zahir

Ouducation Student
As I receive my Kinam heater, I am forced to rethink a questions that I frequently ask myself:
-What is the role of agarwood in my life?
-Do I solely love agarwood as a fragrance or do I find all fragrances enjoyable?
-Are fragrances enhancing my life by allowing me to focus more on what truly matters to me or are they a large distraction taking me further away from my primary goals?
-Can I do better goods, that benefit the needy, with the amount of $ that I spend on agarwood?
-Do I really need this much agarwood, oil, perfume in my life?

Love to hear your thoughts and to make this a lively discussion.
 

zahir

Ouducation Student
Personally, I concluded:
-Fragrances should enhance my quality of life but more often than not, the amount of TIME THAT I SPEND ON ENJOYING THEM ends up making it more difficult for me to do the things that truly matter to me.
-I am still not sure if I would genuinely feel more happiness and contentment for spending the same amount of $ on helping others.

Overall, I am still a bit undecided if I will continue to spend the same amount of time and $ with the fragrances, slow down or stop altogether. Perhaps I will pause all further purchases and find the right balance of time between using fragrances and things that truly matter to me before I move forward any further.
 

EJayB

True Ouddict
I believe in Balance
If you spend all your time helping others you might find your own personal life out of balance. If you spend not enough time helping others you might feel something missing in your life ( not true for everyone ☹️)
Everything should add to your life experience not take away from it.
Once a person grows their oud collection to a certain size with enough great examples it’s less appealing to keep spending as much because it’s just unnecessary and of course you should make a donation to a worthy cause before buying another bottle of an oud you already have 5 examples of .
Vendors want everyone to keep buying all the time but I’ve been here long enough to see the pattern of people buying a lot then a little then just the ones that really stand out.
I don’t buy as much as I used to and am building my collection of personally distilled ouds so I’ve switched to buying wood not oil.
But I’m still a sucker for Habzoud oils and just can’t stop myself from buying them and have never been let down! Waiting on a package now🤦🏻‍♂️
 

zahir

Ouducation Student
Vendors want everyone to keep buying all the time but I’ve been here long enough to see the pattern of people buying a lot then a little then just the ones that really stand out.
I think I'm somewhere between the 2nd and last stage. Except that I am primarily spending on incense sticks (as they constantly provide great value). But like you mentioned, there are some vendors who only roll out quality products so the temptation to keep buying from them is too much imo lol.
 

DubOudh

Aster Oudh
I think I'm somewhere between the 2nd and last stage. Except that I am primarily spending on incense sticks (as they constantly provide great value). But like you mentioned, there are some vendors who only roll out quality products so the temptation to keep buying from them is too much imo lol.
Agree about the incense sticks.
Hav really taken to burning them this past few months and they are terrific.
 
If I could, I would like to have an aura of wonderful scents around me all the time, but fresh air is quite rewarding too.
Sometimes though, life throws me a twist and exposes me to foul scents, that’s when I try to practice the control over attractions and repulsions.
So for now, Agarwood and Dehn Al Oudh is here to stay😉
 

zahir

Ouducation Student
If I could, I would like to have an aura of wonderful scents around me all the time, but fresh air is quite rewarding too.
Sometimes though, life throws me a twist and exposes me to foul scents, that’s when I try to practice the control over attractions and repulsions.
So for now, Agarwood and Dehn Al Oudh is here to stay😉
But why agarwood and not other aromatics or other forms of staying fragrant like perfumes, bakhoor, essential oil diffuser, candles, etc?
 
My first sentence states “Wonderful Scents”, that covers all that you mentioned, and more, like fresh flowers.
But I wanted to connect my statement to the title of your thread.

Indeed, Agarwood is just a part of my scent journey, which began when I was a young teen, I would head straight to the cologne/ perfume aisle at my local Mart, and start opening the caps for a sniff. My parents had quite a collection too, which I got a noseful of. Then I started my own collection, and for my wife, in my twenties.

As for naturals, no flower wherever I was at, was neglected. From my early youth to today.

