For many years, Great Wave has followed the tradition of lighting a long stick of incense prior to each period of zazen. As of this month, however, we have begun to burn only one stick per evening (or one stick per block of sitting periods during retreats). In the near future, we will also begin to use reduced-smoke and/or “smokeless” incense sticks exclusively. As well as being shorter than normal, these sticks contain a higher quantity of charcoal–which means they burn at a higher temperature and produce up to 70% less smoke.
