Theravadin Home Altar

Just to balance out the shrine enthusiasm… if anyone wants a textual reference for the image prohibition in Buddhism, it’s the Kalinga Bodhi Jataka by the way.

5 Likes

It seems the text does not indicate clearly “the image prohibition in Buddhism”? SuttaCentral

“How many shrines are there?”—“Three, Ananda.”—“Which are they?”—“Shrines for a relic of the body, a relic of use or wear, a relic of memorial “—“Can a shrine be made, Sir, during your life?”—“No, Ananda, not a body-shrine; that kind is made when a Buddha enters Nirvana. A shrine of memorial is improper because the connection depends on the imagination only. But the great bo-tree used by the Buddhas is fit for a shrine, be they alive or be they dead.”—“Sir, while you are away on pilgrimage the great monastery of Jetavana is unprotected, and the people have no place where they can show their reverence. Shall I plant a seed of the great bo-tree before the gateway of Jetavana?”—“By all means so do, Ananda, and that shall be as it were an abiding place for me.”

1 Like

The words, “A shrine of memorial (uddesika cetiya) is improper, because the connection depends only on the imagination” could be taken as including images (at least that is how the Khp cmy takes uddesika cetiya, as including patima. Patima=images).

It was a bit difficult for me to pull up the Pali right now as it isn’t on SC, but as Ven @Dhammanando has pointed out elsewhere, the real translation should be, “there is no basis for a dedicatory shrine (uddesika cetiya) as that is bound up with my own person.” This is clear, the problem is the English translation.

edit: since posting this, I’m increasingly less convinced that I know what the Pali is really getting at. Maybe a good research project for someone.

2 Likes

https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/uddesika

https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/cetiya

Uddesika is memorial; cetiya is shrine. I think ‘memorial shrine’ can be both including and not including paṭimā ‘image’.

‘Image’ worship for a religion or person was not established yet at the time of the Buddha.

2 Likes

Hi. I have a small room devoted as meditation room. :pray:

13 Likes

Buddha and Brahma

Buddha and Brahma 2

:pray: :wheel_of_dharma:

7 Likes

DIY and hobbyists’ stores that sell materials for amateur dolls-house-makers often have very nice ready-made staircases for those who find it too fiddly to make their own. You’ll need to buy three of them. Then paint one of them gold and one silver, decorate the third with imitation gems and glue them all together.

Voilà! You now have your own aniconic Sankassa Staircase image, just like the one on the Bharhut stūpa.

Karlsson - Face to Face With the Absent Buddha~2

From the entry for “Sankassa” in the Dictionary of Pali Proper Names:

Saṅkassa

A city, thirty leagues from Sāvatthi. (DhA.iii.224). It was there that the Buddha returned to earth, after teaching the Abhidhamma Piṭaka in Tāvatiṃsa, following the performance of the Twin Miracle (Yamaka Pāṭihāriya) under the Gandamba tree. As the time approached for the Buddha to leave Tāvatiṃsa , Mahā-Moggallāna (Anuruddha, according to SNA.ii.570; cf. Vism., p.391) announced his coming return to the multitude, who had been waiting at Sāvatthi, fed by Cūḷa-Anāthapiṇḍika, while Moggallāna expounded the Dhamma. They then made their way to Saṅkassa. The descent of the Buddha took place on the day of the Mahāpavāraṇa festival. Sakka provides three ladders for the Buddha’s descent from Sineru to the earth: on the right was a ladder of gold for the gods; on the left a silver ladder for Mahā Brahmā and his retinue; and in the middle a ladder of jewels for the Buddha. The assembled people covered the earth for thirty leagues round. There was a clear view of the nine Brahma worlds above and of Avīci below. The Buddha was accompanied by Pañcasikha, Mātali, Mahā Brahmā, and Suyāma. Sāriputta was the first to welcome him (followed by Uppalavaṇṇā, SNA.ii.570), and the Buddha taught the Dhamma, starting with what was within the comprehension even of a worldling (puthujjana), and ending with what only a Buddha could understand.

On this occasion was taught the Parosahassa Jātaka (q.v.) to proclaim to the multitude the unparalleled wisdom of Sāriputta (DhA.iii.224 ff; see also SNA.ii.570). It is said’ that the Buddha’s descent to Saṅkassa had provided opportunity for Moggallāna to show his eminence in psychic powers, Anuruddha in the divine-eye, and Puṇṇa his in skill in teaching, and the Buddha wished to give Sāriputta a chance of shining in his wisdom. (Ibid., loc. cit. J.iv.266; see also Jhānasodhana, Sarabhamiga, and Candābha Jātaka). He therefore asked of Sāriputta questions that no one else could answer. The opening words of the Sāriputta Sutta (q.v.) are supposed to refer to this descent from Tusita (sic). The site of the city gate of Saṅkassa is one of the “unchangeable” spots of the world (avijahitatthānaṃ). All Buddhas descend at that spot to the world of men after teaching the Abhidhamma (BuA.106, 247; MA.i.371, etc.). From Saṅkassa the Buddha went to Jetavana (J.i.193). A shrine was erected on the spot where the Buddha’s right foot first touched the ground at Saṅkassa (DhA.iii.227). When the Chinese pilgrims, Hiouen Thsang and Fa Hsien, visited the place, they found three ladders, which had been built of brick and stone by the ancients, to commemorate the Buddha’s descent, but the ladders were nearly sunk in the earth. (Beal, op.cit., i.203; Fa Hsien, p.24).

