Buddhist Altars

[nebulosity]

I'm taking a break from studying for my classes to post an entry about altars. Do any of you keep Buddhist altars? I have one in my room that I use as a place to sit and meditate. I have a small Buddha statuette, incense, juzu, mala and other things that have symbolic meaning.

Feel free to share pictures. Here's a picture of mine:



If you don't have one, but you have a favorite altar from a nearby temple or place you've visited, feel free to share those pictures as well. I have some pictures of altars I liked very much when I was in Japan. I'll have to pull those out and share them sometime.

Altar

[codyne]

This is my altar. It's on a little table in the front room.



I try to keep fresh flowers on it. The central Buddha is actually an incense burner I've had for probably 40 years. The altar cloth was embroidered by my mom when she was a teenager. Most of the other stuff is newer. :) The pink lotus lantern was a gift from the temple I go to, one of the leftovers from their summer retreat. The postcard in back is of the Amitabha, a souvenir of my trip to see the Dalai Lama in September. Front left is a red charm I picked up at a temple in Japan. The white cloth on the right is from the Hiroshima Peace Museum, it has a flower embroidered on it and says, "Peace Declaration, Hiroshima." I put the leftover Japanese coins from my last trip to Japan in front of the Buddha as an offering. There's also a tiny Buddha pin from Kamakura, a small Hotei figure, another incense burner, and a small vajra. My malas are hanging on the corner posts, and some paper prayer flags hang across the front.

And here's a close-up of the central Buddha figure.



When I first started putting my altar together, I thought I'd just use the incense-burner Buddha temporarily until I could get a nice new Buddha statue. But then I decided I liked the old one and didn't want to replace it. It's all sort of funky and thrown-together, but I like it.