Tibetan incense?

SattvaPaul

Can anyone recommend good Tibetan incense for meditation? I've tried quite a few and they were all nice but far too strong for my small room. I had to break them in little bits and open the window. I like incense with a herbal, earthy smell, not too sweet like the Indian ones.

Jeffrey

Why not use the Indian ones? Are you trying to bond with the traditions in Tibet to receive inspiration? If not what about keeping with the Indian?

SattvaPaul

Yes ;)

Indian ones are too strong, sweet and perfumed and they contain a stick. I love their smell but not for meditation and am worried about inhaling smoke from burning wood.

Theswingisyellow

I like Blue Sky and Red Crystal.
http://www.dharmacrafts.com/101xTB/Tibetan-&-Korean.html

federica

Excuse me, @SattvaPaul, the stick is actually bamboo, because ordinary wood burns too fast for the incense coating and "competes" with the fragrance.
the slivers of bamboo are extremely fine, thin, burns leaving an inner fibrous residue, and is not at all noxious.
Bamboo is so versatile, that it is used for making anything from scaffolding, to kitchen utensils and even acupuncture needles....

SattvaPaul

Thanks @Theswingisyellow. I'll check if they are available here (UK).

SattvaPaul

Thanks @federica, I didn't know that.

I_AM_THAT

Here is site that I have used in the past... I like the rope style, though it can be a little smokey... You can find incense from either Japan or India here as well, there is some nice videos on how the incense is made.

http://www.incense-incense.com/tibetan.html

Dakini

The juniper incense is nice, and it's not sweet. It's more subtle than commercial incenses.

JacobWanderer

Visit Hither and Yon at http://www.hitherandyon.com/ for excellent Tibetan incense. No bamboo stick inside, just pressed herbs. Akanistha is a nice sandal blend, Tibetan cedarwood is a popular woody, cooling aroma, or go with any of the medicinal healing blends like Medicine Buddha, arogya mahadhup or original healing. (ask for samples of non sweet ones, they love to give samples!)

SattvaPaul

Thanks @JacobWanderer. You sound a bit like an incense commercial :)
I mean it in a positive way, it made me go and check it out. I'm in UK, but many of those varieties will be available here.

I'm going to check out Chinese incense from my local Chinese shop as well, they sell it in big bunches and it's very cheap, but I'm not sure if it's healthy.

JacobWanderer

The bulk dipped junk that many countries make isn't healthy at all (glue, dye, bamboo). It was searching for "natural" incense decades ago that led me to Tibetan style no-stick incense, and yes I do sound like a commercial when it comes to the best natural incense I can find! http://www.hitherandyon.com/ is just a great place to shop from and they've been really good to me over the years :) Cheers!