On 10/10/2011 08:34 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > Just as a question, how many of you out there in the > FFL audience still, to this day, light a stick of > incense and then, to blow it out, either wave the > stick in the air or wave your hand over it, to create > a breeze that blows out the flame? > > I caught myself doing this tonight. > > Immediately thereafter, I caught myself thinking, > "WHY the fuck am I doing this? Does it really > MATTER whether I blow this stick of incense out > by waving my paw at it, Dogbert-like, or whether > I blow it out with my human -- and thus so-much- > lower-than-incense-deserves -- breath?" > > I was unable to come up with a satisfactory answer. > So I pass it along to you in the FFL 'verse: DOES > it make any difference at all whether we blow out > a stick of incense by waving at it with our hands > or blowing it out with our own breath? > > I don't actually expect anyone to answer, but I do > suggest that the answers might have been interesting > if anyone were interested in questioning the things > we never question...
It's just part of tradition and considered rude to blow on the incense. No biggie just to put it out with a wave of the hand. It's not limited by any means to TM either. In tantra one is supposed to face east when meditating and bad to face south unless you are performing a siddhi such as Uchattan or Maran where it is appropriate. Which way to face was not a part of TM unless it was added after my time. We often don't mess with traditions since they are easy to follow.
