i like your buddhaOriginally Posted by lipor
i like your buddhaOriginally Posted by lipor
That is fantasic, and I doubt anyone minds you sharing it. I for one thank you _/_Originally Posted by Jigme
Haven’t looked at this thread in a while and I am so inspired…..from the use of old furniture to the simple barebones….ornate it’s all covered here. I’ve been going to get around to an alter for a long time, but got to get busy with it. OK don’t look for anything soon, but it’s going to happen.
Not at all...your post was a nice surprise!Originally Posted by Jigme
Gassho,
Jisen/BrianW
Here's mine, which is very much a work in progress:
The Jizo on the left is a representation of what led me to Buddhism and was one of my birthday presents this year from my husband. The little Jizo on the right is one that I made and I love his simplicity, cheerfulness and little toes! I also made the little lotus flower votive holder, and while it's not perfect, it's pretty and hides the fact that I'm not using a real candle. My husband has a serious fear of fire and I will not scare him with a candle that his OCD will cause him to check on several times a day! The coaster-like item on the left is a stone coaster with a dragonfly on it, and the brown stone on the right by my homemade Jizo is picture jasper which looks as though there's a mountain against a stormy sky. The yellow votive in front of the lotus is a honeysuckle candle and that, and my OM solid perfume is my substitution for incense (for the same reason as the fake candle). The painting of the birch/aspen trees behind the Buddha is another representation of nature (I love trees and those are by far my favourites!) and at the same time, a nod to Treeleaf. And lastly, the elephant simply balances the size of my large Jizo and is safe from breakage from it's previous home.
It took me a long time to find a Buddha I liked that was "correct" in my mind. It is bronze and could be very old, with what I suspect is an artist's mark on the bottom of it. I am very happy with it, while it is not stone as I would have liked (or even a facsimile of stone, such as it is!), it has some weight to it and therefore, substance.
As I said, it is a work in progress. I'm ashamed to say that my altar is built upon a leaf from an old table, which sits upon a cardboard box which sits upon a blue storage tote. We haven't accumulated much furniture since we moved and that was what was necessary to elevate it to the correct height. I hope to design and build my own table/altar for it, and soon! : )
Gassho,
Lisa
Lisa,
That's great, I love Jizo, you probably know that already.
Gassho
Gary
Lisa;
Your altar is beautiful. You have put together articles that have meaning to you and make a wonderful space.
Shokai exactly expressed my feelings. Wonderful Lisa,
Gassho
Myoku
inspired me to finally show mine as well:
a selfmade (by my daughter and son; and a bit of me) buddha in the middle; my very first buddha to the right (hardly to see as its pretty small), all arranged on a former footstool.
Lisa, I love your altar, and the picture of the back is really beautiful and serene
Myoku's altar is great too That Buddha is unique, good work
Hi Lisa,Originally Posted by ZenHarmony
Lovely, one does not need a reason to have an elephant on the altar ... for all creatures are sacred, are Buddha!
But here are a few Buddhist elephant stories. 8)
https://www.google.com/search?source=ig ... CknrZuS4VE
Gassho, J
Lisa, your elephant is beautiful! Thinking of elephants reminded me of Dr. Seuss' Horton the Elephant who sat and sat and was faithful 100%. Love, Grace.
P.S. please forgive my typing and spaces.
Thank you everyone for your kind responses!
Myoku, I love your footstool/altar, that's the exact rustic wooden-ness I want as well.
That Buddha is perfect, and the branch in the wooden holder just seems to fit right in.
Gassho,
Lisa
altar_1.jpgaltar_2.jpg
A little late for sure but I hope you won't mind.
Gassho,
Mike
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183
My Practice Blog
Wonderful, Mike,
is that buddha made of brass ? Want one too :-)
_()_
Myoku
A butsudan I made for Hospice work, with battery-operated candles and liquid incense reeds; no open flames allowed.
Last edited by Emmet; 06-20-2012 at 06:21 PM.
Emmet
One of our backyard nāgas taking refuge...
Last edited by Emmet; 08-04-2013 at 12:43 AM.
Emmet
Mike, you have a neat looking altar I would like to find a bell like yours but had no luck so far :P
Piobair, I like very much your altar, I am planning a cabinet with doors like that somewhere near this summer, and your garden Buddha is great too, I have one a little different, will post a picture as soon as I get home
Thank you for your practice
I love seeing everybody's altars, each one is so special and unique and beautiful in its own way. I like to collect buddha figures so I have a little display cubes in the wall where I keep some of them. However, I just got a nice wooden table at Winners (discount store in North America) and set up an altar a few weeks ago. And I found my buddha on the way out the store for dirt cheap. I like to think I 'rescued' him
Anyway, here is a picture of my little altar and a picture of the hallway beside it where I (rarely) sit. I need to start sitting daily and work my way up to twice daily. Baby steps :-)
altar.jpghallway.jpg
It is Myoku. I think it's a Chinese style looking at the robes and it's definitely solid brass.
Gassho,
Mike
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183
My Practice Blog
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183
My Practice Blog
Chatteringmokeys,
Beautiful altar! Is that In the Buddha's Words or Great Disciples of the Buddha on the lower shelf? Mettaya.
