your home altar/shrine

Pictures of revered teachers, places, rupas, temples, bhikkhus, shrine rooms etc. that bring inspiration to our members. Pilgrimage advice, devotion etc.
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Hiker
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Hiker »

Our little shrine consists of a small Gandharan Buddha from Afghanistan, made in the 2nd century (if the art dealer is to be believed). It is made from pink schist, and was once part of a frieze. My 17 year-old son helped in the design and construction of the stand.

My wife added the orange. She was raised Catholic in a very remote village in Mexico where Christianity is but a thin veneer over the much more ancient indigenous religion. When our Buddha appeared on the wall, she instinctively began making the standard offerings of fruit and copal incense, as she does with the various saints that already populate our home.
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Hickersonia
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Hickersonia »

Hiker wrote:Our little shrine consists of a small Gandharan Buddha from Afghanistan, made in the 2nd century (if the art dealer is to be believed). It is made from pink schist, and was once part of a frieze. My 17 year-old son helped in the design and construction of the stand.

My wife added the orange. She was raised Catholic in a very remote village in Mexico where Christianity is but a thin veneer over the much more ancient indigenous religion. When our Buddha appeared on the wall, she instinctively began making the standard offerings of fruit and copal incense, as she does with the various saints that already populate our home.
Absolutely wonderful shrine, my friend, regardless of how much we trust the art dealer. :) :anjali:
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Hickersonia
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Hickersonia »

My shrine and meditation area has received some updates since Christmas as a result of some generous gifts from family and friends (Thank you!).
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The new rupa required the creation of a sort of stand on which to sit, which was mostly "recycled." My wife was kind enough to help me figure out a way to hang the dharmachakra image behind the new rupa. I'll eventually get something else on which to put my parents' and grandpa's picture, but for now the old folding table will be OK.

Clearly I have more books than I can properly store on the smallish bookshelf... I'm going to have to offer some of them on here or on Dharma Wheel when I get a moment -- most of them are Mahayana texts I don't think I'll re-read so it does seem a little cluttered at the moment.

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Ajahn Chah is featured prominently now -- I've recently realized just how important his having taught the Dhamma has been to me as many Dhamma books I've read (minus the Nikayas themselves) have been written by monks who trained under him (some have been recounts of teachings given by Chah himself). The monks represented on the bottom row are, going left to right: Bhikkhu Bodhi, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Sumedho, and Thích Nhất Hạnh. Some may also recognize the Chanting Guide as the same one offered so kindly by Metta Forest Monastery in California.

It is always skillful to remember how much we have been helped by those who wear the robes. :anjali:
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Caldorian
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Caldorian »

Since I moved in with my partner, I have gotten my own shrine & meditation room; I'm very grateful for this privilege. :)

As you can see, it's fairly representative of my dual Theravāda and Zen roots, although I tend to err on the side of Zen aesthetics and of Theravāda practice. :yingyang:

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Hickersonia
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Hickersonia »

Caldorian wrote:Since I moved in with my partner, I have gotten my own shrine & meditation room; I'm very grateful for this privilege. :)

As you can see, it's fairly representative of my dual Theravāda and Zen roots, although I tend to err on the side of Zen aesthetics and of Theravāda practice. :yingyang:
I can certainly appreciate the "zen" appearance. Very comfy-looking, to me at least. I hope you and your partner are both happy and well! :anjali:
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"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of
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DreBay
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by DreBay »

Image

Image

This is my home altar, if anyone have som suggestions on what more i can do with it, i'll be happy to know :)
Like one who picks and chooses flowers, a man who has his mind attached to sensual pleasures is carried away by death, just as a great flood sweeps away a sleeping village - Dhammapada 47
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Cittasanto
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Cittasanto »

This is my families shrine for my Brother Stephen

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Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
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Wizard in the Forest
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What do you put on your Shrines?

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

As a general question, I have made my shrine space, and I have it already designed and dedicated with items for contemplation on a high shelf.

I have electric candles, Buddha Rupa, several jewels with a golden colored jewel, a red/rose colored jewel, and a blue colored gem before the Buddha to represent the tiratana. I have a wheel to represent dhamma. I have an agate offering box where I place food offerings to the Buddha so when I recite that the Buddha's compassion is greater than the ocean I have it there to remind me. Then there is a conch to represent the request the Buddha to teach Dhamma. I have Mala to guide me with chantings. I have a water bottle to offer medicinal water to the Buddha, a goblet to offer drinking water. I have oil infusion sticks in lieu of incense, and I intend to add a vase of silken flowers to offer to the buddha. There is also a peacock feather and a singing bowl, a bell and a dorje given to me by my mother and my father.

