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Altar Stupa.
Ethan_McCune
Explorer
I really wanted to make a little Stupa for my altar rather than buying one. Does anyone have any advice or a tutorial link on how to do this? Thank you.
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Comments
You could buy it bundle of Tibetan incense and rebundle it into what's called an "incense stupa" - it looks like a layer cake. Ill pozt a picture of mine if you like.
I think Fede's stone stupa is an awesome idea.
You could make clay out of flour and roll your own...literally.
You'd remove the label if you bought one.
I use mine as the incense offering for my permanent offerings. I have another stupa that represents enlightened mind on the shrine.
You could certainly make your own.
It uses what is referred to as "Tibetan incense". You can get it at any Indian gift store. It's not too expensive and you can burn the leftovers.
Here for the computer savvy is how to make your own . . .
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/BuddhistYAP
When only the best will do . . .
:wave:
1. What would a permanent offering be?
2. Do stupas represent different things? If so, what might they be?
What does a stupa do for you? Do you need it to practice? I'm not being provocative, I just don't feel I need one, maybe you could persuade me otherwise.
P.S. I like to mediate in secret as the in-laws wouldn't condone such nonsense if they found out.
I started like you. I didn't see the needs for altar stupa. I created one anyway to make my meditation room looks solemn, elegant, formal. But slowly, I started to pray or talk to Buddha and bodhisattva and it feels good. So now I pray regularly because it makes me feel good.
Praying is talking to Buddha and meditating is listening to Buddha. So you only do the listening part. It's only one way of the conversation.
Stupas on a shrine should represent enlightened mind. I already have a stupa for that. The incense stupa on my shrine is an offering of incense. The stupa shape isn't all that important.
http://yinyana.tumblr.com/post/31454196568/elements
:wave:
http://www.reversespins.com/Tibetan_Altar.html
http://www.thranguhk.org/buddhism/en_8offerings.html?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=600&width=1050
Is it to to alter the stupid mind? Pun intended.
Don't get me wrong, TB is great, it's where I started and I love it when I get the chance to meditate in front of an alter with all the offering bowels in a genuine shrine room with a big golden statue and Thangkas and everything else, but... I don't feel that it is necessary and like a fast car, if you remove the rear seats and other paraphernalia, it might just go faster than the ones with the pink dice and the garfield on the window.
However, as I am in love with the imagery of a Thangka at the moment (it's my smartphone background image, and people think i'm into buddhist porn - which I suppose I am in a perverse way) I may rethink this alter ego is the way forward
What is the best way of erecting this image:
Ok so it is a ressurecetion, but still...
Mettha
North Americans sometimes find the dry English sense of humour annoying.
You know someone may come along looking at buddhism and thinks oh look someone has posted a thread about making or buying a stupa - so golly gosh I gotta get a stupa to be buddhist - no guys you gotta understand how to end suffering, the rest is paraphernalia.
This stupa is about the representation of enlightened mind, I have been informed - and I have yet to be presented with any evidence that it is of any value, other than because it sits on an alter. Tell me it is something you meditate on and I might get it.
Please Please Please don't take offence. It seems every time I probe a little deeper on this subject someone gets a little more offended. I question everything, and right now I am asking for someone to give me some kind of decent reply to a simple question.
I may have a dry sense of humour but at least it's a sense of humour. Annoying as it may be @robot. I won't tell you what annoys me about North americans because you wouldn't understand what I had to say.
This was a serious enquiry. I'll abstain and leave you to reflect on your stupa that sits on that shrine of yours.
Mettha
Just as their Guru/Lama IS the symbol they represent (the Buddha).
If you go on pilgrimage and circumnambulate a Buddha and it turns into a stupa, wouldn't you come back with a souvenir?
Mr Cushion says he is a stupa. Ouch!
First, the links are awesome. Great work!
As far as what the actually offerings should be, it depends on a number of things.
For example, rice is a tradional part of these offerings, but I don't use it as we have occaisional rodent incursions and that attracts them. You could use other grains such as millet. Some folks will use white sand. I use juniper leaf tips.
For fragrant water/perfume, some people use safron, but that can get a little expensive, even though you only use a couple threads. You can also use water with a little shredded tea leaf.
Food offerings should be of a "peaceful" variety candies, light-colored cookies, shortbreads, etc are all fine. There are tormas that represent food which is what I use because of the aforementioned rodents.
Flowers can be real (fresh or dried), artificial, or again represented by flower tormas.
Music can be a conch shell or a small musical instrument. I've seen small, cloisone, guitars, or smal model instruments such as a violin used.
Light can be anything that represents light.
Incense can be a single stick, cone, or a small pile of powdered incense. There's also a arrangement where several stick are used - two upright and parallel with two more crossed in between. Then, of course, there is the incense stupa torma I mentioned earlier.
As far a stupa goes, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche taught that a shrine should have, at the minimum, three elements; these are representations of enlightened body, enlightened speech and enlightened mind. These are usually a statue of the Buddha, the words of the Buddha (sutta/sutra) and, of course, a stupa for enlightened mind.