Ah, the gentle tinkle of a tiny temple bell, the whispered chant of a Buddhist  prayer, the barely visible thread of smoke from an incense stick.  What could be more relaxing?

Oh, I forgot the yell from above:  “Put that bloody joss stick out!”

I exaggerate, of course.  There was no yelling but there was plenty of heat generated when a resident of a very posh apartment block complained about the smell of incense emanating from a balcony several floors below, belonging to Flatchatter Josh.

See, one evening a week Josh’s Buddhist partner prays for a few minutes and lights incense.

The owners directly above and to either side have never complained but up on the umpteenth floor, one resident has asked the executive committee to order the ceremony behind closed doors because of the smoke.

Now, the committee sensibly decided this was beyond their remit.  They could order someone to stop breaching a by-law but what by-law exactly was being breached?

Furthermore, people smoke on this block’s balconies all the time and barbecues are frequently fired up on this building’s balconies, even though nothing clings to upholstery quite like the stink from last week’s burnt fat.

Perhaps this resident was hypersensitive to perfumes – which is a genuine allergy – but there was no ban on excessive use of hairspray or cologne before getting into lifts.

To be fair, according to Wikipedia, studies conducted in Taiwan found intense and continued use of incense in enclosed spaces increased cancer risks (among temple monks, perhaps?).

However a study in Hong Kong found incense use did not cause respiratory problems and was, in fact, statistically associated with reduced cancer risk in smokers, although devout Buddhists’ vegetarian diets may have had more to do with that.

So what’s the solution?  Given that the owner upstairs knows exactly when the incense is headed their way, they could always close the door for a few minutes every week.

Otherwise, normally I would normally recommend mediation, but for some reason meditation seems more appropriate.

There’s more on this and other hot topics on the Flat Chat Forum.

A version of this article may also appear on the Sydney Morning Herald’s online pages and in the print edition of Domain.