home altar

A stone, a branch or empty space is fine too. The Altarless Altar.

In fact, whatever is a reminder of peace and compassion in one's heart.

Gassho, J

SatToday

Agreed ...

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Jundo]

Hello Sierra,

For alters really it is all personal preference, what ever calls to your heart. You can have a Buddha statue, a picture of a loved one, or a special item that is dear to you ... a candle, some incense if not allergic, a flower, etc. For me I am of the mind set, simple is best. =) Here is a snapshot of mine.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2578[/ATTACH]

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

A stone, a branch or empty space is fine too. The Altarless Altar.

In fact, whatever is a reminder of peace and compassion in one's heart.

Gassho, J

SatToday

I love the simplicity.. and of course the photo of your dog. Beautiful capture as well. Thank you.

Gassho,
Brooks sat today.

Thank you Brooks ... that is my dog Charlie who passed away on 2011 after a wonderful 18years. He had the heart of a Buddha, so I figured what better place for him to be, then beside Buddha. =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Anshu Bryson]

Hello Anshu, that is beautiful, would you mind telling a little more about the other things that are there? Unless it is overly personal, but I am curious. Also I am working on one of my own so I wonder what other folks include in theirs and why.

Gassho,
Sierra
SatToday

Hi Sierra,

I was going to sat there's nothing 'personal' there, but actually it is all personal! But nothing I'm uncomfortable sharing

The dark red 'lion/dogs' at either end are 'Shisa', the Okinawan version of the similar looking Chinese guardian figures. I practice Okinawan karate; we all have a set of these in our homes or dojo

From left to right after the shisa is:

- My rakusu in its bag
- an Inkin (the bell with the handle)
- At the rear, a whimsical version of the 'Seven Lucky Gods'; not so 'Zen', but, apart from being from Japan, they are also prominent in my wife's Chinese Mahayana tradition
- A few origami cranes, these mostly came with gifts from Japanese friends, so they have some sentimental significance. Also, out of view is a really nice ceramic crane made to look like an origami crane (from one of my Japan visits)
- The 'kesu' gong/bell in front of all that
- In the middle, a print of a brush painting of Bodhidharma (from 'The Zen Art Box' by Stephen Addiss and Daido Loori; as the name suggests, a box of art - ! - a mix of calligraphy and brush paintings, all with commentary by both authors)
- In front of that, a flower bowl, incense holder (actually, an 'expedient' version made from a Chinese tea cup filled with rice to hold the incense sticks...!) and candle holder (there's usually a water container there as well; we were between replenishments!)
- Then, at the back, calligraphy for 'beginner's mind' (shoshin), done by a local Indonesian shodo practitioner (I also have some of his 'kakejiku' hanging scrolls in the house)
- In front of that, the glass block is a laser-etched Shakyamuni Buddha from a visit to the Po Lin Chan Ji (Precious Lotus Zen Temple) in Hong Kong
- The mokugyo (wooden fish) in front
- A miniature replica of the Kamakura Daibutsu from a visit about 25 years ago
- (The long stick is the mallet for the mokugyo)
- And the other shisa at the end to close off...

The altar cloth (if I'm not mistaken, as we have a number of these pieces and I get confused!) is a simple hand-woven Cambodian silk cloth which was a gift from close friends in Phnom Penh

The chest is just a set of drawers we have in our home (we live in Jakarta, Indonesia, so most of our furniture is, by default, 'Asian'...) Everything here (apart from the mokugyo and the bells) is just items we already had around the house. It started out as just the flower, water, incense and candle, but just seemed to grow organically..!

PS To the left of all this, I sit my computer on a small step for the weekend Treeleaf zazenkai; my zafu and zabuton are just in front of that...

So, that's my liitle corner of the house; I am glad you liked it...

Gassho,
Anshu

-sat today-

[broahes]

Hello Sierra,

For alters really it is all personal preference, what ever calls to your heart. You can have a Buddha statue, a picture of a loved one, or a special item that is dear to you ... a candle, some incense if not allergic, a flower, etc. For me I am of the mind set, simple is best. =) Here is a snapshot of mine.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2578[/ATTACH]

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

I love the simplicity.. and of course the photo of your dog. Beautiful capture as well. Thank you.

