I have been taking in the astounding miracle of sitting practice more deeply recently: a cushion facing a blank white wall. A sitting posture – with legs grounded on the floor – that signals to the heartmindbody: we are staying, here, now (it’s not a posture you can leap up from!).
Everything is set up to give a human the best possible chance of being present, of seeing how we cause ourselves to suffer so we can drop that and end suffering. The Meditation Hall is a physical manifestation of this: a place built consciously to support consciousness. The awe-inspiring kindness and gift of that! A place that supports a human to be Here.
The Meditation Hall welcomes everything as the Buddha: no matter what sort of energy we walk in with, no matter what’s going on with us as we sit on the cushion, it holds everything in unconditional love and acceptance. It models nothing wrong. It is a big, bright, energetic container of conscious, compassionate awareness. The Meditation Hall is the Buddha, and it offers us a mirror to see that we are, too.
One of my favorite jobs at the Monastery is straightening out the mats and cushions in the Meditation Hall after a sit. It is an opportunity to express gratitude. It is an opportunity to care for that which takes such good care of us, to offer presence to that which supports us to be present. It is the nonseparation in action of this: presence is a gift from Life and a gift to Life. And as I’m lining up the cushions and smoothing out the mats, I like to smile to the Meditation Hall and say, thank you for showing me the ropes. I’m training to be like you.
In gassho
Anna