best place to meditate

[DL]

the place that i most like to meditate is in the sea shore.
quiet . good air. no polution. nice picture ( natural + human ).

what is your favorite place ?

[Delma54]

How was your 10 days course? Any suffering release?

[DL]

How was your 10 days course? Any suffering release?

i wrote about it in another place , and i prefer not changing the subject

[Dharmic Tui]

I'd probably have to go ahead and agree on the sea. Although I like my backyard too, sometimes the birdsong consumes me.

[Vivek]

Best place to meditate, wherever one is in this moment; best time, now.

[DL]

Best place to meditate, wherever one is in this moment; best time, now.

i like your answer .

but i am not sure where exactly it is. interesting question. VERY interesing.

[Vivek]

Wherever you are in this moment, that is the best place to be mindful. I like Nibs' reply in one of your own posts which I feel resonates with what I am trying to convey to you:

Using your eyes and being aware of the 'seen' and cognising and being aware of the info of oncoming traffic/people walking past is not paying attention to bodily and mental processes and thus not practicing awareness a la vipassana? You don't have to be some hardcore goenka yogi by keeping all attention on sensations at all times.  Sensations are just one aspect of the field of experience. You avoid the rest of the field of experience at your own peril.

 Being aware of that which is seen, heard and cognised outside of simply vedana (feeling tone) will continue momentum and also avoid being so internally focused, what is seen and heard and cognised by the brain elsewhere, that continuous awareness of internal focus wont be a practice being set up to be 'interrupted'. Internal/external, these concepts are there, but they are concepts. The entire field of experience is happening (arising and passing) at all sense doors. That which interrupts, i.e. the noise, is also something to become aware of as it arises and passes of its own accord. The three characteristics can be seen all over the shop and thus there will be no gaps in one's practice, when the whole shop is part of practice. Of course, beginner's steps start somewhere, but being conscious of the 'gaps' and then finding ways to include them in the mix, fills up those gaps, and momentum in practice, which is pretty much key as far as I'm concerned, will be uninterrupted.

[Matthew]

DL,

Why you don't get Vivek ... probably this: meditation is a state of mind not an act/action. The best place to meditate is where you are now. And now. And now.

Warmly,

Matthew

[Delma54]

How was your 10 days course? Any suffering release?

i wrote about it in another place , and i prefer not changing the subject

I am so sorry you prefer not changing the subject but i like your reply: full of compassion, love and kindness

[Dharmic Tui]

While I agree with Vivek, it's also common there are things which "nudge" me towards awareness. For instance this afternoon it was raining, the sound of the rain and the birds getting annoyed pushed me closer into the present.

I guess the danger of a favourite place is the expectation it brings.

[redalert]

   Often when I finish a retreat, and I've been working intensly at a deep level of mind, many sankharas come to the surface. Some of those big nasty ones show up when I'm home, and I've been known to get a little crabby.

   This is progress, not regression, we need to develope the ability to see storms arising within the framework of our own bodies and deal with them equanimously, only then will we be able to recognise them in others.

    DL, know that the hard work you did on retreat will produce sweet fruit in the future, some times we need to suck on the lemons we grew in the past.

    The advice from Nibs is excellent, but with the goenka method you will see all of these things through observing sensation, you MUST develope the ability to feel sensations at the deepest level of the mind and remain equanimous to them. This is NOT the teachings of other traditions but it IS the teaching of the Goenka tradition.

    With every moment of awareness keep focused on bodily sensations, if these are not available to you place your attention on the breath. When walking, working etc.... keep part of your attention on the task at hand and part of your attention in the body. When you find your attention has drifted off, be honest and recognise, the mind has drifted off, do not generate animosity forgive yourself(metta, loving kindness) and starrrrrt again.

    What is my favorite place to meditate?

    As Matthew stated, where I am now, and now, and now,.....

    Your doing good work, keep it up. 

[DL]

How was your 10 days course? Any suffering release?

i wrote about it in another place , and i prefer not changing the subject

I am so sorry you prefer not changing the subject but i like your reply: full of compassion, love and kindness

well , i probably should wrote it in a diffrent way.

it was ok , diffrent than what i had expected , time will tell how much benefit it will give.

sorry.

[ralpdempsey]

the place that i most like to meditate is in the sea shore.
quiet . good air. no polution. nice picture ( natural + human ).

what is your favorite place ?

I like to meditate in the sea shore, also in place like top of a hill or mountains where I can feel the nature, the fresh air and the natural noise of the surroundings.

[DL]

i wish i had some nature around me

[redalert]

      Buy a plant.

[Sylvia1982]

My employer has dedicated a prayer room and it is very quiet. Hardly, anyone goes there. So, this is very ideal for me.

There is also a Burmese monastery 2 mins walk from my work. Although, the monks there are not very big on meditation as they are involved in a lot of social work. They allow me to use the prayer room to meditate. I can often hear them talking in burmese in the background and beacuse I do not understand Burmese, it just becomes a sound/noise.

Ultimately, best place would be in my mind and I agree with Vivek that best place is in the now. No matter what I am doing, I try to be mindful. As soon as I realise my mind has wandered, I use this tool to came back to basics which is now, the breath and sensations.

[Falkov]

There is also a Burmese monastery 2 mins walk from my work. Although, the monks there are not very big on meditation as they are involved in a lot of social work. They allow me to use the prayer room to meditate. I can often hear them talking in burmese in the background and beacuse I do not understand Burmese, it just becomes a sound/noise.

I have a friend here in FL, who is a Burmese.  He used to go to temple for praying, but now it becomes more a social gathering place than a sacred refuge.   And from I have seen and experienced- it 's the reason I don't go to temple for meditation any more- not that I need to meditate there.

[Matthew]

...They allow me to use the prayer room to meditate. I can often hear them talking in burmese in the background and beacuse I do not understand Burmese, it just becomes a sound/noise.

I have a friend here in FL, who is a Burmese.  He used to go to temple for praying, but now it becomes more a social gathering place than a sacred refuge.   ....

This is quite common. In most "Buddhist" countries the majority of "Buddhists" do not meditate. For the diaspora scattered around the world the temple is a social centre.

Within a mile of where I live there are three Buddhist centres: One Sri Lankan which is 99% community centre, one Indian also 99% community centre and one FWBO (or whatever they call themselves now) which is the only place many people actually meditate.

[Sylvia1982]

People often ask me if I have climbed up to the EVEREST just because I come from Nepal. Maybe, it is a similar situation