Class One Topic
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please establish 1-3 little shrines in your home; describe
it would be lovely to see pictures or drawings! you can share them via this folder on Google Drive. -
Since I have no idea how to share photos, you’re going to have to take my word for it ;-). My little shrine is on a former bedside table (simple, Scan teak, with 3 drawers), and it’s been there silently present for quite a long time. It was only recently, however, that I started to really use it for daily meditation. I figured out that while my knees cannot manage sitting cross-legged, I can use an on-end cushion with hero pose without discomfort. So, yay. I put items on the shrine that have associations with every member of my (small) family, both living and deceased: a bronze elephant that was on Grandpa’s desk; a little mat Granny made as a child; a jar with shells my three sons collected and gave me over the years; an amethyst geode from my husband; a jade elephant my mother brought from China; a turquoise mala one of my sons gave me. There’s also a little brass bell bowl and mallet, a mist diffuser (used with or without oils), my framed Refuge Vow name, a watercolor copy I painted of Guan Yin, and three little battery votive candles (I don’t want to use candles in my studio room). I have elements of earth (metals, rocks), fire (the energy of the candles), and air plus water in the mist diffuser.
I also put a tiny shrine on the table in front of my favorite reading spot, with another little jade elephant, a tiny porcelain dish holding one of the electric votives, two special books resting on a copper bookend from my Grandpa’s desk, and a little tile to hold my tea cup.
I have found that opening my practice or reading time by tending to the shrines makes a container for the activity, makes it more special and focused somehow. And it brings me joy to let my gaze linger on the items I’ve included for their associations.
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I have had my one shrine for about 30 years. Hard to believe I’ve had it that long. I have pictures of special people, candles, a bowl of rocks I have picked up over the years, and a vial of wheat that was harvested just after my uncle died. He had a wheat and soy bean farm and his son-in-law went to the mill to take little samples of it back for family members.
When my wife and I moved into a new apartment in December, I started a second shrine in the bedroom that currently pictures, a candle, and a large piece of rose quartz.
I am thinking about my third shrine, where to put it. Is it weird to put it on a window sill?
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My little shrine is on a desk shelf where I sit for meditation when I’m home and where I sit for classes and study (also when I’m home). It has a stack of books – some Buddhist, some other – that are important to me. I have a statue of Quan Yin, which I bought when I was in my 20s (decades ago!), a handfull of random little metal and gemstone hearts that were given to me, a scented candle, and a framed image of the fierce goddess Kali. When I get the chance to find flowers, I include these as well. I created this shrine a few months ago, when I was taking Susan’s last class, Buddhism Beyond Belief. It has made my practice feel more sacred and intentional.
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I have a few little shrines throughout my home. Bedroom. Two in parlor where there is a lot of feminine energy. And, one is our shrine at The Lotus 🪷 our sitting space for those in our sangha in Western New York. We practice in kagyu lineage of Tibetan vajrayana. Delight to meet so many good and open hearted people on this lifelong journey. It is very important to me to honor my familial lineage along with my chosen Shambhala/Tibetan traditions.
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I haven’t set up my shrine yet but I am sharing my intention to do so here to hold myself accountable. In a corner of a newly organized home office (yay me for finally organizing it) I have a pretty rectangular covered basket meant for hiding cables. Instead I will use it as an altar. I plan to put a photo of Thich Nhat Hanh who I began to learn from when we adopted our son from Vietnam 30 years ago. My family later had the immense privilege of dining with him and the monks from Plum Village at a local Vietnamese Buddhist temple when he visited Chicago in 2003.
I will add a pinecone that fell from a tree near my mother’s and father’s grave; a photo of my husband and son, who are my heart outside my body; a paper boat made by a young Nepali boy I tutor and mentor through a refugee program in my Chicago neighborhood. The boat is to remind me of my responsibility toward the common good. I hope to add something else to honor a lineage of social activists.
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My puja is very simple. It consists of a picture of Pema Chodron and a picture of our teacher, Susan. In between the pictures is a candle. I also have written copies of the materials that I recite before and after I meditate. There is one note of whimsy…..a small handmade stuffed batik dyed doll in the image of a peaceful medieval cardinal. He’s holding my husband’s rosary from his Christian past. Since I have my own Christian past, this gentle and serene figurine feels appropriate. (He’s whimsical because if you turn him upside down the artist has given him bare feet….always the unexpected!
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It really is both delightful & moving to read all the entries and feel the underpinning of the sacred in every one. I have had an ‘official’ shrine for abt 20 years but only recognized how I had created others in our home when you Susan, spoke about creating three more! I just never recognized them as such. ie in my work space is a bureau top with Kali, Kuan Yin, a big piece of blue calcite & flowers or plants that I change up
I am very drawn to stones & crystals so both in the LR & BR, there are crystals or rocks I gathered to rest one’s eyes on. I find they draw/instill inner silence.
I love the whimsy of your ‘cardinal’ doll, Gopigal, & Celeste, you reminded me of how meaningful pine ones are for me too so I’m placing one on my altar.
Thank you everyone 🙏
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