Meditation space

[violet]

Hello everyone. I was just wondering if the setting of the meditation space is important for the quality of the meditation? Of course it has to be quiet, but besides that, have you found that other things in the space are helpful (lighting, objects, nature, etc.)? Do you always meditate in the same place or do you have several places? I read somewhere in the Digha Nikaya that one should meditate under a tree or in an empty room...

If anyone would like to share how your meditation space looks like, that would be interesting to me. Mine is basically a room full of plants and that room is only used for meditation and sometimes yoga. When meditating, I make it so it has minimal lighting. I sit on a bench because my knees and hips are not flexible.

[Sam Lim]

I do longer meditation in the night. Dark places are beneficial for achieving deeper jhanas. If things or objects/nature is good for your meditation then by all means do it. The point of meditation is that one should be comfortable and free of stress then one can progress faster.

My meditation space is my bed. I just sit on it and meditate. I've been doing it since the day I start meditation.

[Jhanananda]

Thank-you Violet and Sam for posting what works for you as a meditation space.  I agree with both of you, the meditation space does not have to be specific, it just needs to meet our needs as a contemplative.

When I was a householder, I had a room that was set aside only for meditation yoga, like Violet's.  It was the rear room at the center of the house so that it was the quietest room in the house. Additionally I rented a house that was on the edge of town, in a quiet, rural neighborhood, and nature trails were right outside.

At that time I worked out of my home, so that when my children were at school, then the whole house was quiet, so that I could meditate at any time, when I was not occupied with serving a customer, who were few and far between.

Now that I live in a van, then, like Sam, my bed is my meditation place.  I prefer to sit cross legged, but I have in the past used a meditation bench, like Violet.

I prefer to meditate in nature now, so when I have a chance, which I often do, I camp in the wilderness and there I find the most conducive environment for meditation.

However, I once lived in an apartment in San Francisco.  There I found an apartment in the center of a quiet neighborhood, where I had a room that was in the center of the apartment, and it was dedicated to meditation and yoga.

[Sam Lim]

I've thought I should write this so that people can understand.

Since I've only my room for meditation, I also teach one or two guys who wants to learn and to teach them chi-gong.
They are quite sensitive. The first time they stepped into my room, the first thing they felt was an overpowering energy/shakti/etc.
Which sort of trigger a mechanism inside their body to kriya, if I can put it that way.

In any case, I am happy for them. So now they have been learning in my room for the past 2 months. They progress steadily and it's good.

[Jhanananda]

...They are quite sensitive. The first time they stepped into my room, the first thing they felt was an overpowering energy/shakti/etc.
Which sort of trigger a mechanism inside their body to kriya, if I can put it that way.

In any case, I am happy for them. So now they have been learning in my room for the past 2 months. They progress steadily and it's good.

Thank-you Sam, for posting more on the subject of the meditation space.  Yes, I too often have had people say that my meditation place is a powerful place.  So, since you meditate deeply, then I am not surprised that your meditation space is perceived of by others to be a powerful place.  I expect that your students tend to meditate more deeply in your room, or in your presence, as my meditation students tend to report the same thing.  I expect that Michael Hawkins, and Stu, also have similar reports.

[Alexander]

I've thought I should write this so that people can understand.

Since I've only my room for meditation, I also teach one or two guys who wants to learn and to teach them chi-gong.
They are quite sensitive. The first time they stepped into my room, the first thing they felt was an overpowering energy/shakti/etc.
Which sort of trigger a mechanism inside their body to kriya, if I can put it that way.

In any case, I am happy for them. So now they have been learning in my room for the past 2 months. They progress steadily and it's good.

I think we know the origin of holy places now ... and relics

[Sam Lim]

I should add one more thing. They felt bliss whenever I hug them. Cheers

[stugandolf]

Holy places/relics - in my experience it is more who are you with... Stu

[Jhanananda]

I think we know the origin of holy places now ... and relics

Yes, the reports of Sam, and others on this forum demonstrate the authentic religious experience.  As Jesus said, "We know a tree by its fruit."  Patanjali, and Siddhartha Gautama described that fruit (phala) in detail; and it is this fruit that contemplatives, such as: Sam, Stu, Michael, myself, and so many others on this forum experience, and what this forum is all about.

Holy places/relics - in my experience it is more who are you with... Stu

Well, it is true that the experience of a holy place might be more about what people bring to the experience, and not even what they are doing or who they are with.  But, if they are in the presence of truly "holy people," such as the above contemplatives, who have become mystics, then a sensitive person might have an experience of the superior fruit (maha-phala).

On the other hand most people are not sensitive, not contemplative; and most mystics are marginalized, so in most cases the so-called profound religious experience of most people are nothing more than group hysteria, which is known as religious psychosis in psychology.

[follinge@gmail.com]

I find that if I continue to meditate in the same area, I feel that the area is more and more "sacred" and thus, I can meditate much better there after a while.

There are definitely better (and worse) places to meditate.

Nature is often really nice. As are quiet places.

Thus, I try to meditate in every room of a new place to "consecrate" it in my mind.

Conversely, once established, I try to pick a spot and meditate there each time. I find that I get into a my meditation "flow" easier that way.

[Jhanananda]

I agree with your points.  Generally I selected a room, or a closet, where I meditated several times a day.  It was my refuge, and I too found it became magnified so that I quickly dropped into deep meditation states there.