This chaos is normal, even accidental is normal. Worlds will collide. Nothing will be boring unless you hide from it. If you just hide away, your blood stops circulating properly and you might still be alive but bed ridden with very fat "legs". Think about it. Why do you PAY to ride on the Indiana Jones Ride? You paid to get on this ride, too. But maybe you don't remember buying the ticket, but secretly maybe you sort of do.
So yes, I have personal shrines and they are part of the living Art and powers in my ride.
But I don't really share pictures of my shrines, temples, Murtis, etc much because I guess I am a bit superstitious based on various histories/leelas/traditions such as how Ravana's "klan murti" was seen (in this case in person) by a "saintly" relative and it is a long story but the Goddess murti of the Ravana Klan was "kidnapped" and then this sort of messed up a balance of power for BOTH sides ...
... so it depends on the murti and the situation, you want to bring only "good stuff" for others and not situational "bad luck" trips and trip ups to yourself nor to others.
For example, maybe you should not bring "Johnny boy" to the attention of "Devi (xyz)" enshrined in your personal temple, She might think - if only for a second - "Johnny boy, well well - hmmm, I think I might want to eat you, you naughty boy!" ... and like She isn't (going to eat him) but it sets into motion something and it's a long story.
So call me "superstitious" or whatever, that's ok, and each person can make their own decision on what they do and who am I to tell someone else anything, I am not exactly an authority of anything.
I do have sort of a funny story... will get to that, but first-
... There is one Murti that is ALWAYS ok to share and sharing only bringst. the "good stuff" to "guests", and that is Radha-Krishna, and I've shared mine in the past anyway so no problem:
- so here is my Kamala Naya and Lalita
Here is an example of a shrine, I know lots of folks do not like "cluttered" but typically the Hindu shrine is in fact a Murti with other (sometimes LOTS of other) smaller murtis and also often LOTS of "God pictures" ... actually this one is a temple, but you get the idea.
Now the "funny" story. A long, long time ago I used to be sort of a "driver" for a couple of Brahmin Pujaris, would drive them sort of like a "butler" (?) to people's homes who paid for the service to have a puja in their own home to their personal shrine. I would also double not just as the driver - these pujaris didn't have their own car nor even a drivers license - but also their "personal security" in case some joker on the street or other would try to mess with them in public due to their "odd attire" or whatever (I kept a baseball bat handy).
So I took these two Pujaris to a rather very expensive home of an Indian family in San Francisco that was near Golden Gate Park. Now I would not actually participate in the puja, the Brahmins did that, I was a "sidekick" in a nice pastel or white shirt like the American "good boy" ("Look! he is a Hindu! NICE BOY - loves Indian food!") ...
So we go in, there is small talk in which I don't know what they are saying, and cut to the chase, we are taken to a closet. But it had fancy doors. So the puja is going to begin, the Mother of the house proudly opens these doors which were made of some fancy wood and swung out left and right from the middle latch - and there was the shrine!
Woooo... nice.
But... it was in a closet and the murtis which were Sita-Ram, Shaligram Shila, others, were on this table, and you had to sort of "reach in" to do whatever the pujari is doing, and ... bell ringing, fan, incense waving, puja lamp and so on ...
... and I swear to God, one of the Pujaris turns to get something and like his dhoti caught something in the closet which was PACKED with shiny things, and he turns moving towards some plate to get as he steps out from the closet which pulls something that grabbed this other thing and - the Murtis fall off the table!
... like the other Pujari is rushing to catch the murtis, they actually catch one just as it hits the floor but another clangs against a metal cup and it's bad, real bad - disaster actually, a metal candlestick also goes down (bizaare, metal candle stick??? not... appropriate) then the Mother is in the mix trying to catch things - and don't blame me, I was off "on the side" and had nothing to do with this total embarrassment (don't look at me! It wasn't me! It was HIM!), but still felt totally embarrassed...
... yet the Mother then laughs, as the Pujaris are begging forgiveness to the Lady, Murtis, so on, touching head or such things, bowing as "all is made well again", the Lady "it's ok, it happens!" laughing (why is she speaking English now? SHE THINKS I CAUSED IT?!?) .... and ...
Maybe a shrine should not be "too cluttered".
They come from the individual heart.
