The brassy timbre of a Tibetan prayer bowl
reverberating round the shrine room,
the sultry fragrance of burning incense
wreathing the implacably still features of the icon,
the living, flickering candle flames
pooling light in haloes around the shrine,
exuberantly colourful floral offerings,
the heady aroma of anointing oils,
the chanting of mantras filling the silence
with depth and reverence. . . . .
.
All the accoutrements of ritual
serve one simple purpose.
Their overpowering sensory impressions
bring one back to the moment,
this moment, the only moment,
opening the doorways of perception
to Presence, the One Presence,
and heightening the preciousness
of this simple act of devotion
to that which is greater than one’s self.