I have a collection of items brought together with the thought of assembling them into something nice – pleasing and useful; and call it my life. We all have 'a bunch of stuff' in and around us with some of it intentionally acquired and other bits just seemingly random and incidental; some of it physical and some of it mental. We work with and configure the various elements as we move forward following the idea of having a comfortable life. Some of the choices and adjustments are conscious and some are just reactive or habitual. And so it goes.
A specific set of items I have lined up are for building a shrine for my kuti. I renovated the building quite a number of years ago and gave a lot of time to design detail. The core restructuring came together quick enough but a few features took longer... years. The shrine is one of, the last of, those. Why has it taken so long? The convergence of the ideal and the real can be a protracted and sometimes frustrating process. Time, motivation, materials, a clear vision, health, wealth and weather... and the tally of waffling obstructions (as to why my life is not complete :) goes on – and on. As a Buddhist monk the 'why', the motivation, is fairly simple and perhaps I can share some of that.
A shrine is a holy place – a place that represents that which is whole, complete, with nothing missing and nothing in excess. It is a symbol of perfection and, in a Buddhist context, the proposal is that humans are capable of holiness, divine understanding. A shrine points to that potential, the realisation of nibbāna (liberation, enlightenment). Any conditioned construction can never be entirely perfect but the idea of a shrine is to have a reference – visual, audio, olfactory, tactile – that inclines, raises the mind toward that state... the unconditioned; that which silence recognises before speech tries to name it. To see that the shrine has relative value, not absolute, and to regard religious objects in that way... as symbols, not idols or things with inherent power is important. Missing this point is to slide into superstition and idolatry.
The primary focus and often largest object on a Buddhist shrine is a Buddha image, a symbol of the potential we have as humans to realise the same truth that the historical Buddha discerned; nibbāna. The image is presented as a beautiful, well proportioned human figure, sometimes with androgynous features as the truth is genderless, ageless and culturally independent; it requires no endorsement. Our relationship with other noble beings – mother, father, teachers – can similarly be utilised using statuary, photos or any other likeness. Any object that awakens and brightens the heart can be put on a shrine with significance being consciously assigned, not assumed. Incense, candles and flowers are common additions... the single-bright-point of the incense as the Buddha mind with the fragrance of wisdom permeating without impediment... the light of wisdom that dispels the darkness of ignorance as the Dhamma... the beauty of a gift of flowers, of the Sangha – that is changing, impermanent, but with a beauty that transcends time. A shrine need not conform to any traditional style and can simply be any point of associative reference that shifts our focus outside of our ego-self. For me the amorphous, synonymous categories of 'holy, sacred, spiritual, blessed, divine, etc.' are about a movement away from selfishness toward...? some greater, wider, broader, more universal, natural... thing, force, energy, dynamic... and there are quite a few words here as there is no-one word that defines. Thomas Aquinas in 1273 saying, on the completion of his masterpiece 'Summa Theologica', "all that I have written seems to me as so much straw" exemplifies the limitation of words. Our experience is indefinable. It can be referenced, but not wholly delineated, with words or symbols. And so a shrine is a mnemonic, a vessel that is filled with our insights, saturated with our accumulated attention and inquiry, inspiring and opening our hearts to our potential.
And I have a few bits of wood, some glass, bone, brass... items, some stuff. The physical location is fixed – a corner of the kuti – and there are rules, like gravity (shelves should be horizontal) and light, accessibility, stability (we have earthquakes here) and, of course, function and aesthetics. Developing the vision/design was a meditation in itself and the size and scale is now mostly settled – but not fixed. Creation is an evolution, a flow. Life is not stagnant but an arena of adaptive movement. Some of my best bits here are the result of typos...
Which piece joins with which? How is the connection to be made? ...the sequence of assembly? ...available tools? Having a realistic appreciation of my skill level and expected quality outcome. Allowing the creation to be intuitive, to flow... as too muck stinking con madly afflict constriction. (typo?) Regular assessment, peer review, referring back to original sketches – testing a corner detail with a model... cardboard is great. Meditate, muse... on life's creation... aligning form with empty hands, applying weightless intent in empty space.
Having a shrine, however simple, as a part of your world is an ongoing invitation to hear what has already been heard, it is a reminder. Embody the lingering light of a literal and metaphorical candle. A shrine is a cipher that translates as and connects you with – whatever it is that you deem divine, that you regard as a symbol of what you truly value, your highest priority. It could be a pile of bricks painted gold with pictures of famous billionaires – if that is your goal. You have your collection of stuff... what might you build of significance?
Maintaining a shrine... is maintaining and cultivating whatever it represents for you. It is to move to... that place, that state of being. It is a redirection of attention, a ritual recommitment to what matters most, a bridge from the-other to the purity of... remembrance, recollection. Build a shrine in the heart, a quiet place where you can gently bow in reverence to 'you' – that part of your being that is free of ego, delusion, doubt, depression, guilt, grief... that part that is radiant, vast beyond measure. Illuminate that, dust it regularly, offer flowers and incense. With palms together over the heart – bow deeply.
