Tsem Rinpoche's Resources » Altar

Puja For Consecrating Homes and Premises - Blessings for Homes, Offices and Land

webmaster — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:38:14 +0000

Trusol is a sacred ritual of ‘bathing’ the Buddhas and consecration, through which practitioners and patrons cleanse their own negativities, sicknesses and obstacles.

Usually done when settling in to a new location, the gentle but cleansing Trusol puja purges negative energies and consecrates a certain area, premise or land with positive energy, leaving a blessed environment conducive for daily activities.

Benefits:

Removal of negative energy
Consecration of images, temples and premises

This puja is available in the Kechara Puja House. Click here for more information.

Pujas For Consecrating Statues and Altars - Blessing statues and altars

webmaster — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:08:57 +0000

The Sungdrup ritual purifies and blesses holy items such as Buddha images and mantras prior to insertion into, sealing and consecrating a statue. This is then followed by the empowering puja of Rabnye (often likened to a more extensive form of Trusol), which infuses altars and statues with holy energies; this allows them to impart continuous positive energies to their owners.

Benefits:

Seals and consecrates holy items
Enhanced blessings of holy items

This puja is available in the Kechara Puja House. Click here for more information.

Ghaus - Portable Shrines

webmaster — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:32:34 +0000

A ghau is a portable shrine in which an image of the owners’ personal deity is kept wrapped in silk cloth.

Most Tibetans use Ghaus at home and during their travels. When at home, they keep it on their altar.

Ghaus are normally richly decorated in the front, and plain at the back. Normally, a tsa tsa or small statue is placed in the ghau along with other holy or blessed items.

Stupas - The Enlightened Mind

webmaster — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:29:59 +0000

Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, had instructed his disciples that after his passing, his body should be cremated and the remains enshrined in a reliquary monument, or stupa, as was the custom with regards to the great Indian leaders of the past.

His purpose for having such monuments erected was not self-aggrandizement but, in the words of the late Lama Govinda:

“To remind later generations of the great pioneers of humanity and inspire them to follow their example, to encourage them in their own struggle for liberation from suffering.”

A proper Buddhist altar holds the symbols of enlightened body, speech and mind, traditionally represented by displaying a statue or photo of Buddha Shakyamuni, a scripture, and a stupa.

The mind of the Buddha is traditionally represented by a stupa of enlightenment. The stupa should be placed to the right of the Buddha image, or below the Buddha if the altar consists of several levels.

Tsatsa - Votive Tablets

editor — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:35:42 +0000

Tsa tsas, with their origins in Sanskrit, are a typical Tibetan Buddhist art form. They are actually votive tablets in Tibetan Buddhism, usually clay impressions made with a metal mould containing the hollowed, reversed image of a deity, a stupa or other sacred symbol.

As holy objects, tsa tsas can be found inside stupas, prayer wheel niches, holy caves and monastery altars, or beside holy mountains, holy lakes and other holy sites. Small tsa tsas can be put inside a portable amulet shrine (called a ghau in Tibetan) and used as amulets by those travelling.

Tibetan people believe that making tsa tsas is a merit-accumulating action. Tsa tsa-making is a compulsory skill for monks in Tibetan monasteries. After the tsa tsa is moulded, they are dried or fired to harden them. Only after being ritually empowered can they be used as holy objects!

One can also make 100,000 tsa tsas as one of the preliminary practices prior to receiving higher tantric initiation.