It’s in my genes because my daughter is the same way.
 

punmaster

True Ouddict
But why agarwood and not other aromatics or other forms of staying fragrant like perfumes, bakhoor, essential oil diffuser, candles, etc?
The unique and subtle nature of Agarwood is what keeps me coming back. I’m always awestruck asking myself , how can smells such as these come from wood? Sure, other materials smell nice but I’m always trying to explain what Agarwood smells like using other scents . I know this can be said for any material, but there’s just this subtlety in Agarwood oils I don’t find in any other perfumery material. At times I may smell one thing in an oil and something totally different that slipped my mind on another day. There’s also depth and a unique resinous quality that evokes a sense of calm I personally don’t get from other aromatics.
 

punmaster

True Ouddict
That being said, I completely agree with getting a few examples of oils from any particular region. There’s a tendency to go overboard or be a “silent-ego”collector of the things I like. Basically just ticking off the boxes of wether my collection has this or that . I have to remind myself to look at those who have less.

Discipline and a sense of balance is a must. After having collected enough oils, rarely did I find something exceptionally unique . Sure , some things better here and there , or notes reshuffled, but nothing that I’ve not somewhat experienced on the Oud scent spectrum. Imagine if we can go back to the days we 1st discovered artisanal oudh. B50k was the one for me, but I digress .

Anyway, very nice post. :)
 

The Scent Guru

Agarwhoreder
Staff member
As I receive my Kinam heater, I am forced to rethink a questions that I frequently ask myself:
-What is the role of agarwood in my life?
-Do I solely love agarwood as a fragrance or do I find all fragrances enjoyable?
-Are fragrances enhancing my life by allowing me to focus more on what truly matters to me or are they a large distraction taking me further away from my primary goals?
-Can I do better goods, that benefit the needy, with the amount of $ that I spend on agarwood?
-Do I really need this much agarwood, oil, perfume in my life?

Love to hear your thoughts and to make this a lively discussion.
I try not to think about it too intensely. It (agarwood) has become as much a pleasure in ritual as aroma. Balance as was said. I also collect fragrance and apparently incense too. It's definitely more than just an obsession of odor with agarwood and Oud oil.
 

zahir

Ouducation Student
I try not to think about it too intensely. It (agarwood) has become as much a pleasure in ritual as aroma. Balance as was said. I also collect fragrance and apparently incense too. It's definitely more than just an obsession of odor with agarwood and Oud oil.
Balancing is the hard aspect for me! Especially trying to balance the time I spend on monkoh sessions with agarwood and incense sticks. I feel that they require the most time to learn, appreciate and enjoy!
 
As I receive my Kinam heater, I am forced to rethink a questions that I frequently ask myself:
-What is the role of agarwood in my life?
-Do I solely love agarwood as a fragrance or do I find all fragrances enjoyable?
-Are fragrances enhancing my life by allowing me to focus more on what truly matters to me or are they a large distraction taking me further away from my primary goals?
-Can I do better goods, that benefit the needy, with the amount of $ that I spend on agarwood?
-Do I really need this much agarwood, oil, perfume in my life?

Love to hear your thoughts and to make this a lively discussion.
My theory regarding this topic is that aloeswood or the entire domain of fragrant woods in general is that it's harder to immediately appreciate unlike the Western (or even Middle Eastern) attitude towards fragrance. As someone from urban East Asia where the influence of the Western zeitgeist runs strong, I have been made to understand that most of the people there associate the smell of aloeswood and other fragrant wood smoke with the smell of musty temples that they visit briefly on vacations- a smell that these people do not really like.

In other words, fragrant woods are very much an acquired appreciation rather than something that is inherently enjoyable, and I detest people who, either by ignorance or for marketing, tout aloeswood as something inherently enjoyable/intuitively pleasing/viscerally positive. It's not, at least for most people.

Why do you think Japan has the tradition of Mon-koh and koh-do? Do you expect me to believe that those koh-do masters went through all that trouble of classifying woods (rikkoku gomi), patting down ash, and carefully placing charcoals inside of censers just to experience something that is obviously enjoyable? Obviously not. The point of mon-koh and koh-do is to focus on your organ of breath such that you can catch the complexities of the scent that emanates from a carefully heated piece of wood.

In this way, the point of Japanese-style incense, koh-do, and mon-koh are meant as a form of meditation and focus- not as what it has in my view become. It has become this beating around the bush of wood quality, the *rarest* and most *psychoactive* breeds of wood, and all sorts of nonsensical talk in this vein.