http://aimwell.org/DPPN/sankassa.html

6 Likes

167px-Kanaganahalli_relief

4 Likes

It seems making, selling different aniconic images of the Buddha in the market could be a good business. :thinking:

Rather than buying more mass produced “stuff”, a better option might be to take a print out of such an image ( wiki has great open source images of aniconic images as you can see), or if your are artistically inclined, create one yourself like Ven Dhammanado instructed above :hugs:.

I remember seeing households in Sri Lanka with just a framed photo of the Buddha on a high shelf ( sometimes an old print inherited from family),a simple oil lamp and a small cup of water and some flowers.

7 Likes

Those aniconic images created at that time were certainly meaningful, but I think, they are not really useful in a practical sense.

Why a cup of water is presented?

It’s symbolic of the offering of permissible drinks to the Sangha in the afternoon (gilanpasa)

3 Likes

I can see the different behaviors, ideas of individuals, Buddhists toward the Buddha image or its related images presented in an altar, room, garden, or/and in a living room.

Offering drinks toward the Buddha image at home altar seems very religious! But I have seen people in Thailand offer drinks (and other things) toward Brahma image or other images of deity.

It depends on how you see it. It may be part of a process that helps to remind generosity, caring and so on. Buddha himself spent time to thank and contemplate a tree, the bodhi tree. Would you see that as “religious”, or was Buddha confusing the tree for an entity? We know that it’s not the case. Some acts are based on humility and understanding of symbols, acknowledging that not everything is about ourselves.
On the same line, the Buddha did not have a teacher, nobody to acknowledge as a respectful student should. He could have just accepted that. Yet, he spent some time reflecting and decided that he would recognise the Dhamma as his teacher. Why? Because this would avoid the perception of arrogance. Even the supreme Buddha acknowledge something other than himself.
Offering things to the altar from many is not “religion” or superstition, rather a similar act to the decision of the Buddha to thank the bodhi tree. And maybe he did more to teach us.
It is often essential for us humans to acknowledge something beyond ourselves and to help us to reduce that sense of entitlement with which we are programmed as humans.
I interpret that like that, and I do offer things both to the altar and to spirits too :pray:

1 Like

Do you offer drinks to Buddha images at home or in temple?

I know Buddhist followers will make offering of flowers, incense, candles/oil lamp, food, fruit to Buddha images.

Also, in some Thai Buddhist temples, Buddhists will take two 5 centimeters of gold leaf to put on Buddha images as part of their offerings.

But, I have not seen they make offering of drinks to Buddha images. Maybe they do?

Yes, I do so at home. In particular, since I live unfortunately very distant from any temple. Bit yup, in some of the countries I have been it is not unusual at all. In the case of other traditions, such as some Tibetan, it is part of delay contamination.

I don’t know how widespread it is, but in all the Khruba Srivichai monasteries that I’ve stayed at in the North of Thailand there is a pre-meal ceremony of offering the food to the Buddha before the monks partake of it themselves. It might be compared to the Hindu practice of naivedhya:

Naivedyam means food offered to a Hindu deity as part of a worship ritual, before eating it. As such, tasting during preparation or eating the food before offering it to God is strictly forbidden. The food is first placed before a deity and specific prayers are offered with accompanying rituals. Afterwards, the food is considered as having been Blessed by God, and has officially become the sanctified प्रसाद (prasāda).

Before eating, all of the offered food is placed before the shrine and one of the monks will offer it to the Buddha, reciting:

Imaṁ sūpabyañjanasampannaṁ sālīnaṁ bhojanaṁ udakaṁ varaṁ buddhassa pūjemi.

Then there’s usually a minute’s silence, followed by a dedication of the merit of the offering to one’s attainment of Nibbāna:

Sudinnaṁ vata me dānaṁ, āsavakkhayavahaṁ nibbānaṁ, hotu me anāgate kāle.

And then the monks ask for the leftovers, using the word “maṅgala” (“blessing”, “good omen”, “something auspicious”) for what Hindus would call prasāda:

Sesaṁ maṅgalaṁ yācāma.

The food is then taken to wherever the monks eat, but always leaving one tray behind for the Buddha.

4 Likes

At my local Thai monastery it is similar. One of the lay people will pick out a selection of the food offerings that have been brought for the meal (alms round isn’t practical here), and present it in front of one of the Buddha statues.

6 Likes

Thanks for your explanation about the ceremony of the food offerings to Buddha statues/images. It seems offering of drinks/water to Buddha images is not included in the tradition.

again it depends in which tradition. Other than you think there is only one, which of course cannot ever be the case.