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Altar or shrine area
Jainarayan
Veteran
For those of you who have altars or shrines, do you have it secluded in a closed off room or have it secluded or closed off in any way? The only area in my (small) house is in a corner of the dining room section of the combined living room dining room, or "great room". I'm not wild about it being in a public area, especially since I have two dogs and a cat, and when the tv is on, meditation is virtually impossible (even with foam earplugs). An article I read on setting up a Daoist altar said not to permit animals or loud speech in the area. I presume that applies to a Buddhist shrine also; some Hindus get their saris and dhotis really twisted over the subject. Unfortunately I have no choice. I have a set of folding Japanese screens in front of my shrine corner, but I was wondering what other people do and how they view it, considering that the bodhisattvas, deities and the Buddha himself are present everywhere.
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Comments
If other people are disturbing you with t.v. have a family metting and discuss this and or adjust your meditation routine.
Things will work out. dont stress.
Loud speech, dogs, cats, shooting stars, bike riding ... the universe does not stand still for even the most virtuous pursuits.
For my money, you've got it right: Do what you can when and where you can. Be attentive and respectful and determined ... that is enough.
Once my kids were grown up enough the altar has been in many places in the home- tucked out of the way in a corner in the living room, on a shelf in the family room, back in my bedroom, etc. It was a migrating altar! LOL
These days, with the youngest recently moved out (again) I will be setting up my Buddhist altar back in the spare bedroom- now that it's 'spare' again.
I keep a guest bed in there for the occasional sleep over with grandkids, but otherwise it's "my" room - for reading, music, meditation (if and when), and my Buddhist altar.
But any room is a good room for an altar as far as I'm concerned.
I recall reading-- gosh, some 18 years ago-- I think I read it in Octavio Paz' book on poetics, The Bow and the Lyre-- when he lived in India as an ambassador for Mexico and he witnessed Hindu (IIRC?) priests chanting during some special occasion, but the villagers continued bathing in the river, washing clothes, and other ordinary activities. At first Paz thought the villagers acted disrespectful, as if they did not care about their own religious tradition, but then it dawned on him that the sacred and the profane consisted of this very "ordinariness."
@Jainarayan - Maybe you could think of your ecumenical shrine in the same way -- where may you find this division between the sacred and the profane? Why separate it? Perhaps that approach might work for you. ~Allen Ginsburg, "Footnote to Howl"
yeah the asshole cant be anything but holy LMAO!!!
:thumbsup:
My mom follows feng shui rules and it always telling me that having my altar at the end of a hallway is giving it too much free flowing energy that will disrupt my meditation (though I have not had a problem). So, everyone has some kind of rule they follow, lol. We can only do what works for us. I think Buddha would rather you have a place to practice at all. It's not as if he would be likely to stop for a visit and tell you you are better off not practicing if your shrine happens to be in a busy room.
If you place an altar in a private area then it will represent the same thing but with less worldly distractions.
Since the Buddha clearly asked his followers not to build images of himself, seeking altar location info from most Buddhists is sketchy at best.
on the floor in front is a tibetan singing bowl.
A while back I had such an elaborate shrine that it was actually distracting. Now its very scaled back and I feel more tranquil whenever I see it. I would recommend you simplify yours like you said whenever you feel up to it.
Ever played that game? You sit in a circle, one person leaves, somebody is chosen and then has to keep asking questions of the group: If this person was a . . . etc . . . until ready to guess . . .
A shrine is a personification or reflective evocation of ourself in sacred idealisation. :thumbsup: