[Buddha-l] Re: Can Buddhists quit smoking?

[Richard Hayes]

On Saturday 07 July 2007 12:44, Erik Hoogcarspel wrote:

> The Tibetans in general don't seem to object to inhaling
> incense and even use it for medical purposes. I remember one particular
> case when a room was deliberately clouded with incense and the lama's
> seemed to enjoy it. The smoke also has agents similar to hashish.

Are you referring to the agents that contribute to lung cancer?

> In European
> churches the stench to be hidden was not so much from the living but mainly
> from the fresh graves of rich people who were buried inside the church.

So I have heard. It has been said that Christians began using incense when 
they were meeting in catacombs filled with corpses that had gone a bit 
overripe. Perhaps a rule of thumb (or rule of tomb) could be that if a 
Buddhist ritual is not being performed in a place occupied by corpses, then 
incense is optional. Moreover, in this age in which everyone but those most 
responsible for it are concerned with global warming, it might not hurt to 
point out that burning incense contributes to greenhouse gases. (Never miss 
an opportunity to make religious people feel guilty, that's my motto.)

Speaking of religion (again), I recently saw a television advertisement for 
the biggest evangelical church in Albuquerque. In the advertisement, the head 
pastor of the megachurch looked straight into the camera and 
said "Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship between man and 
God." (And so a religion is what? A relationship between ducks and geese?)

-- 
Richard