Daily Practice

　　The Shrine Room

　　It is best to start with practices which are common to all Buddhist traditions for every-day observance. It is usual, among the more wealthy lay Buddhists, to have a small room set aside for their daily devotions, or at least a curtained-off recess. A few might even have a small separate building. Even poor people, with little space in their houses, have a special shelf high on the wall on which a Buddha-image or picture is placed together with the usual offerings (see below). Nowhere in the Buddhist world are Buddha-images treated as ornaments for a living room. And a Buddha image is always given the highest "seat" in the room, that is, the Buddha-image is displayed in the place of honor. In the shrine-room this will be on the highest part of a shrine. If on a special shelf (often carved and decorated with color and gold), then that shelf is usually high on the wall and has nothing above it. The fact that one places the symbol of one”s Teacher in the highest place shows one”s high regard for him. For this reason alone it is obvious that Buddha-images should not be placed on mantelpieces and miscellaneous furniture. Also, if the shrine occupies part of the room used for sleeping (this would be contrary to some Buddhist traditions), it should be near the head of the bed, not at its foot. This is because that part of the body which houses most of the organs of sense and is the physical base of much mental activity — that is, the head — the topmost part of a person, should be directed to what one esteems as the highest, in this case, the symbol of the Buddha. But feet, however useful, are easily dirtied and become ill-smelling quickly and should never be pointed at any person who is respected and certainly not at a shrine, whether Buddha-image or stupa.

　　Perhaps some may object to such matters. One may be able to hear some people growling, "Buddhism has nothing to do with such things!" But this attitude ignores the fact that the Dhamma is relevant to all circumstances, also that fine conduct was praised by the Buddha, not ignored by him. So such things do matter if one is going to have objects of reverence such as Buddha-images. Whenever we think that such matters are not worth troubling over then we are just careless and unmindful. A Buddha-image should be treated respectfully and it is a good way of training oneself to treat the Buddha-image as one would Gotama the Buddha himself. Reverence (apacayana) is a part of the Dhamma which should not be neglected for it helps in the overcoming of conceit. Buddhists of all traditions have shrines with images, paintings, stupas and so on, just because reverence is an essential part of Buddhist training. From practices based on reverence are born humility in oneself and harmonious relationships with others and the Buddha tells us that four qualities increase for those who are respectful and honor those who are senior to them: "Long life and beauty, happiness and strength" (Dhp 109). Who does not want them

　　To digress a little here on the objection raised above. This might be made by a person of rational temperament who had been able to read some translations from the Pali canon but who had never met with Buddhist teachers or been to Buddhist countries. From his reading such a person might get the impression that Theravada is coolly logical, in fact a sort of eastern humanism. But this shows the selectiveness of the mind since all through the Suttas there are examples of reverence and devotion. It is true that the Buddha did not encourage his followers to give full reign to their emotions with unrestrained outbursts (in contrast to Hindu and other teachers who have emphasized that bhakti (devotion to a god) is all). However, He did lay down three form…

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