The Altar

My very first exposure to the altar comes when I was really young. Did not know much about it except dad always put little cups filled with water and tea every morning and make short prayers and joss offerings twice a day. Situated in the middle of the altar was a statue, dad say it is the Buddha. My question is, why do we pray to the statue and not the real person, I got very confuse.

As I grew, I started to hate the altar; may be because every time I get punished, I am required to squat in front and facing it until my parents anger subsided. Well things did not turn better, my dad enforces me to do prayers every morning and night, which includes; serving tea and water, cleaning it and joss offerings. The truth, I hated it, why can’t he ask mom or bro to do it, why it got to be me just because I am the eldest son or is it something else. But then, I have no choice, either I do it or get one hack of a scolding, tested and proven many times over those years.

The hatred for the altar lasted for almost 10 years. The hatred subsided since I started Sunday school many years ago and mixing with knowledgeable adults in Buddhism of which mom and dad encourages a lot. It begun from a lot of questioning, which dad always disagrees with my questions. Later it became somewhat a practice of reading up books regarding Buddhism. Not too long ago, my knowledge on Buddhism surpasses those of mom and dad.

I no longer hate doing those routine that dad enforces on me, I guess deeper understanding helped me to relieve and realize the negative misunderstanding towards the altar. For the past few years, I been doing that routine almost everyday, it is no longer a hated command but a habit. About 2 years ago, I started reciting long prayers; verses that dad do not even know off, and also doing meditation; not an expert yet…still very far away.

As far as I can remember, the main altar consists of a Buddha, Kuan Yin, Guan Gong and 2 Luang Phor Tot statues. For the past 3 years, the number of statues increased at a tremendous rate. Bro used to tell his friends that the house is very scary; this is because almost all of the statues are gold plated (gold colour, never was there gold) which it is quite a creepy sight after all the lights are off which leaves only the candle light brightness located on the altar. Do not blame me; I did not buy any of it, put it short, thank you mom.

Today is Wesak day; the day that commemorates the birth, the enlightenment and the passing of Gautama Buddha; no more than just a mere teacher.

From the depth of my hearth;
I offer flowers; the nature of impermanence,
I offer candle light; the light of wisdom,
I offer perfume; the significance of perseverance or joyous effort,

A rip off from Wikipedia;
The Buddha Himself has given invaluable advice on how to pay homage to Him. Just before He died, He saw His faithful attendant Ananda, weeping. The Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all compounded things (including even His own body) must disintegrate. He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the physical body but to regard His teachings (The Dhamma) as their Teacher from then on, because only the Dhamma truth is eternal and not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to pay homage to Him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow His teachings. This is how devotees and expected to celebrated Vesak: to use the opportunity to reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace and harmony to mankind.

A little loving kindness won’t hurt….

May dear readers, be well and happy,
May they be free from harm, free from enmity,
May they be free from suffering, hatred and grudges,
May they dwell in peace and harmony,
May His wisdom shine upon them.

I may have hated you once; that is my ill will. I may have not liked you before; that is my ignorance. I may have misunderstood you; that is my delusion. I came to ask and investigate; you taught and guided me with your Dhamma, and I thank you for that.

Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu