Just for funsies, here are some of the things that help me find what I need within myself to get through some of the challenges I need help with during whatever difficulties come up as I do this dying thing. Not sure if this is a shrine or an altar or what-- I guess when I used it to burn incense and such, it was an altar, but my wife became sensitive to incense in the house, so now I guess it's more of a shrine since all I do is light the candle now and then. 😉
Disclaimer: None of this is meant as any sort of proselytizing! I don't think I'd actually recommend my religion to anybody; it takes FOREVER to figure out how to wade through what is and isn't fraudulent about it. And there's plenty that's based on bald-faced lies, sorry to say. Don't get me started on Hui Neng and Shenhui and the Platform Sutra; just don't. 😆
Plus, if you're of the bent that goes towards Mayahana Buddhism, you've already figured that out by now, and wouldn't need any prodding from me. 😉
Yeah, that wall looks like it needs either some cleaning or maybe a drapery, but I don't think I care all that much at the moment.
I'll start on the left and do a separate post for each of the "plot points," as it were. I should mention that none of this is about worshipping anything-- each statue is used more like a mirror to find its purpose and meaning within myself.
Starting with that fierce-looking fellow on the left, who's probably been of the most use of all of late: His name is Acalanatha in Sanskrit and Fudo Myo-o in Japanese. Might be hard to pick out in my lousy photo, but he has a capture collar in his left hand to grab "demons" with (those being just anything unhelpful to progress, basically) and a sword in his right to tame said demons.
To me, he reminds me of an inner fierceness that I need to sometimes find in order to deal with things that need dealt with. Not anger, exactly, but determination and a certain ruthlessness that's sometimes necessary to get stuff done. That stuff behind him represents the "flames of hell," from which he is charged with defending humankind. Hell, in this case, is greed, hatred, and delusion, all of which seem worthy adversaries, don't they? 😎
He's Japanese and made of some wood I don't recognise. He came in his own little altar box, but it's an ugly plastic thing that I have stashed away somewhere. Measures about 6", not including the pedestal he stands on. I was delighted to track him down-- it's hard to find a statue of him in the US and had to order him from Japan.
The offering bowl in front of him just has miscellaneous stuff in it, like AA sobriety chips and other such permanent offerings that seemed suitable. Whenever I'm not wearing a piece of religious jewelry, it gets stored in that dish until needed again.
The guy in the middle should be recognizable as Shakyamuni his own self. It's my reminder that my path is right in front of me, and that improvement is possible, especially through the meditation posture he's sitting in. (Which I sadly can't actually fully do anymore due to age and joint issues; I'm reduced to using a chair nowadays.) He's also my mirror of an inner serenity and equanimity that I sometimes am able to find for brief periods.
He's made of soapstone, and I found him in a Chinese gift shop back in about 1980. He's been moved from house to house so many times that some frilly decorations that used to be around the top broke off long ago, but I kind of like it like that.
The silk he's sitting on covers a cigar box full of various momento morii, like friends' obituaries and little meaningful objects from my past.
I used to keep live carnations on this and a couple of other smaller shrines, but it got to be more work than I really cared to keep up with, so now there are dried flowers and plants instead.
And that framed thing on the right is my certificate of having taken my vows. It was with a Chinese lineage, so my priest wasn't into the signing-of-the-back-of-the-rakusu thing that is a more common method of assigning a dharma name and such. (He was actually wrong about that, the practice actually started in China, but whatever.) I do have a rakusu (that's the bib-like garment you see on Zen people sometimes) for formal occasions and sometimes wear it around the house to remind me to slow down and pay attention. I need reminders for things like that ALL THE TIME because my mind, even after almost 50 years of practice, still tends to be more bouncy and distractible than I would like.
And there you have it! Be glad to answer any questions about anything. Even rude ones. 😎
And on the right is the ubiquitous Guan Yin/Kannon/Kanzeon character that represents compassion and mercy. She seems to be fairly popular as a garden decoration amongst non-Buddhists for some reason; I see her in gardens all the time, including some with Catholic saints scattered about.
Interesting trivia: She started out life as Avalokitesvara, a MALE bodhisattva, about whom there was a cult in China starting in the mid-600's CE or so. I don't know when the sex change happened or why.
The statue is dark enough that it's hard to make out the vase she's holding in her hands. In a lot of such iconography, the vase is tilted to represent her/him dispensing the "nectar of compassion," whatever that is, but in this one she's holding it straight up. Her name can hold several meanings, but the most popular seems to be "hearer of the cries of the world." Which job actually falls to me, since she's imaginary and merely an avatar of the impulse to kindness and tolerance and understanding.
For me, this is the one that needs the most work-- compassion for both others and myself, but somehow manages to get the least attention. Good to have the reminder that it needs doing though! 😇