In TikTok, there was a clip of a lady tour guide who explained to a group of Westerners why Chinese burn joss sticks. She started by saying that people communicate by talking face to face to each other or if they were in different places, they could speak through the phone. Then, she went on to say that Chinese burn joss sticks to communicate with Buddha. Joss sticks are commonly used in tradtional Chinese rituals but when Buddhists use it, there perhaps is a tendency to communicate with Buddha. That is even though Buddha was a human and a teacher. Since he taught that one is the owner of one own's karma and have to walk one own path in life, there would be no point asking favour from him. Nobody, not even Buddha could intefere with one's karma no doubt. A Buddhist however is a mere human being and like most people, he probably could not help but start to communicate with him while offering the imcense. If only Buddha could grant everyone a heart-to-heart talk...
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