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Building your own altar
Jerbear
Veteran
Hello All,
I don't post often as I am back to work and getting involved in my real world sangha. But this is something I thought would be really appropriate for my electronic sangha. What goes into building your own altar? Also, if you have pictures of your altar, please post them. I am going to start doing the 3,000 bows and wanted an altar to do it at. My teacher said I could do bows since my back is in pretty bad shape after surgery. It isn't whether you bow or prostrate, it's the state of one's heart during the action. Any help on this would be appreciated.
I don't post often as I am back to work and getting involved in my real world sangha. But this is something I thought would be really appropriate for my electronic sangha. What goes into building your own altar? Also, if you have pictures of your altar, please post them. I am going to start doing the 3,000 bows and wanted an altar to do it at. My teacher said I could do bows since my back is in pretty bad shape after surgery. It isn't whether you bow or prostrate, it's the state of one's heart during the action. Any help on this would be appreciated.
0
Comments
Here's ours. It's more decorational than ceremonial. It's pretty high up, and there's no dedicated sitting area in front of it. It's more of a reminder than a functional altar. Either way, this is where we light our candles and incense when we feel like creating a more relaxing atmosphere in the house. First pic is a closeup, and second is how it fits into our living room area.
THis is my 'Altar'... All the Buddhas I either bought for myself, or were gifts from NicK....
And Fede - I love your altar! It's beautiful.
The big central bronze/copper one at the back, was bought for me by Nick at an antiques fair. Unfortunately, the vendor had polished all the patina off it, so it's a little 'brassier' than it should be. We live in rented accommodation at present, but when I have my own bijou residence (!) I'll build a secluded 'shrine' in the garden and place it there.....
The green wooden figure to the back/right, is a statue of Green Tara, and Nick bought me that for my birthday this year.... the card behind it contains information about Tara, and a homage/prayer to her he found and downloaded from the 'net....
The small sitting Buddha in between them is also a gift from him.... he saw it and thought of me.....
The glass cube at the front right was also a gift from him, but from a time before we'd really started going out together.... It also has a sentimental value, and it's so romantic! He was in love with me, though he hadn't declared it yet, and I with he.... though I wasn't conscious of it - or I wouldn't admit it to myself...... but I digress....
The fat Chinese porcelain Buddha to the right, infront of Tara was from my elder brother, and there's a little minature bronze chinese Buddha infront of it. that's the first Buddha I ever bought myself. All the others, including the Elephant Ganesha at the front right, are acquisitions over time......
The two candle lamps are Ethiopian, and were a gift from my Mum.... The smoky quartz egg is from a crystal shop that tried to tell me it was moonstone.... and the circle of turtles is there to 'protect' Nick's watch when I give him a hand massage - !!
The bell to the extreme right is also special.
It was made specifically for me by a family of bell-makers in Bali. They hand beat the metal, but make various components according to the phases of the moon, and to coincide with certain positions of the person's stars and whatnot, according to their astrology.... The Moon has a definite effect on things, regarding pull, magnetism etc.... so it took 18 months to make, all in all. It's 85% solid gold, and the ring is indescribeable.... I use it for meditation, space-clearing and Chakra-diagnosis/re-balancing..... It's quite astonishing that, whereas most people have no worries about picking up my Buddhas to look at them more closely, which is fine.... the objects aren't sacred after all.... everyone, but everyone steers clear of handling or touching the bell. And I was instructed right at the beginning to be very selective about whom I permit to touch or use it. but I haven't needed to do that! people just seem to decide for themselves to leave it alone!
As I have said before, I tend to make the setting up of a visual focus, altar or whatever, part of the daily preparation for meditation.
Can someone please tell me what the purpose of an "Offering bowl" is?
I'm not sure what an offering bowl would be for though. At the Buddhist priory and the meditation group I go to they both have much bigger altars on which they also have fresh fruit so I guess this could go into a bowl of some kind. Any one else know ?
The woman commented on how beautiful and simple the arrangement looked. The Receptionist, with no malice or unkindness, replied:
'You see, the problem with some westerners is that they try to fit too much Heaven into one Vase.....'
When I have a bigger house, I will distribute my Buddhas more evenly, and also go for the simple look.
THE ABOVE WAS ACTUALLY POSTED BY FEDERICA....! *Embarassed giggle!*
An offering bowl, or an incense holder, is for making offerings to the buddha. Not Siddartha Guatama, but the buddha within. These offerings are highly symbolic, most monks just use water (a beautiful ceremony involving a series of bowls). Also fruit, flowers, etc. may be used. It is a practice to bring the spirit of giving to the surface for meditation.
I really like your altar. That would be the perfect size for our place as we have too much junk around. I kept thinking it had to be something really ornate from one of local Eastern stores. Yours is simple which is what makes it so special.
Federica,
Very cool statues.
