Spiritual Cultivation and Movement
Do you have to compete to offer the first incense? How should collective offerings and the first incense at home be understood?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
You do not have to compete to offer the first incense. Besides the first offering on Lunar New Year’s Day, there is also a customary understanding that the first incense offered at home each morning is the “first incense.” If going to a temple is inconvenient, you need not feel that you have lost every opportunity to offer your prayers.
At Sheng Zhen Men, we also make collective incense offerings: everyone offers incense and prayers together, without pushing or competing to be first. From my understanding of the faith, the significance of the first incense lies in one’s belief and the shared intention of those taking part. It is more than a ranking, and being first certainly does not guarantee good fortune throughout the year.
I once thought about trying it myself, but after considering the long wait, I decided against it. I have never competed to make the first offering. Seeing people rush so urgently that they even fall makes it worth asking whether prayer really has to take this form. Offering incense together with sincerity also has meaning. There is no need to turn being first into a source of pressure.