Mickey Hung

Common Concerns and Misunderstandings

When you walk into a temple, you often see elderly men and women—or devoted laypeople—burning incense. In Buddhist practice, this is generally called a fire offering. Within that, there are different forms: incense offerings, smoke offerings, and so on.

Smoke offering itself has two aspects:

• Offering Upward – what you see in temples during the day, incense given to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
• Offering Downward – often done by younger practitioners, burning incense outdoors by a river, on a balcony, or in a courtyard, with the intention of giving to wandering spirits.

The Question People Ask

Many students have asked me:
“If I do a smoke offering at night, will it attract ghosts?”

According to the Book of Three Lives, spirits are beings of transformation—they arise spontaneously, without fixed form, and they exist everywhere, like shadows.

Closing doors and windows may keep out animals born from eggs, wombs, or moisture—but it does nothing to keep out spirits. Unless you have deities or protectors enshrined in your home, spirits can come and go freely. If they wish to pass through, can you really block them?

Fear Comes from Misunderstanding

Spirits don’t come simply because you’re afraid. And they won’t leave you alone just because you avoid ritual. Even if you don’t make offerings, they may still be around—the only difference is their attitude.

When we perform a smoke offering, we usually prepare a cup of water, a little food, and three sticks of incense. We recite mantras like Om Ah Hum or the Smoke Offering Mantra. These acts are pure giving—an expression of compassion.

Through this practice, you extend kindness to all beings in the six realms. It helps ease conflicts, soften hostility, and even bring peace within families. This is an act of great love, embraced by both heaven and earth.

If wandering souls receive your compassion, why would they harm you? Perhaps your fear is only imagination.

Why Spirits Seek Us Out

The Book of Three Lives explains: spirits are drawn to us because of karmic debts carried over from past lives. If such debts exist, you cannot avoid them.

But if you share no karmic ties, then your smoke offering simply becomes an act of generosity, helping them move on from suffering.

In that case, the result is entirely positive: you gain merit. And when your own life ends, those very spirits will guide you forward and clear the path.

So, should you be afraid of making offerings at night? Not at all.
Smoke offerings are not about inviting trouble—they are about sharing compassion.

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晚上做烟供，怕不怕招来阿飘？

＃烟供忌讳

熊神进，风水课程导师，执业30多年

我们常常在寺庙看到公公婆婆, 善男信女上香, 这些上香仪轨在宗教上, 叫「火供」, 「火供」是一个总称, 它还分为烟供, 香供, 而烟供亦有「上供下施」的说法。「上供」是白天寺庙里公公婆婆在烧香，「下施」是年青人在河边，阳台烧的香。

有学生问，晚上做烟供，会不会招来亡灵？

《三世书》说，鬼是「化生」，「化生」是如影随形，无处不在。门窗关，就是把卵生、湿生和胎生关起来，如果家里没有供养地主， 土地神，佛菩萨，「化生」亦可以自由进出， 「化生」要去的地方，你有可能挡住？

「化生」是很玄的，不是因為你害怕，牠就接不到你的信息，衪就不来打扰了，所以你晚上不做烟供，衪也会来，只是来的心态不同。

做烟供，我们会放上一杯水，一些食粮，三粒烟供香，我们会念「吽啊嗡」「烟供咒」等，这些都是布施，你们做的是大爱，益及众生， 布施給六趣，小人，令你读书顺心，夫妻解怨，你们是行善，天地共容， 鬼魂受你的大爱， 又怎会伤害你，是不是你想多了？

《三世书》说，亡灵要来找你，就是因为你累世种下的业， 你想避也避不了，如果你没有累世跟衪种业，你做烟供，就是一种为众生的超度， 你是有福报， 当你离开阳间，衪们给你开路， 一路好走， 明白吗？