Beautiful Altar of Rabten Chodarling

[Jessie Fong]

Yes, the altar is rather cluttered with a "collection" of statues, but like Beggar mentioned, there must have been a lot of love and care that went into setting up this altar.

When I run out of space on my main altar, I just expand and create more space with additional tables.

[harrynephew]

well, we each have our own ways to express our own devotion to the deities. Some Tibetans like to put all their statues onto a single platform. Somewhat like a happy family playground. Others prefer to be simple and put just one statue of Buddha to represent the entire merit field. Either way, it does not deviate from the Buddhist tradition of generosity and making offerings.

From the pictures of this altar, we could also tell that the Buddhas have no sense of differentiation(heck, they have attained the siddhi of equality!) There is no such thing as this Buddha is above than the other and hence when we are attained, being in the front or later makes no difference already. Its our perceptions that entrap ourselves in Samsara

[Ensapa]

well, we each have our own ways to express our own devotion to the deities. Some Tibetans like to put all their statues onto a single platform. Somewhat like a happy family playground. Others prefer to be simple and put just one statue of Buddha to represent the entire merit field. Either way, it does not deviate from the Buddhist tradition of generosity and making offerings.

From the pictures of this altar, we could also tell that the Buddhas have no sense of differentiation(heck, they have attained the siddhi of equality!) There is no such thing as this Buddha is above than the other and hence when we are attained, being in the front or later makes no difference already. Its our perceptions that entrap ourselves in Samsara

While that the Buddhas have no ego and is equal to one another, but to ordinary perception and to normal people, there will be distinctions as they still live within a dualistic world and it is somewhat important to them as they are slaves to their aggregates. that is why there is distinction between the different types of yidams and why is it divided into lower or higher tantra when in reality they are all the Buddha's emanations. As long as we are in Samsara, we cannot avoid having to distinguish between things because that is the nature of samsara, and the Buddhas understand.

[fruven]

Such a nice and beautiful altar of Rabten Chodarling. Thanks for sharing it! I noticed that each yidam are wrapped with a khata. The altar looks very vibrant and brimming with energy. It shows that this person has strong devotion and dedicated to his goal because the altar is a place for one to go to for prayers and meditations.

[Ensapa]

Such a nice and beautiful altar of Rabten Chodarling. Thanks for sharing it! I noticed that each yidam are wrapped with a khata. The altar looks very vibrant and brimming with energy. It shows that this person has strong devotion and dedicated to his goal because the altar is a place for one to go to for prayers and meditations.

Here's an explanation of what khatas are:

Khata is an informal term and Jael-dhar is the formal term, for traditional Tibetan offering scarf. Khatas are made of cotton, silk or other materials. They look more like a long scarf and have auspicious symbols or mantras inscribed or woven into the fabric. It represents the sincerety of ones offering, with no negative thoughts or motives in mind.They come predominantly in shades of white or ivory, due to the purity of the color but you will also find them in Blue,Red,Green and Yellow/Gold Yellow. It is a part of Tibetan way of life from birth to death and between. It is also used as a sign of recognition of one’s love or respect for another. The offering of Khata is probably one of the most well known customs of Tibetan culture. Something that one could call a Tibetan bouquet, that is very reusable and one specific Khata may travel the world over.

Historically, Khatas have been in use in the Tibetan culture for many centuries, there are 3 schools of thoughts, due to the neglect in small day to day customs being put in writing, these have been mostly transferred by word of mouth, through the generations. One school believes that it started in the 7th Century AD during the rule of King SongTsen Gompo. He would present any minister or citizen who did a good job with a skin of a prized animal, like tigers, leopards, foxes or others. With the advent of Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century as a State religion, the then King Trisong DeuTsen, Guru Rinpoche (Acharya Padmasambhava), Abbot Shantarakshita and others leaders, discouraged the giving of animal skin, as it required the killing of an animal for the fur or skin. Aware of the Indian tradition of giving offerings of sets of new clothing to the teachers or Guru, the tradition of giving the skin of prized animals was soon replaced with expensive brocades from China. Then to present day Khatas with the passage of time. The second school of thoughts say that it was prevalent in the nomadic communities of Tibet before the advent of Buddhism, even upto the Chinese invasion in 1950’s in some remote parts of Utsang and some regions close by, and may still be used, traditionally people would put Tsampa on the shoulders of people that came to their homes for work or visit to signify the purity of their wishes of respect, welcome or fare well.This ceremony was called Kartak. It was put on the right shoulder on men and left on women. It was decoratively displayed with symbols and greetings on floors to welcome high lama or officials, which is still done to this day. Tsampa, a roasted barley or any roasted grain flour was/is the staple diet in Tibet.The ceremony was done on all aspects of day to day life and with time the need for putting it around vases full of water offerings moved it to white wollen threads and eventually to present day Khatas.The other school belief is it originated in India or China, but these are just biased thoughts from our view as they seem not to be used in these both communities currently. Then with the passage of time, the expensive brocades were replaced with scarves made of cotton and silk. These days you will see all the five colors of the elements of the earth, Blue, White, Red, Green and Yellow. Mostly in shades of white or ivory is what you will find commonly used. Khatas come in a wide selection of different lengths, fabrics and quality.

The offering of a scarf may seem to be a simple gesture but in Tibetan tradition it has its own significance and protocol and is governed by tradition. To present a Khata you first fold it in half length-wise, this represents the interdepencence of each other. Then when you offer the scarf to the person, you offer the open edges facing the person you are giving it to, the folded section will be towards you, which represents your open pure heart, with no negative thoughts or motives in the offering.

Offering of Khatas would fall under 2 groups very broadly, with greetings and well wishes being the common in both offerings.

HOW TO OFFER A KHATA:

RESPECT/GRATITUDE: For holy sites, honored monks, teachers, diginitaries and elders, the scarf is given with folded hands near your forehead, with a humble bow before them, with head bent over and palms joined in respect. You never put the Khata over their neck in this situation.In most cases the giver will receive his/her Khata back from the given, as a token of blessing back to them, specially when you visit high lamas and teachers. It is custom to put Khatas over statues, thangka painting, pictures of reincarnated rinpoche’s and altar spaces.A Khata offered to H. H. the Dalai Lama and received back by a Tibetan personally will be cherished and preciously kept as it is now a very special blessing ,talisman and protector. It may never come back into recirculation from that Tibetan again. It is also flown and put on Prayer Flags before one hangs them as a sign of your prayers being sincere and pure, also as an offering to the Gods for swift accomplishment of prayers and wishes.

AFFECTION/CELEBRATION: This is for special events, like marriage, birthdays, newyear,farewell & safe journey, welcome home, honor celebration of events and happenings, death ceremony and other day to day events in lifes journey.In the event of these occasions you can offer scarfs around the neck of recepients provided they are not from the first category, or lay it over the body in case of a deceased.

[Dondrup Shugden]

I like this clustered altar at Rabten Chodarling, it is so vibrant and character with so many Buddha images.

Look of Dorje Shugden image right in the front.  Nice statute, feast your eyes and be blessed by this holy image.