probably not the smartest thing in the world . . . but I think very few people fill up their room with incense," said Dr. Arthur Frankel, a professor of medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and director of the Cancer Center, Cancer Research Institute and Division of Hematology/Oncology at Scott & White in Temple.

The findings, which are in the Oct. 1 issue of Cancer, might also point researchers toward other household practices that should be investigated.

"It's a population-based study, which means that you can make an association but not necessarily a conclusion," said Dr. Erin Fleener, a clinical assistant professor in internal medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and an oncologist at the Bryan-College Station Cancer Clinic. "It probably promotes more work in the area of routine household items and things we need to be looking at more prospectively to make a clear cause-and-effect relationship."

In general, though, it's not a bad idea to avoid environmental pollutants of various types.

"Anything that affects air quality negatively is not a good thing," said Dr. Len Horvitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Burning in general and the release of smoke, these things are certainly to be avoided. At the very least, chemical irritants will set off asthma, and that's reversible. Cancer is not reversible."

"This is not unlike the type of risk that one experiences from secondhand tobacco smoke," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "At the end of the day, people who use incense casually, I don't think that's a cause for major concern, but those cultures which embrace incense as part of their daily lifestyles have to consider this has a real potential risk for cancer."

More information
Visit the National Cancer Institute for more on respiratory cancers.