Buddhist Shrines, Stupas and Rupas

20 things that you may find in a Buddhist shrine

As a Buddhist enters a shrine room they may well bow before the Buddha figure. This bowing is to acknowledge the reason why the Buddhist is there (to develop and work on their mental states). The Buddha Rupa is not a God-figure, but is rather and idealised representation of what the Buddhist practitioner is trying to achieve, Enlightenment or Bodhi. The Buddha Rupa is an ideal or goal of what the individual Buddhist could be or achieve. The Buddhist is therefore reverencing this ideal, focusing their attention on it and showing that they are serious about their intentions and efforts.

Stupas

For several hundred years Buddhists did not have any figures or forms on Shrines. There then developed a tradition of using a Stupa. A Stupa traditionally was a reliquary, a place for storing the relics of saints. The Stupa therefore has associations of death and impermanence and the dissolution of the elements. Symbolically the Stupa represented each of the elements. The square of the base represented the earth, the dome or sphere represents water, the cone fire, the disc, air, and the flaming jewel at the top, consciousness.

Buddha Rupas

Gradually traditions of making representations or forms of the Buddha developed. The word for "form" is Rupa, so one talks in terms of the Buddha Rupa on a shrine. Often these would be stylised or idealised representations of the historical Buddha °© the figure was known as Shakyamuni, or "the sage of the Shakyas". The Buddha figure would be golden in colour, with his hair in a topknot, the left hand in the mudra or gesture of meditation, the other hand touching the earth in the Bhumisparsa or "earth touching mudra". This shows the importance of meditation in the achievement of Enlightenment, the earth touching mudra refers to the story of the Buddha's enlightenment when he was asked to justify his right to claim to be a Buddha and called the earth goddess to witness his years and lifetimes of effort.