Buddha in the House

lobster

Managed to get Buddhas in the kitchen, bathroom, garden etc.
Do you have Buddha statues as ornaments/reminders?

Wisdom23

Love your buddha statues i have one in my bedroom which sits by my bonsai tree and one miniture one in my living room. My bonsai tree is a ficus retusa which is a member of the fig tree family i think, do you see where i am going with this lol. I have a buddha under a bodhi tree-ish lol

karasti

My gardens are a work in progress, but eventually I would like to have a nice outdoor type altar, at least for the summer. Right now, I have just a small Buddha with a few other things in a corner of the house. Tried to have a nice lucky bamboo with Buddha, but the dog ate it, so, all our house plants are hanging I did, however, put the new terrarium next to Buddha, which works out just as well. I enjoyed your pictures, @lobster! Thanks for sharing.

I_AM_THAT

We (my wife and I) have begun to take on an opposite approach. We are starting to remove many of the Buddhas we have around the house. In the beginning these were are great source of comfort and gave reason to reflect on what the Buddha did and how we too can achieve inner peace. Now we see these and many other objects as objects of attachment. We have an understanding that even though these objects are nice to look at, and are great reminders on what can be achieved, we feel that they are not a necessary item to our path. At some point in time, you too may think about your possessions and what they mean to you.

karasti

I think it just depends on the person. What is a great attachment to one person, is simply a tool or reminder for another. It is always good to look at your possessions and think about why you have (need) them and what to do about how you feel about them. But the things we are MOST attached to are often the things we most need to rid ourselves of, and how hard is that? I don't need my statue to meditate. I don't need anything except a place to sit. It's just a nice addition. I could easily get rid of any or all things on my little altar and be ok with that. But start getting into asking me to get rid of some of my favorite book collections, my computer/internet, the photos of my kids, my gardens, and we start to get into much more difficult territory, lol. So those are the areas I tend to examine. I like to think through the process of, what if a fire destroyed our entire home, reduced every single thing to ashes. What then? What would I miss most and what could I do without? In truth, I can do without everything in the house. not so much without the house itself, lol. But then we get a house and we have a need to fill it up with us, with the things we feel define and explain who we are. It's interesting to think about.

I love my phone the other day. Chances are, it's in my mom's car. It's been gone since Saturday. After an initial "oh no, where is my phone!?" I find I'm quite happy without it. If we didn't have a child with a medical condition that requires that I be available at all times, I wouldn't hesitate to not have the phone. Yet when I have the phone in my possession, thinking about not having it is brings suffering.

karmablues

I have a shrine in my bedroom filled with statues and pictures of the Buddha and famous Thai monks as well as some miniature glass stupas with relics of the Buddha and some arahants. Most of these I received as gifts from family and friends.

JoyfulGirl

I really want a picture of Khandro Rinpoche, and a Shakyamuni Buddha statue. But I do not have afford to buy a real statue yet.

lobster

By the powerlessness invested in me, expect to be empowered.

No money for Buddhas? Oh the humanity.
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book148/chap9.shtml

Tsk, tsk . . . First there is a mountain, we flatten it and bling - Mountain of jewels . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasudhara

I_AM_THAT said:

We (my wife and I) have begun to take on an opposite approach. We are starting to remove many of the Buddhas we have around the house. In the beginning these were are great source of comfort and gave reason to reflect on what the Buddha did and how we too can achieve inner peace. Now we see these and many other objects as objects of attachment. We have an understanding that even though these objects are nice to look at, and are great reminders on what can be achieved, we feel that they are not a necessary item to our path. At some point in time, you too may think about your possessions and what they mean to you.

Cool gal needs Buddha . . .
Win Win situation?

lobster

Here is a Buddha from my bathroom, grandma, China and shrine . . . not necessarily in that order . . .

JoyfulGirl

Buddha is in tha crib!

I love your buddhas lobster

Vastmind

In the backyard, bedroom, and bathroom.

lobster

At @Vastmind
You using a knife as a dorje? I use a letter opener, with a built in skull.
That faceless Buddha is dripping hot. Only one candle for her? TK Max?
Like the garden Buddha. Burn that incense. Worship the Buddhas. Get them working . . .

ericcris10sen

@lobster I love the 3rd picture! It seems so natural, and the statue just blends in PERFECTLY with the surrounding!

Vastmind

'.......which is often empty of all but water.'

You sure know HOW to say things!...hahaha
The captions to the pics were neat!
Thanks for sharing.

rivercane

I especially like the statues in the second and third pictures. Very nice.

One thing I've noticed, and this doesn't apply to anyone on this forum, just a general question I have, is that it seems that some Westerners who aren't practitioners will put a Buddha statue practically anywhere, such as a restaurant that serves alcohol and meat. Or a nightclub may be called "Buddha" or "Nirvana" or something and have Buddha statues next to people who are drunk and high and have no interest in spirituality. Is there some sort of protocol in regard to images of the Buddha? I remember hearing that in Japan the statue should be above your height or something like that but that's all that I've heard.

I wonder if some of the statues - again, not toward anyone here and I don't mean to be critical as I enjoy looking at images of the Buddha - are considered disrespectful by Asian Buddhists. I can tell that the statues pictured here are loved and respected.

lobster

People pay respect according to their level.
The ordinary person has little respect and ignores any sanctity or even has animosity.
The person with a little respect, recognizes something better and by association will have a name or image to 'bless' his garden, business etc.
The lowest level practitioner will start to have practice reminders.
The practitioner will have shrines, incenses and focal points.
The advanced practitioner will have highly charged activities, the images are now activated and beyond, mere bits of statuary.
The Bodhisattvas will see the a buddha in everything but will particularly songful in the company of venerated objects.
The Buddha and your cat, don't give a shit.

John_Spencer

On my shelf is a polished bronzed Buddha, just sitting.

Behind is a colour photograph of Timothy Leary up close, an old photo of an old man blowing bubbles, a painting of a photograph of a flower and a close-up of of daffy duck in a clip-frame.

Jeffrey

My cat sits on the zafu, ha