Question asked by David E
Hello pastors! I'm back with more questions!
I'm in the rpocess of setting up an altar and wish to decorate it with pictures of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, dharma protectors, etc. I have found a couple guides online that show how to arrange the pictures according to their hierarchy (Guru, yidam, dakini, protectors, top down, right to left).
My questions are thus: in terms of altar set up, do we consider Maitreya Buddha a guru, or a yidam? If we have a picture of Shakyamuni Buddha, is he guru or yidam? If we have pictures of several gurus (HH The Dalai Lama, Lama Tsongkhapa, His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, Shakyamuni Buddha/Maitreya Buddha), which takes the top most position? Where do Bodhisattvas lie in this arrangement?
Is there a hierarchy within the groups (yidam, dakini, protectors) which must be adhered to? For instance, as Green and White Tara sprang from Chenrezig's eyes, does that make Chenrezig "superior" to Green/White Tara strictly in terms of altar set up?
If we choose to include wrathful as well as peaceful emanations, what is the arrangement for those? For isntance, I have a picture of Mahacundi Bodhisattva in her peaceful form, and her three-faced wrathful form. How should they be arranged in relation to each other?
Sorry if my questions seem all over the place, I really want to get this right. Thank you a thousand fold for your good help and advice.
Dear David E,
Thank you for the good news! I can feel your excitement reading your question. You will have a very merry altar seeing how many Buddhas you’ve mentioned in your question! You might even want to consider a small altar for the protector(s).
The main focal point of your altar should be an image of a Buddha statue (tsa-tsa, photograph or painting). You can choose any Buddha statue that you like, and you can place more than one statue. The more the merrier of course :). If you are following the Gelug lineage, Lama Tsongkhapa will be in the center. If you have both Shakyamuni Buddha and Maitreya Buddha’s statues as well, Buddha Shakyamuni should be placed at the back with Maitreya Buddha and Lama Tsongkhapa right in front of Maitreya Buddha.
All Buddhas are the same, there is no superiority among them, Chenrezig, Green and White Tara are all the same. In Kechara House, we have Lama Tsongkhapa in the middle, Protector Setrap on his left and Vajrayogini on his right. So it is obvious where the Protector and Yidam should be located on the altar. The center Buddha will be higher than the Yidam and the Protector.
As you may already knew, on the left of the altar should also have a Dharma text to represent the Buddha’s speech, a stupa on the right to represent the Buddha’s mind. The Guru’s framed photo should be placed in front of the Buddha. I am not sure if His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche is your Guru or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, so you’ve to decide who to place there. Also make sure the picture will not block Lama Tsongkhapa in the center. The Guru represents both the Guru and also the Sangha. Your Guru is your closest link to the Buddhas.
As I’m unsure of the sizes of your Mahacundi Bodhisattvas pictures, as long as it doesn’t block the Guru, Yidam and Protector you can place them on right of Lama Tsongkhapa, in front of the Yidam.
Also not to forget to get at least seven water bowls in front of the Buddha in the center for water offerings. If can, another row behind them for sensory offerings. These nice clean new bowls can be made of any material – stainless steel, glass, porcelain, copper or even silver and gold. Please buy the best you can offer to practice generousity by making such good offerings to the Buddhas.
Get some incense, if possible with an incense holder to be safe, and nice scented candles. Please do not leave any candles unattended. His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche has advise electric candles as an option for indoor light offerings due to safety reasons. Here’s the blog post where His Eminence shared this information https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/electric-candles-as-offerings-ok.html. I recommend you to read The Living Buddha Within by His Eminence for more detailed understanding of altar setup. The book is available on http://www.vajrasecrets.com and Google books if you do not reside in Malaysia.
Hope you find these information helpful.