The idea of heating wood or burning incense and carefully picking apart the notes is meant to get you into a meditative state BECAUSE in order to smell you need to focus on your breath; as a matter of fact that is how meditation is done. That does not mean that aloeswood or kyara is somehow psychoactive or of a "higher" kind of fragrance 😂

So I never take folks seriously when they claim kyara or aloeswood is psychoactive. It's a misinterpretation of the idea of mon-koh through lens of hippie pseudo-science backed up by very very general (i.e. borderline imaginary) scientific research about the woods themselves. Just because GCMS reveals that kyara has different compounds in it than ordinary aloeswood does not back up the claim, in any way, shape, or form, that kyara is really a "higher" or "superior" scent. Whatever you feel about the topic is purely personal and as a result of the mon-koh/koh-do process.

Therefore, when discussions here pop up about getting the "real" kyara or being disappointed at Japanese incense companies for not throwing their entire stock of centuries-old fragrant wood into a single box of incense, I see the shadow of greed because all this tells me is that the people who do this don't actually care about mon-koh and the art associated with it, they're just looking for "real kyara," which is really no different than hunting for rare jewels or historical pieces of jewelry.

So let's answer the question of why some of us have so much aloeswood and incense. Simple! It's because different incense houses blend different ingredients in different proportions and we appreciate the artistry of a well-blended stick. Same thing with aloeswood except we appreciate its unique characteristics instead of a man-made blend. There are real complexities associated with the scent of aloeswood and kyara and that's what we like about it, namely, that a single ingredient has this much complexity and variety in itself. If you can make this kind of appreciation a healthy and sustainable part of your life, all the better for you. If it becomes an obsession tainted with avarice and greed, all the worse for you.

Also, it's your money, so you can do whatever you wish with it. Your conscience regarding the way you spend your money is nobody's business except yours.
 

language scent

True Woodict
My theory regarding this topic is that aloeswood or the entire domain of fragrant woods in general is that it's harder to immediately appreciate unlike the Western (or even Middle Eastern) attitude towards fragrance. As someone from urban East Asia where the influence of the Western zeitgeist runs strong, I have been made to understand that most of the people there associate the smell of aloeswood and other fragrant wood smoke with the smell of musty temples that they visit briefly on vacations- a smell that these people do not really like.

In other words, fragrant woods are very much an acquired appreciation rather than something that is inherently enjoyable, and I detest people who, either by ignorance or for marketing, tout aloeswood as something inherently enjoyable/intuitively pleasing/viscerally positive. It's not, at least for most people.

Why do you think Japan has the tradition of Mon-koh and koh-do? Do you expect me to believe that those koh-do masters went through all that trouble of classifying woods (rikkoku gomi), patting down ash, and carefully placing charcoals inside of censers just to experience something that is obviously enjoyable? Obviously not. The point of mon-koh and koh-do is to focus on your organ of breath such that you can catch the complexities of the scent that emanates from a carefully heated piece of wood.

In this way, the point of Japanese-style incense, koh-do, and mon-koh are meant as a form of meditation and focus- not as what it has in my view become. It has become this beating around the bush of wood quality, the *rarest* and most *psychoactive* breeds of wood, and all sorts of nonsensical talk in this vein.

The idea of heating wood or burning incense and carefully picking apart the notes is meant to get you into a meditative state BECAUSE in order to smell you need to focus on your breath; as a matter of fact that is how meditation is done. That does not mean that aloeswood or kyara is somehow psychoactive or of a "higher" kind of fragrance 😂

So I never take folks seriously when they claim kyara or aloeswood is psychoactive. It's a misinterpretation of the idea of mon-koh through lens of hippie pseudo-science backed up by very very general (i.e. borderline imaginary) scientific research about the woods themselves. Just because GCMS reveals that kyara has different compounds in it than ordinary aloeswood does not back up the claim, in any way, shape, or form, that kyara is really a "higher" or "superior" scent. Whatever you feel about the topic is purely personal and as a result of the mon-koh/koh-do process.

