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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Hickersonia
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Hickersonia »

My shrine is probably put to shame (in more than one manner) by the others shared here, but I suppose I could share it anyway. I am a man of fairly meager means (at least in my opinion), so I hope it doesn't seem too simple or even "silly."

Image

I've had most of it set up for a little while now, with the backdrop Dharmachakra set up today after seeing a couple of your shrines and realizing that I could make something relatively simply that would fill the space in the back. The red books to the right and left were printed and bound at home using basic craft materials and online resources that I have found useful in my practice (I made a similar book that lives in my car). The pedestal is also a homemade creation from a wire basket, ribbon, and yarn.

The placement of it is not ideal, but it is what I consider a reasonable compromise between having to place it someplace worse (cold, dark, sometimes wet basement) or not having it set up at all -- my wife is not Buddhist and I am trying to be considerate in how I express myself so far as my own religious beliefs are concerned so as to not make her terribly uncomfortable. She works at a Lutheran church/preschool and her and her family are members of that church, so I imagine the situation could get really weird for her if not approached in the proper manner. All this said, much of the materials I used were offered freely by her for my creative expressions in setting up my shrine, so I do imagine a much more proper, and ornate, display in the future as I progress and mature in my practice.
Hickersonia
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dhamma_newb
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by dhamma_newb »

Hi Hickersonia,

I think it is beautiful. :thumbsup: Speaking of simple, here's my shrine:

Image

It's a work in progress. I picked up the Buddha statue at an art shop in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware a couple of years back while I was stationed on the East Coast. I bought it as decoration for my apartment and never thought that some day it would be a part of my spiritual practice. It's traveled with me from the East Coast back home to Hawai'i in one piece (I believe it's made of soapstone and it's pretty fragile). I'm not sure where the statue was made. The card with the yellow lotus is from the bhikkhunī who performed my Refuge ceremony. The red lotus in the Buddha's hand is an origami that my friend made for me.
The watched mind brings happiness.
Dhp 36

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Cittasanto
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Cittasanto »

Hi Hickersonia
I think it is really nice!

how did you bind the Book? it is something I am interested in myself.
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 …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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Ben
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Ben »

Very nice shrines, Cittasanto, Hickersonia and Dhamma_newb!
“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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Fede
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Fede »

Ok.
I really don't mean this to be so hopelessly off-topic, but i have pictures in my files, to post and show...
but how do I attach them?
I looked at the 'forum instructions' but you need a url address or something... what's the url address to a personal photo - ?
i can post photos on other websites by adding an attachment, but it's not possible here...?
I tried by using the [img] formatting thingy on the toolbar.....
no dice...
I'm flummoxed.....
i'm also about as much of a technical fudgewit as it's possible to be, so answers with words of no more than 2 syllables will do nicely, thanks.... :namaste:
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Cittasanto
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Cittasanto »

Hi Fade,
if you resize the image it may allow you, if not PM me I'll send you my mail and I can post it online and send you the links if you don't have an account to do it with.
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 …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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Hickersonia
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Hickersonia »

Cittasanto wrote:Hi Hickersonia
how did you bind the Book? it is something I am interested in myself.
Ahh, yes. Another thing my loving wife took the time to teach me. I had to look a little but I found a page that fairly closely explains the basic process here:
http://stacienaczelnik.hubpages.com/hub ... Step-Guide" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't go to quite the same level of specificity on my materials as the above link suggests, so I guess I could say that you ought to let your inner creativity guide you, and be patient. As with all good and fruitful things, it takes some practice.
Hickersonia
http://hickersonia.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of
throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
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Fede
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Fede »

"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Fede
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Fede »

Image

Image #2 - green Tara...

She's a close and personal friend of mine...... :smile:

(Still haven't got the image pasting quite right though.... and trust me, for me, this is h-u-g-e!!)
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Cittasanto
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Cittasanto »

Hi Fade, all I do when I forget is quote a post that has images then past the URL where the original URL is and delete the rest of the post and post mine.
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 …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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Fede
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Post by Fede »

what a good idea!
And it doesn't break the second precept! :jumping:
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Fede
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Fede »

This is in my entrance porch... It's the 'welcome home' Buddha, if you like.
Nice to come home to.

[URL=http://min.us/mxYzjSdrc#3o][img]ht ... .jpg[/img][/url]

(By the way, it snowed like stink last night. Can you tell??)
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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Bhavana
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Bhavana »

a little girly, I know, but I like it that way. I use what i have. (no, I am not a believer in the mystical powers of crystals. I just think they are pretty)
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VictoryInTruth
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by VictoryInTruth »

I like your altar it is very beautiful. I especially like your Buddha statue... If you don´t mind me asking...where did you buy your crystals...online or at a local store? I am looking to buy some crystals myself but am leary of buying them online and then they end up not being genuine. Thanks.

:buddha1:
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Kokoro
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Re: your home altar/shrine

Post by Kokoro »

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