Gassho,
Brooks sat today.

Also I am working on one of my own so I wonder what other folks include in theirs and why.

Hello Sierra,

For alters really it is all personal preference, what ever calls to your heart. You can have a Buddha statue, a picture of a loved one, or a special item that is dear to you ... a candle, some incense if not allergic, a flower, etc. For me I am of the mind set, simple is best. =) Here is a snapshot of mine.

alter-photo.jpg

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Jakuden]

Hello Anshu, that is beautiful, would you mind telling a little more about the other things that are there? Unless it is overly personal, but I am curious. Also I am working on one of my own so I wonder what other folks include in theirs and why.

Gassho,
Sierra
SatToday

Nice Alter Anshu! =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

My little corner of the house (my zafu and zabuton is just off to the side)[ATTACH=CONFIG]2575[/ATTACH]
The focal points are the Bodhidharma drawing and the 'beginner's mind' calligraphy (brushed by a local Indonesian calligrapher)

Gassho,
Anshu

-sat today-

Nice alter, all neat and tidy. I noticed the calligraphy right aways, as I have that tattooed on my arm. It is a beautiful painting, nice idea to add that to an alter.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Anshu Bryson]

My little corner of the house (my zafu and zabuton is just off to the side)home altar.jpg
The focal points are the Bodhidharma drawing and the 'beginner's mind' calligraphy (brushed by a local Indonesian calligrapher)

Gassho,
Anshu

-sat today-

[Kyosei]

Hey friends, here's my altar:

IMG_0562.jpg

I like the "Guan Yin" (Kannon) statue I bought in a "chinese" store near home. I think if that's ok to have two statues like this.

IMG_0566.jpg

Recently I've added the flowers.

IMG_0564.jpg


Most recently I've changed the candle holder to a "golden" one and the jar to a yellow one.

The piece of paper embodies the "Maka Hannya Haramita Shingyo" (Heart Sutra) , the "Daihi Shin Darani" and the "Shigu Seigan Mon" (Bodhisattva vows) the first and last one I recite every evening when I finish Zazen.

So when I came to Zazen, I offer incense and then I recite the "Tissarana" (in Pali) as I've heard in the monasteries I've frequented, then sit Zazen; when it finishes I recite the "Maka Hannya" (in japanese) and the "Shigu Seigan Mon" (in japanese and portuguese).

Eventually I think a most proper way to ritualize... don't know how, though, yet.

[Tai Shi]

Hello good friends.

my home alter comes with meta and as every item was a gift from family and friends. Even the table is a beautiful oak and etched plywood given to me by my father who made it when I was 4 years old which makes the table 59 years old. Both Buddha statues and the good luck items come from wife and daughter and the clear and singing prayer bell gift from daughter in Japan, yes so much comes from Japan. I have purchased candles and incense. There I practice sitting meditation on a Buddhist meditation cushion made for a chair because can no longer sit in traditional postures. Thank you dear friends for being there for when I sit alone, I know that others are siting some place with me. Gassho--deep meta--sat--Elgwyn.

[Kyonin]

Hi June,

Thank you for your wonderful idea! I live in a super tiny place and this has inspired me to do something like that.

Gassho,

Kyonin,
#SatToday

[orangedice]

Thank you all for the compliments!

The whole universe ... the whole boundless universe made of fire air water earth and anything more ... fits easily in this box.

Gassho, J

SatToday

June,

That's truly beautiful and inspired! It is so lovely that it is portable, I'd love to make one some day.

Thank you for sharing,
Kelly/Jinmei

I was definitely looking for portability because our house is full of clutter and it tucks away easily. All told, it probably took me about an hour. You should try it! It was very rewarding and excepting some texting breaks, it was a peaceful, mindful project!

Gassho to all,
June

#SatToday

[KellyRok]

June,

That's truly beautiful and inspired! It is so lovely that it is portable, I'd love to make one some day.

Thank you for sharing,
Kelly/Jinmei