Ajani, That is exactly why I like to use the'footprint'. Try it: wet your bare foot and make a single print on the ground in front of where you will sit to meditate. It will slowly dry up and disappear as you sit.
http://www.accentsinthegarden.com/religious2.html
http://www.craftsinindia.com/products/blessing_buddha_statue_life_story14.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/HOT-SALE-SUPERB-19TH-C-TIBETIAN-BRONZE-BUDDHA_W0QQitemZ7355421825QQcategoryZ2194QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://www.dealtime.com/xPC-Buddha_Statue
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0004LVTDM/102-5565279-9160913?v=glance
http://www.awakenings.co.uk/buddhist_gifts.htm
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/601-3699809-6979312?asin=B0004LVTDM
http://www.jatakkatha.com/shop/buddha_statue.htm
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=ENDECA&SEC_IID=11149&N=0&keywords=buddha&x=0&y=0
http://www.nextag.com/buddhas/search-html
http://www.shopzilla.com/8B--Figurines_-_cat_id--13020213__keyword--buddha%20statue
Hope some of these help. They go all the way from obscure shops to Target!
-bf
Yodamama,
Yes, I did send you those links a long time ago because I care for each and every person out here - even the ones who are wrong because they don't agree me ME!
Hope you find what you're wanting. If not, I have some fabulous crayon drawings of Buddha I will sell you for only $39.95!
-bf
Damn!
Foiled again...
-bf
I was given a booklet at the temple that explained how to set up an altar in the zen tradition. I guess the simplicity of it all ties in with the zen tradition.
It's also easy to keep clean as there's not much to get dusty !!
I shall have to ask the teacher at my temple then how to set one up. We're a relatively new Zen temple and don't have any booklets. I just thought yours was quite functional and nice to look at. Your welcome for the compliments.
Here you go :
http://shastaabbey.org/pdf/placeomed.pdf
There are a lot of other useful publications on the Shasta Abbey website if you go to : http://shastaabbey.org/pubs.html
Kind regards,
Adrian
I got my info to set up my alter from, www.yogichen.org/efiles/altar.html
I haven't figured out how to post a picture yet, so I can't show it to you. Mine is not much to look at anyway, but I had hoped to post a picture of the alter at the temple I go to. Its beautiful, the Buddha statue is huge. The Buddha faces south, but I think that is because of the shape of the shrine room. If I get a chance I'll ask them for more info for you and for me. I'm sure the Monks wouldn't mind the questions or the picture. Its been in the paper and on their web-site. I'll work on it.
My two Buddha statues came from ebay. I think both were estate sales. (Gee I hope Buddhism isn't dying out already, I just discovered it!) I have to admit, ebay saved me alot of money. Actually one is a small Thai Monk, in bronze, I use it to represent the Sangha. The other is a larger green porcelain Buddha holding a gold bowl. Someone on this site uses a picture of their alter for their avatar. Their Buddha is very similar to mine, just not holding a bowl. Since they were second hand, I dont know much about them. I'd like to post their pictures, maybe someone would see it and know more about them. As I said I'll work on it.
For the Dharma I bought a wooden folding book holder from bighappybuddha.com . It holds whatever documents, or books I care to put on it. It was made in India, so it reminds me of HH the Dalai Lama. Eventhough it folds flat it has no metal hinges, or glue joints. It was some how cut from a single piece of wood so the two halves open up, but cannot come apart.
The stand I use is just a wooden TV tray, covered with the black silk neckerchief from my old Navy uniform. The whole thing is arranged high to low, with Buddha highest, then Dharma, and Sangha at the lowest point. The Buddha statue is slightly higher than I am when I sit in front to meditate. I have it arranged so I face east when I meditate. I try to keep it discrete. That helps to avoid any friction with my devout Christian wife. She is wonderful mind you, but she has some reservations about Buddhism.
Since I am the only one using it, it is very personal, and gets more so over time. For instance I just added a print-out of my first e-mail from the head Monk at the temple to the Sangha portion of my alter.
I hope I didn't bore you and I hope you find something usefull in all this.
edit; I just tryed that link, it didn't work. Sorry. Maybe you can figure out how to get there anyway. I also forgot I wanted to mention that my avatar is a really poor quality export of a picture of what I see out the window to my right when I sit in front of my alter. Its just trees and a cornfield, I like it, but the wife says it looks like a graveyard. Maybe I'll let her pick a new one some day.
I really loved the description of your altar. It sounds simple and lovely and I'm sure your wife will get used to the Buddhism after a while. We humans do take a while to adjust, don't we?:o
I found your page and I recopied and pasted the link and it works. I don't know why it didn't work the first time. Maybe you added the http:// when you pasted the link. Just copy the link from the www and leave out the http:// because it's already in the link paster thingy. Do you understand what I mean or is my technical language throwing you off?
Hope you don't mind me butting in.
