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Altar set-up, High? Low? What's on yours?

HubrisHubris
edited August 2011 in General Banter
Many people have altars/shrines set up in their homes either as a point of faith(display) or place of meditation/worship.

So, that led me to wonder what others have in their homes, and how they utilize them. There's a wealth of internet info out there on this topic for how-to's.

As far as I have learned the Buddha should be just higher than eye level when sitting on the floor/chairs, that's just for starters. There are other things, I guess based on which aspect of Buddhism you are studying, that are integral to one's altar. Fresh water offerings, flowers, maybe even food/fruit, the list goes on.

One Tibetan lady I had encountered suggested saying Om ah hum when placing new things on my altar, and thus I started doing that any time I moved or placed objects there as a point of ritual or during cleaning of the area.

This is mostly just curiosity about what objects people gravitate towards or revere - besides the obvious statues, and the importance thereof of having an altar or shrine in the home.

Namaste'

Comments

  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    edited August 2011
    Here's a picture of the altar in the small meditation hall out behind the house. Center above is Gautama. Lower left is Kuan Yin. Lower right is Jizo. Between Jizo and incense burner is a red-tailed hawk feather.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    Low. At chest level when meditating. Just a simple little side table I found with an embroidered silk altar cloth, a small Buddha statue, an incense burner, and a candle.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited August 2011
    Between Jizo and incense burner is a red-tailed hawk feather.
    Just so you know, it's illegal in the US to own or possess the feather of a raptor (or any migratory bird, for that matter) unless you're a Native American using it for religious purposes. Not that the Feds are going to break your door down to retrieve it, but it *is* illegal. :)
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    Between Jizo and incense burner is a red-tailed hawk feather.
    Just so you know, it's illegal in the US to own or possess the feather of a raptor (or any migratory bird, for that matter) unless you're a Native American using it for religious purposes. Not that the Feds are going to break your door down to retrieve it, but it *is*
    illegal. :)
    It was a gift from a fellow Zen student who found it while hiking. If this is the worst way in which I ever break the law, I figure I'm ahead of the curve. :)

  • HubrisHubris
    Here's a picture of the altar in the small meditation hall out behind the house. Center above is Gautama. Lower left is Kuan Yin. Lower right is Jizo. Between Jizo and incense burner is a red-tailed hawk feather.
    Wow! That's beautiful.

    @ Mountain Re: Raptor feathers, who knew? I have a friend that found some and cherishes them as well, he did not kill the bird, however I guess the burden of proof is on the owner of said father.
  • HubrisHubris
    Erm, I meant feather.
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