If you were to open your green hymnbook emblazoned with that nifty gold Tabernacle organ icon to page hymn #144, you’d find this ode to solitude, a song about the necessity of quiet, private places in one’s spiritual life, “Secret Prayer”:
I love this hymn and this sentiment, although whether or not there is an HOUR of such quiet time each day is up for debate!
When I completed my ten-day vipassana course earlier this summer, the participants were counseled by the course instructor to maintain a one-hour-in-the-morning AND one-hour-before-bed meditation practice. I saw lots of incredulous looks around that room, mine included. An hour twice a day? I wish. However, I had made a commitment to myself to meditate every day I could. So I wanted to be able to follow another piece of counsel given by the instructor: set aside a place for meditation that isn’t needed or used for another activity. Any thought I had about meditating in bed was quickly and wisely pushed aside.
I have a friend who owns a charming three story (not including the basement!) restored farmhouse, and at the top of that house, he has created the most delightful meditation nook under some eaves. It is tucked away from the rest of the room and the house, is carpeted, painted, and stocked with some cushions and pillows … and is super cute! (Which, to tell the truth, isn’t a true Buddhist’s main objective, but does still matter to my unenlightened self.) Even before my vipassana course, I knew it was wrong to covet someone’s meditation space, but I wanted to do whatever I could to facilitate regular, meaningful meditation, my hour of secret prayer, if you will, and so planned to make my own little dedicated space after I moved into a new house this summer.
As the hymn states, silence and silent communion with the divine can be “solace to my soul.” I have dedicated the wall/floor space under some windows in my bedroom as my meditation station. My children are allowed to sit on the cushion IF they are meditating. I guess the same rule should apply to me as well.
In the wooden box tray next to my meditation cushion, I have placed some meditation card/prompts, a special heart-shaped rock found on site at the Southwest Vipassana center, a plastic heron toy that reminds me of the gray heron I watched during that meditation course, a yellow lego door that reminds me to be open, a small gold laughing Buddha snow globe and a tiny baby Jesus from the world’s smallest nativity set. Spiritual avatars? Check! And while I am not yet meditating for two hours a day, I have spent time each day at my meditation station, breathing, reflecting, and recharging.
So … do you have a special place, a meditation station, a private spot in the woods or favorite church or cathedral?
My meditation station is a landing on the L-shape of my staircase. It is the only place in my whole house that I I can look in any direction and not see something that needs to be done, or that calls me into distraction. Just a staircase. No pillow, no pretty room, no window light that I’m normally so fond of. I can’t even see the pictures on the wall because they go up and down. Poor ADD me, I just can’t practice any other way. I do keep a clock next to me, and if my mind is extremely acrobatic, I use mala beads to hone my focus.
I love that you have a space that you use regularly. I have a lot of friends who have little meditation corners and even meditation rooms that they just don’t use. It’s tempting to think that decorating will cement our practices into existence! Sometimes we like the idea of meditating more than we like actually meditating. (actually, isn’t that the truth?) Seems like those who use their meditation spaces the most have let them evolve naturally into being.
Isn’t that the truth about decorating it into existence! My MN meditating friend just sent me a message saying, “Erin, get rid of the trinkets around your space!” Ha ha! I knew he would. But that’s okay. That yellow door is something I’ve had for quite awhile and it helps me. Looking at the heron and the rock is a kind of touchstone practice that I’ve been using all summer, even before I got this cushion. I’m so easily distracted by life that they remind me: meditate! As for me, my poor weird hips and pelvis have to have some kind of pillow! I’m all for pain as a focusing agent, but without something to sit on, I can’t get to the sensation place. I totally agree that the goal is find an organic, sustainable practice. :)
Buddhists are so known for their trinkets! Little statues, pictures, features, coins, everywhere – we’re a sentimental bunch. When I finished yoga teacher training, I finally had a regular meditation practice, but I was totally reliant on my mala beads – one breath, one bead. I wore those mala beads as my daily accessory for just the reason you said – to remind me to sit. Fortunately for me, I have to walk up that landing on the staircase multiple times a day, and it whispers to me… “sit down, and shut up…”
I know this probably doesn’t count for real meditation, but I find that running helps me focus the mind. I am a little embarrassed to admit that, in my college yoga classes, when we meditated I usually fell asleep. So while running, it is easier for me to become present in that one thing than to try to wrestle against my mind in the quiet.
Thanks for an interesting post.