Therefore, when discussions here pop up about getting the "real" kyara or being disappointed at Japanese incense companies for not throwing their entire stock of centuries-old fragrant wood into a single box of incense, I see the shadow of greed because all this tells me is that the people who do this don't actually care about mon-koh and the art associated with it, they're just looking for "real kyara," which is really no different than hunting for rare jewels or historical pieces of jewelry.

So let's answer the question of why some of us have so much aloeswood and incense. Simple! It's because different incense houses blend different ingredients in different proportions and we appreciate the artistry of a well-blended stick. Same thing with aloeswood except we appreciate its unique characteristics instead of a man-made blend. There are real complexities associated with the scent of aloeswood and kyara and that's what we like about it, namely, that a single ingredient has this much complexity and variety in itself. If you can make this kind of appreciation a healthy and sustainable part of your life, all the better for you. If it becomes an obsession tainted with avarice and greed, all the worse for you.

Also, it's your money, so you can do whatever you wish with it. Your conscience regarding the way you spend your money is nobody's business except yours.
a bee can rant to a fly about how honey is better than shit but the fly will always prefer the shit lol but you tell me, is honey better than shit??? only way shit is better is if your looking for some shrooms LOL....i know countless people who have smoked cannabis and cant get high. if kyara doesnt give you any effects its not kyaras fault, its either you have not acquired a psychoactive or a mind numbing piece yet or a very bliss inducing piece or you are not sourcing real or high grade kyara or simply you are non responsive to kyara for different reasons.

you should realize one thing tho, spend thousands on this wood and experience it for a couple years and come back with a more well rounded idea because obviously you dont seem to have had more than a couple sessions experience or maybe just have bought some etsy stuff that never hit the spot.

regarding the western views of agarwood i agree not fully tho, depends on the piece of wood and heating method. but not when it comes to kyara. 60% of my kyaras dont smell anything like the agarwood i have heated. i have some pieces that will blow anyones mind and there exist way better pieces than what i have for sure. explosions of gardens of flowers with otherworldly aroma where only a mcdonalds fan would not like the perfectly cooked wagyu steak. if the west is nosewashed by synthetics, that is not an argument against quality lol it just says that some people like mcdonalds better than some chef cooking with some top ingredients. lets not mistaken high grade ingredients as being "opinions and personal" things when they are a standard

@zahir bro, you have spent a lot of time like most of us collecting woods and oils. see what you love most and stop it there. you will have enough still for a lifetime. the problem is when we get the idea that we need more and more when we already have things that we have not even mastered their aroma yet. enjoy what you have and even sell some of the things you have too much of. or just use things up and enjoy them while you start doing what you feel was held back by collecting in the first place. i havent bought kinam in so long and it feels great lol i feel complete and i know so much to explore still...but truth is it will never be enough if going by this mindstate so chosing to know when to stop is a big thing.
 

Musk Rahil

True Ouddict
@zahir bro, you have spent a lot of time like most of us collecting woods and oils. see what you love most and stop it there. you will have enough still for a lifetime. the problem is when we get the idea that we need more and more when we already have things that we have not even mastered their aroma yet. enjoy what you have and even sell some of the things you have too much of. or just use things up and enjoy them while you start doing what you feel was held back by collecting in the first place. i havent bought kinam in so long and it feels great lol i feel complete and i know so much to explore still...but truth is it will never be enough if going by this mindstate so chosing to know when to stop is a big thing.
i need this motivation everyday
 

EJayB

True Ouddict
How much wood do people burn in a years time ?
How much oud oil does an average Ouddict use in a year?
I burn probably a little more then a kg a year of wood , yes that’s every day use ( just about )
I use around 1.5 Tola a year oil , I have a pile of empty 1/4 Tola bottles sitting around!
How about others consumption levels?
 

mesOUD

Resident Artisan
How much wood do people burn in a years time ?
How much oud oil does an average Ouddict use in a year?
I burn probably a little more then a kg a year of wood , yes that’s every day use ( just about )
I use around 1.5 Tola a year oil , I have a pile of empty 1/4 Tola bottles sitting around!
How about others consumption levels?
My oil usage i didnt observe but it is more than 3-4 tola/year
Burn;may be 600-700 grams/year
I also burn different kind of resins
 
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