Gassho,
Mike
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183
My Practice Blog
Thank you Mike. It's In the Buddha's Words. I just got it a week ago and I want to work my way through it (bit by bit). Although things have been kind of crazy lately with summer school, so "leisure" reading is taking a bit of a hit right now
Gassho,
Darrell
Thank you, Darrell. I very much love that book, In The Buddha's Words. Remember that the book expresses the Buddhist Teachings from the South Asian Sutta Tradition, and Buddha and Sutras come in many flavors. All lovely flavors.
Here is a little reading that may help you with a bit of history and tradition as you dive into all these "Same but different, different but just the same" Buddhas and Teachings ...
http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...-ENLIGHTENMENT
Gassho, Jundo
ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
Hi Jundo,
thanks so much for the link! I love reading about the various traditions and different sutras.
Gassho,
D-
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1342288678.596463.jpg
Just got my portable altar sorted at last. I have a large Buddha in the centre that I like because he's touching the earth reminding me to always remain grounded in the present, there is almost a smaller Buddha towards the back which I think is more traditional to Zen, he's the guy who comes with me when I'm away from home. There are 2 stones from our local beach one has a hole through it that symbolises an Enso, of course an image of Avalokiteshvara and finally a vanilla scented candle.
Gassho
Gary
Drinking tea and eating rice.
Very nice, Gary! Love the beach stones.
Gassho,
Lisa
Lovely altar Gary - have just been scrolling through as missed this thread.
Your altar is very thoughtful Lisa - has inspired me to put a bit more thought into mine.
Gassho
Willow
Last year my wife suggested that as the practice is such a central part of our lives, we rework and relocate our altar so that it is the central feature of the central room of the house; the "heart" of our home. With the exception of the Buddha, most everything has been gradually accumulated second-hand from thrift stores and whatnot. One of the things I like is the fold-down, slide-out rakuzu drawer.
Last edited by Emmet; 08-04-2013 at 12:38 AM.
Emmet
Love it, Piobair, especially the steps up to the Buddha! Now that I have access to wood, I'll need to make something similar.
Gassho,
Lisa
Thank you. The platform was originally cardboard & tape; trimmed and reconfigured until the layout and proportions suited us. The final version is 3/4" and 1/2" oak plywood, with oak veneer edge banding. I was fortunate to find a stain which very closely approximates the table top.
Emmet
This is not an altar, in the strict sense of the word. It is more of a small shrine that I keep in my front hallway. The altar in the room where i sit is less complicated.
Gassho,
William
altar.jpg
Here is mine, good old Sidharta sitting, as a reminder that Buddha is inside of all us. My "dharma pillow books" , space for inciense and my bowl. IMG_0274.jpg
Dancing between stillness and motion I find peace.
20130822_110507.jpg
This is one way I have to show that Buddha lives at 164 Queen Street and gets dusted whether he not-needs it
合掌,生開
gassho, Shokai
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"
https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/
I figured I would share my new "treeleaf friendly" alter for the start of Ango. The main alter is a cross section of a tree trunk that I stained and sealed. The stand was a cheap beat up flower pot stand. The small table is my laptop/candle/incense table for that hot G+ action!
IMG_2472.jpgIMG_2474.jpg
If I'm already enlightened why the hell is this so hard?
You created a nice atmosphere there Catfish! I like warm wood tones, well done!
Gassho
Enkyo
Mu
Thats sweet Catfish, very nice alter.
Gassho, Jakudo.
Gassho, Shawn Jakudo Hinton
It all begins when we say, “I”. Everything that follows is illusion.
"Even to speak the word Buddha is dragging in the mud soaking wet; Even to say the word Zen is a total embarrassment."
寂道
Wow beautiful and warm
Gassho
Thank you for your practice
knock-out beautiful table.
and neither are they otherwise.
Wow, Charles, that's really incredibly beau-ti-ful!
Gassho,
Timo
no thing needs to be added
I just moved house so have a new shrine arrangement:
Shrine (with unpacked box next to it!)
Calligraphy
Gassho
Andy
Very cool, Andy. And if Buddha Nature pervades the entire universe, it's also in the unpacked box.
Gassho,
William
"First you have to give up." Tyler Durden
That is a very good way of looking at it, William!
image.jpg
studio altar
Last edited by Oheso; 09-12-2013 at 08:46 PM.
and neither are they otherwise.
Very nice altars!
Shugen
Meido Shugen
明道 修眼
Really beautiful table Catfish. Actually just a really nice sitting area. Much nicer than my 70's shag.
Gassho.
Seimyo
精
明 Seimyō (Christhatischris)
Of course, Zen is not about furniture or Asian flavor. Even though most Buddhist temples tend to have nice ... unbelievably expensive ... furniture.
On the other hand, it can be about Asian furniture (I have lots in my house, because I live in an old Japanese house).
Putting the Buddha on a delicate Chinese table ... a cheap formica table ... putting Buddha on an old cardboard box ... just the old cardbox box alone ... just emptiness ... all the same really, if the heart is clear.
Gassho, J
ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
This is my set up in our family room.
Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk 2
Gassho, Shawn Jakudo Hinton
It all begins when we say, “I”. Everything that follows is illusion.
"Even to speak the word Buddha is dragging in the mud soaking wet; Even to say the word Zen is a total embarrassment."
寂道
Thank you everyone for sharing,
very inspiring!
Gassho
Myoku