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do you have an altar in your house?? if so what does it consist of?
Cheers!
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The first with the standard lamps is in my sitting room.
The second, more or less dedicated to Tara, is in my bedroom.
Fede
I have a portable altar - it's a vajra pendant my friend brought back from India for me long before I began practice.
Is this where you have your meditation sessions?
Now the dog thinks it's free game to bite the Buddha's head off, and inevitably whenever I burn incense a housemate shouts "It's smells like a pothead's flat, who is burning incense?"
I haven't yet found an incense that pleases the roommates.
A painting I did of a rooster "wake up", books, aromas and lamp for meditating, cards from sangha, card with buddha, some special things two cups to fill with water at special times. Fake flowers to elevate the mood.
/\ Amelia
Initial file size was too large I guess.
They are all so beautiful. Mine is rather, well, crappy in comparison.
It's in my bedroom.
In metta,
Raven
in the centre is a carved wooden statue of Amida Buddha, standing as is the tradition in Jodo Shinshu.
On the right is a candle (albeit an electric candle) and to the right of that a small gong. To the left of the Amida, is a small vase with flowers, and to the left of that a Nenju (mala) stand.
I used to have an incense burner front and centre, but over the last year or so I have started getting migraines from incense, so no more incense at home. (We use it at the Temple of course, so I tend to get a migraine there as well
On a shelf above the O-butsudan are pictures of our cats that have passed on. Traditionally photos of family members who have passed are placed near the Shrine, but none of my family are Buddhist, so I choose to not have my Father, or grandparents picture there.
Below the O-butsudan is a shelf with my Seiten's (Sutra books) I use a chair at this shrine.
I also have two portable Butsudan's, and a small table with a stone Amida seated, and a meditation bench. Since meditation isn't really practice of Jodo Shinshu, I only occasionally use this.
Where did you find that desk? It's awesome too.
In metta,
Raven
:thumbup:
It sets on an old sewing machine (closed of course), teak-wood box, that my grandfather brought back with him from Thailand, in the background for looks, row of wax flowers against it, small Gautama Buddha surrounded by tiny cloth flowers.
I really don't like using artificial flowers, but I use what I can get. :-/ In the spring, however, I like to pick azaleas and other flowers to put on the alter.
~Meg
I've been thinking of making a small one but I don't have a Buddha statue (yet) and if I made a shrine it would probably be closer to a Shinto one than a Buddhist one.
As far as where to get your first Buddha statue, there are many excellent sites online. I would recommend the Dharma Shop (although I just checked the statue section and a few items are mislabeled), Snow Lion Publications, and Sharchen Imports. How to choose it is another matter
Just so you know the "laughing Buddha" is not a Buddha at all, but rather a Chinese bodhisattva with a similar name - Budai, also known in Japan as Hotei. This is a common misconception. Of course if a statue of Budai is what you feel drawn towards, there is no reason not to have that as a support to your practice.
I don't have direct experience with the Aro gTér sect but I have studied Dzogchen so this branch of Tibetan Buddhism is actually quite interesting to me. It sounds like something I would research more and then decide if I wanted to attend an event or teaching. You could check it out and see how you feel. There aren't any commitments to attend only one center, or only one kind of Buddhism.
Also I am glad Hotei reminds you of your son and makes you smile, that is a lovely association. Quite appropriate since I think some of the folklore tales mention him carrying candy to give to the children of the villages!
* it was improvised.
No flowers. I have a cat! :wtf:
The main character on the scroll is "river."
I have been using a seiza bench for some time instead of a zafu (better for my legs and lower back I think).
The shakuhachi I currently play is a cheaper model, though I have recently ordered another one (it hasn't arrived yet). I sometimes will play something simple on it before zazen.
I don't have it anymore though... It was impermanent =/
-A confused newbie
Namaste _/|\_
_
Usually we put the statue or picture of Sakyamuni Buddha, because we want to honor the person who re-discovered the Dharma and had so much wisdom and compassion for all sentient beings that he decided to teach them. However if you want to put an image of Amitabha Buddha, Medicine Buddha, Vairocana Buddha, etc. instead it's perfectly alright. They all direct us to the Dharma, and are reflections of Sakyamuni Buddha.
@prettyhowtown
It's perfectly alright to have images from different traditions. I have Theravada Sakyamuni image, a Chinese Mahayana Kuan Yin, a Japanese Jizo, a Tibetan Green Tara, and an image of HHDL as well as my lama. Perfectly alright. The only issue I have is that it looks like a high school art project.
The shrine is on the East most wall of my bedroom. From left to right is a small votive candle representing Fire, small slanted bowl for water offerings, a heart shaped piece of hematite my girlfriend bought me, my mala, Incense burner box representing air, Box lamp w/ heart sutra in japanese, my juniper bonsai representing earth, and a small composition notepad with chants and sutras. My 5inch Buddha statue will sit in front of my incense box once I receive it in the mail.
Namaste _/|\_
The other pic is the altar in the zendo:
Above is a black statue of Gautama. Below left of the incense burner is a metal pressing of Kuan Yin. To the right is Jizo.
Here is mine I also have the Hindu goddess Lakshmi on there which I pray to I'm
A Tibet Buddhist so I have seven bowls I offer every morning and put them away before sunset u can see the bowls stacked up on the left side.
@Dalia2016 this thread is nearly 6 years old. You already posted a thread on a Shrine, so I'll just bring this to your attention, because obviously you weren't aware of it....