8.3 Moving and Changing Altars
Questions about changing altar
Wenda 20120422B 41:53
(Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program)
An Excerpt
Caller: The location of my current altar was advised by Master. It’s a small cabinet located in the living room. I’ve found this cabinet too short and it made me uncomfortable. I want to replace it with a taller, larger and wider one. Should I light up three incense sticks, recite the Great Compassion Mantra and the Heart Sutra 7 times each, and then move the Buddhist instruments to a larger cabinet?
Master Lu: Exactly so. The larger cabinet needs to be clean.
Caller: It’s newly made.
Master Lu: That’s great.
Notes on moving altars when moving to a new house.
Buddhism: Your Questions Answered Q40
(An excerpt)
If you have an altar at home, you first need to move the altar to the new place when moving to a new house. After burning the last incense in your old house, you may take the Bodhisattvas’ images or statues from the altar and carefully wrap them up. It’s very important that you put the images or statues back on the altar after arriving at the new place, light up three incense sticks, recite the Great Compassion Mantra and the Heart Sutra 7 times each, and perform more full prostrations. You may pray to the Bodhisattva and say, “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva come to our new home, please continue to protect and bless me, <full name>, and my family. We will cultivate our minds diligently and sincerely.” It is best to relocate your altar and set it up first before you move the rest of your belongings.
When you relocate your altar to a new home, the statues or images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not require another blessing ceremony. This is because Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have already visited the statues and images. When you move into a new home, you are just not making incense offerings temporarily. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not present in the statues or images while you are moving.
After you have moved into your new home, as soon as you make incense offerings (known as a “continuation of making incense offerings”), Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be invited to come and visit again. Therefore, these statues or images do not require another blessing ceremony.
Once the Buddhist altar has been established, you should move the beds into place before moving the rest of the furniture.
Moving the altar to the new home first
Wenda 20141130A 21:07
(Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program)
An Excerpt
Caller: When we move houses, is it enough just to recite the Heart Sutra while moving?
Master Lu: You need to move the altar to the new home and set it up first before moving other things.
Caller: Sure. Can we just recite the Heart Sutra during the process? Do we need to recite other sutras?
Master Lu: You should recite the Great Compassion Mantra rather than the Heart Sutra. Recite the Great Compassion Mantra as many times as you can along the way. If you encounter trouble, recite the Great Compassion Mantra as you should avoid reciting the Heart Sutra at night.
Caller: I see, so I just need to recite the Great Compassion Mantra more often regardless?
Master Lu: Yes.
Can we change the location of our altar?
Wenda 20140801 19:54
(Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program)
An Excerpt
Caller: The altar in my room is facing towards the west, but my neighbour is living in that direction. Can I change the location of my altar and let it face the east?
Master Lu: Yes, it’s not a problem if you change the location of your home altar. It’s fine.
Caller: The images of Bodhisattvas are on the east side; can I adjust their position as well?
Master Lu: Remember, Bodhisattvas are not mindful of such trivialities. Especially if the altar is in your home rather than a temple. Bodhisattvas would understand as our cultivation has not been easy. We have been promoting Buddhism and helping others. Bodhisattvas will not blame us for trivialities such as changing the location of your home altar.
Caller: So, we may change the location at any time, right?
Master Lu: Yes.
Caller: Do we need to recite any sutras during the process?
Master Lu: There’s no need.
Caller: We can just directly change it when the incense is not lit, right?
Master Lu: Yes.
