Placement of Buddhas

bodhi66

I have a Thai girlfriend/fiancee. Since meeting her online in June I've been to Thailand 3 times, so I somewhat know the customs. In Thailand, you are supposed to place Buddhas above head level, usually on a shelf on the wall. I have several Buddhas that I've been collecting and they are pretty much all over. Well recently when I showed my gf on skype where I placed some Buddhas, she said no no they must be above the head, no feet pointing towards it, none in the bedroom, etc. Jokingly I told her we don't do that in America, but I don't really know. So my question, are there American customs for placement of Buddhas? Or superstitious on the Thais part? When I was in Thailand in April I did buy a shelf for this purpose for when she comes, but it won't hold all my Buddhas

Takuan

Buddhism is still way too new in the states to have any sort of customs with regard to the placement of Buddhas. With that said, many people will emulate the cultures their schools of thought come from.

I_AM_THAT

There are some rules to consider... The general Thai culture regards feet as something dirty or low form, thus you never point or use your feet to point at anyone and specially at monks or images of buddhas. Also you never touch the top of anyones head since this is the most sacred part of the body. I Thai Monk told me that an image of the Buddha should be placed so that it is above the waist when addressed in a standing position and above the head when addressed in a kneeling or sitting meditation position. He also stressed that you should never be naked in front of buddha, and if the only place that you can meditate or place your buddha is in your bedroom you should cover the buddha when not being used for mediation or some other practice. Most of the rules fall on the level of respect for the culture, buddha and the practice.

I am American and currently live in America, but will be moving to Thailand in 2013 when I retire. My personal altar is placed above the waist line so it will also be above my head when in meditation. I also have a cover for it in case I have company over so that it will not be viewed by others, but my meditation is done in a separate room so I can close the door. I also have other statues and pictures throughout my home, and these too are at or above eye level when standing.

bodhi66

@I_AM_THAT... that is very good info, Thanks!

vinlyn

If you were in Thailand, I'd follow Thai customs just to make life easy. But you're not, so I'd just think through carefully if you are showing respect to your Buddha statue(s). When I lived in Thailand for 2 years, I followed Thai customs, but it was mainly to get along with my Thai partner. Here I do not.

person

I agree with @vinlyn. I think these rules are mostly about respect for the images of Buddha.

David

I feel Buddha can be quite comfortable anywhere. If in another country or here I wouldn't go rearranging somebody elses statues and I wouldn't rearrange mine to suit somebody elses hang-ups.

vinlyn

The Thais do obsess about it, and similar things. One of my Thai friends went ape-shit one day because I slipped a few baht bills (money) into my sock for safe keeping while we were out walking (due to pickpockets). Oh my goodness...money has the picture of the king on it!

David

Why would being close to the feet be worse than being close to the genitals?

vinlyn

LOL...or your ass in your wallet!

Invincible_summer

I guess Thais would rather have someone's groin or ass in their face than the soles of someone's feet pointing at them from across the street? Interesting...