About Ganden Khenpa

Known for its medicinal and purifying properties, Ganden Grass, or Ganden Khenpa in Tibetan, has been used in monasteries and by every Tibetan household for nearly 600 years.

Originating from the sacred grounds of Gaden Monastery, Ganden Khenpa is also called the “Obstacle-Clearing Grass”. At a time when Tibet was plagued with illnesses, the great Lama Tsongkhapa cut and scattered his hair on the ground. Where his hair fell grew the herbal Ganden Khenpa, which has been used for generations for healing in traditional Tibetan Medicine, and made into incense for purifying spaces and for making offerings to the Buddhas.

About Incense and Incense Offering

Across all Buddhist traditions, incense is one of the most common and basic substances used as offerings to the Buddhas and enlightened beings. Within Tibetan Buddhism, incense is typically used as an offering to the Three Jewels — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It is also employed as part of Buddhist ritual to purify offering substances such as water, food and light.

In traditional Tibetan Medicine, incense is often used as a medicinal substance to treat certain ailments. Due to the healing qualities of its ingredients, Tibetan incense can soothe and calm a mind affected by depression, restlessness, anxiety and stress. Specific incense formulas can also be beneficial for common complaints such as migraines, cough, dizziness and insomnia.

On a spiritual level, the offering of incense reminds us to hold our vows purely and creates the causes for us to do so. In Buddhist thought, morality is considered to be one of the Six Perfections of a Bodhisattva practitioner. As such, it is one of the keys to reaching full enlightenment.

“Incense offerings should be done daily and consistently with great confidence in the supreme Dharma that liberates our mind from all sufferings and to the holy sage Buddha who has traversed over samsara.”
– Tsem Rinpoche

As we make incense offerings to the Buddhas, we generate the merits to become like them and hold our vows perfectly. This collection of merits is based on our Bodhisattva aspirations, and will lead us to the realisation of higher views which sees the faults of serving oneself as opposed to serving the needs of all sentient beings.

Therefore, offering incense of the best quality with the highest motivation may seem to be a simple spiritual act, but it leads to higher insight, integrity of practice, consistency of practice, generation of merits, and the ability to hold our vows which leads to the generation of higher attainments and insight within our mindstream.

Further Reading

• Amazing Ganden Khenpa
• Incense Offering to Dorje Shugden by Tsem Rinpoche
• Smoke Offering Prayer to Dorje Shugden by Ganden Serkong
• Tibetan Incense & Vows (video)
• 10 Herbs Used as Incense for Healing and Purification