I'm very bored this morning. :hohum: :buck: :type: :thumbsup:
I'm also trying to help and show off at the same time.
Try this one
Respectfully, technically and butting inilly,
Brigid
P.S. I think that's the most smileys I've ever used.
Wowy wow wow wow! You are extraordinary! I'm so happy for you right now! You have skill!
Now my dear, can you tell me if this correct. I need to load my pictures onto a web-service and that is where I'll get the URL the image paste thingy wants?
As far as my link, I didn't paste it, I typed it on the message board and the computer did the rest. I use computers every day at work just not like this. I'm lucky to have kind people like you to help me out. I just spent an hour fighting with my computer to get it to boot up on windows. It has this ATApi hard drive I think its called, and the data cable connector is terrible. It wont stay tight for a good connection. Good thing I'm better at hardware, or I wouldn't be online now.
Thanks again Brigid, and I wanted to tell edit; (you). I watched the neighbor's dog chase my cat up a tree the other night. The neighbor seemed upset that his dog wouldn't listen. I was just glad the dog didn't catch her. Trudy is a sweet sweet cat but she has all her claws, and knows how to use them.
edit; just one problem, thats not the web page I used to set up my alter. I can't find the one I used. I googled and googled and I can't find it. I wish I could because it seemed much more "nuts and bolts" oriented then the others. Sorry, I tryed. At least I learned how to post a link thanks to Brigid.
The photos are pretty easy. If you have the photo on your computer, use the "Go Advanced" button just under the dialogue box where you're typing, scroll down to "Additional Options", and click on "Attached Files" and follow the directions. You'll want to make sure your photos are the right size and not too big.
If your photos are on the web, click on the square icon above the dialogue box that looks like it has a picture of two mountains on it. This is the "Insert Image" button and you just paste the address where your picture is located into it, leaving out the http://, because that's already in the link thingy, just like you're pasting a regular link.
BTW, just in case, for regular links, use the button above the dialogue box that looks like a globe of the world with a chain link and just paste your link into it. You don't have to type out the whole link.
I hope all this makes sense. Experiment with the "Preview Post" button a lot so you can see if your links work and stuff before you actually post. That's what I do.
I'm very glad your neighbour's dog didn't catch Trudy, too! It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!
Brigid
Hardly! But I try. I used to be terrified of computers but I'm much better now.
Brigid
You need to be careful as they can sometimes byte!
I'm such a geek, I'll shut up now! :buck:
I'll give it a try as soon as possible.
I went to meditation again. Got a picture of the alter for this thread, and got to see a picture of the shrine room when it was full of little Monklets. They had a group of little boys visiting from Burma. They looked so cute in their little burgundy robes, with their little shaved heads.
40600002.JPG
Here is the alter at the temple I go to.
Thanks for posting that, Jake. That's the most serene Buddha I've ever seen. And you're most welcome!
How cool, Angulimala! I didn't know that. It's kind of sad in a way but at least their altars are put to good use.
Brigid
Thanks for posting them.
Ditto to what Fede said. Can you tell us a bit about them?
That would be cool!
Brigid
My post #26, this thresd, explains a little more about my alter, if you care to read it. I know I should have waited with the commentary till I had the pictures.
I'm reasonably sure the bronze statue is a Thai Monk. It has writing on the base. I don't know what language it is. The medallion is embedded in the bottom of the statue. I read something about Monks blessing statues, and putting something inside during the blessing. Like some of their hair or fingernails or a medallion. I would like to know more about.
I just wanted to add that I intend to replace the porcelian Buddha with a female, and a male statues of the Buddha. Nothings permanent, but my new Buddhas will made from stone or metal.
I just came from meditation, as always, but more fresh in my mind right now;
May You be Well and Happy.
Stay well, friend.
Brigid
When I first began to learn about and practice Buddhism I put together a very elaborate home altar. At that time I was attracted most to the ritual and color of ornate altars I had seen in books and had my 12" tall Buddha flanked by flowers with bamboo looking grass fanned out behind it and green small leaf ivy growing down the sides from small dishes hidden behind the statue. In front were 7 glass offering bowls on tiny plates, 2 votive candles in fancy glass holders and an incense burner as well as small framed pictures of the two Tibetan Monks that I sponsor in India. Hanging on the wall behind it all, a woven grass mat from ceiling to floor with a Chinese scroll with Buddhist scripture hanging in the middle.
NOW...after learning more, growing more in my understanding of The Buddhas teachings and a desire to get back to simplicity...my Buddha statue is flanked by flowers arranged in 2 beautiful and ornate 6" Japanese brass vases of the Showa era purchased on eBay from a seller in Hokkaido. Otherwise just the 2 photos mentioned above and a simple clear glass incense burner in the center, in front of Buddha.
In your case I think it would have to be your elbow, where your funny bone is.
(That's a compliment BTW.)
Brigid