What are things you have put on your shrine, and why did you put them there?

How do you properly dedicate them or bless them to use them properly?
I already use them for daily devotional offerings and prostrations, but I fear I may be using them improperly. I desire to be corrected so that it may be in line with Dhamma. :anjali:
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
thomaslaw
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by thomaslaw »

Hi all,

Could you tell me how do I post a picture here? I want to post a home-altar picture (from my dhamma friend).

Regards,

Thomas
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Ben
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Ben »

thomaslaw wrote:Hi all,

Could you tell me how do I post a picture here? I want to post a home-altar picture (from my dhamma friend).

Regards,

Thomas
Under the text edit window and below the preview and submit buttons, there are two tabs inc. options and attachments. Click on attachments and press add files. From there it should be straight forward. Please try and only post photos of 500 x 500 pixels. Any larger and they will be too large.
Kind regards,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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FutureBhikkhu
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by FutureBhikkhu »

PS. The gap -- on the first attachment -- is where I plan to place a picture of myself taken at Wat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai (see the following post).

Thank you everyone for sharing their pictures; there are some real gems. I hope these alters encourage you to remain diligent and keep in mind the real possibility that what needs to be done - can be done.

Metta!

James. :anjali:
Attachments
Overview of one side of my bedroom.
Overview of one side of my bedroom.
Snapshot_20150330_3.JPG (359.72 KiB) Viewed 20125 times
Here is a visual to go with the daily recollections. For those who might not be aware, you can download these and other chants from the Wat Pah Nanachat website http://www.watpahnanachat.org/mp3playWPNAudio.php
Here is a visual to go with the daily recollections. For those who might not be aware, you can download these and other chants from the Wat Pah Nanachat website http://www.watpahnanachat.org/mp3playWPNAudio.php
Snapshot_20150330_2.JPG (353.2 KiB) Viewed 20125 times
The red Buddha rupa was a gift from my aunty, the golden rupa was a gift from my Sri Lankan Kalyāṇa-mittatā when we met in Thailand last year, the far left and far right rupas were gifts from my twin nieces, the rupa second the right was from my mum, and the black rupa was a gift to myself! Also included are the Majjhima Nikaya, the Namaste gift from my mum, and an essential oil burner regularly filled with tangerine :)
The red Buddha rupa was a gift from my aunty, the golden rupa was a gift from my Sri Lankan Kalyāṇa-mittatā when we met in Thailand last year, the far left and far right rupas were gifts from my twin nieces, the rupa second the right was from my mum, and the black rupa was a gift to myself! Also included are the Majjhima Nikaya, the Namaste gift from my mum, and an essential oil burner regularly filled with tangerine :)
Snapshot_20150330.JPG (336.07 KiB) Viewed 20125 times
Keep on developing the causes of the Ultimate. Moreover, use your ingenuity to find novel ways to do acts of Goodness.
FutureBhikkhu
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by FutureBhikkhu »

FutureBhikkhu wrote:PS. The gap -- on the first attachment -- is where I plan to place a picture of myself taken at Wat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai (see the following post).
I hope nobody finds this offensive - it's not my intention!
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(I was staying at the retreat centre whilst here - hence why I was in white).
(I was staying at the retreat centre whilst here - hence why I was in white).
ki.JPG (203.6 KiB) Viewed 20124 times
Keep on developing the causes of the Ultimate. Moreover, use your ingenuity to find novel ways to do acts of Goodness.
thomaslaw
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by thomaslaw »

Thanks, Ben, for your reply to my question.

Thanks, FutureBhukkhu, for posting the pictures. I really like the words shown on the pictures: I am of nature to ... [dukkha] ... It reminds me that I have to see directly the nature of dukkha is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self, because of the nature of anicca.

Regards,

Thomas
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Ben
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Ben »

thomaslaw wrote:Thanks, Ben, for your reply to my question.

Thanks, FutureBhukkhu, for posting the pictures. I really like the words shown on the pictures: I am of nature to ... [dukkha] ... It reminds me that I have to see directly the nature of dukkha is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self, because of the nature of anicca.

Regards,

Thomas
My pleasure, Thomas.
Happy posting!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
FutureBhikkhu
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:01 pm
Location: Isaan, Thailand.

Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by FutureBhikkhu »

thomaslaw wrote:Thanks, FutureBhukkhu, for posting the pictures. I really like the words shown on the pictures: I am of nature to ... [dukkha] ... It reminds me that I have to see directly the nature of dukkha is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self, because of the nature of anicca.

Regards,

Thomas

Well spoken, my friend!
Keep on developing the causes of the Ultimate. Moreover, use your ingenuity to find novel ways to do acts of Goodness.
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