Sunday

Home Shrines Are Where We Gather

A photo gallery of home shrines, courtesy of Shambhalians around the world who shared the images below.

The ordinariness of our Shambhala Households are as powerful as they are mundane. But the practices and implements of modern life – dishwashers, electric stoves, washing machines, and hair dryers – are not what draws the attention of ourselves or our guests. As a community, we fill our homes with objects that remind, inspire, protect, and attract. We communicate by providing landing pads for meaning, through the nonconceptual stimulation of the senses.

The homes we create reflect our mind’s unique expression and also our common experience. Nowhere is this as obvious as in our shrines, the places at which Shambhalians take their seats and work with reality. When you look at the gallery below, the uniqueness of the person who arranged the shrine is obvious. But once you’ve looked at a few, it becomes equally clear that Shambhalians share a common stock of distinctive, potent symbols.

Editor’s Note: We are currently on hiatus from publishing new articles; in the meantime, please enjoy this classic item reprinted from our back issues.

These are focal points for awakening, the places where Shambhala vision is cultivated. Forget the instructions for a moment and instead experience the power of a Shambhala shrine: arranged by people of all kinds, all around the world, in a variety of cities, countries, and circumstances.

Click on any photo to enlarge or view as a slideshow:
Please feel free to comment about what you notice.