Dear Sir Six years ago my father passed away and I always had a beautiful picture of the two of us. I had it in my room for a long time next to a picture of my mother, who is still alive, next to a buddha statue. I was not born a Buddhist but I have been a member of a traditional buddhist kung fu school for some time and although I have no profound knowledge yet, the buddhist philosophy explained in my school has more appeal to me than any other philosophy. I am now integrating the pictures and the statue into an altar in a more visible part of my appartement (before it used to be tucked away in the corner of my bedroom). I layed down both pictures on the top shelf of a cabinet and put a small decoration with stones and water flowing through a pump, in between the pictures. I also placed some pictures of both deceased family members and deceased friends and living family members and living friends on the shelf below next to the buddha statue. Finally I placed a large frame with the depiction of my kung fu style on top of the cabinet. Although I am not of eastern descent I do feel that paying tribute to both the dead and the living will improve my quality of live and that of my family members. I have some questions regarding the placement of the objects: 1) Is it ok to put pictures of both deceased and living persons on an altar or should they be separated? 2) My kung fu school has given a new direction to my life and my highest personal aspiration lies there. Is it ok to put a large frame (40 cm x 80 cm) the depiction of my kung fu style on the altar? 3) If I put a bowl fruit on the altar, can I eat the fruit afterwards? 4) Is it ok to put the Buddha statue on the lower shelf or should it always be placed on the upper shelf? 5) Can I lay down the pictures or should they be placed upwards? Kind regards Jelle
