Wellness Spaces | Jan 23 2024 Mindful Q&A W/ Wendy #17

17th meditation Q&A with Wendy Nash and I.

Wendy,

What's going on?

Oh,

Well,

I'm here on Gubbi Gubbi Country in Queensland.

And while you've got,

We were just talking and you've had black ice yesterday,

We were sweating,

Actually yesterday,

I don't think it was too bad,

But boy,

It has been so,

So hot here.

So we moved slightly closer to the sun and I think you moved further out towards the other end of the galaxy.

It's pretty wild,

This cold snap and then these extreme temperatures,

More and more that recently.

Well,

Today's we're entitling this meditation space,

Meditation spaces.

So last time we talked about nomadic meditation,

About all the different places we meditate and all the different topics surrounding that.

And today I thought we'd actually do something different and show some spaces for,

You know,

Inspiration,

Creativity,

You know,

We'll just comment on some of these spaces.

And I just wanted to give a disclaimer up front here that we don't own the copyright to any of these images nor are we claiming them.

We're not gonna make any money off of this,

You know,

So please,

You know,

If you're really interested in a particular space,

Use like reverse image search,

Find out who the copyright holder is,

Contact them and give them money and getting it that way.

Cause I didn't keep track of any of these and we'll try to keep them brief in order for,

Yada,

Yada disclaimer.

So I think you sent me a couple of links and we can certainly say the name of the URL in case people want to do that.

But again,

We have no commercial or any other affiliation with any of these places.

We've just,

You know,

Been ordinary,

Boring citizens who have just searched on Google and gone,

Oh,

Look at that.

Actually Josh did,

Josh did all the work.

I've done no work,

Sorry.

Well,

You've showed up here and add your lovely presence and helpfulness as well,

Wendy.

So,

Okay,

So this is the link for this,

Just go to integratingpresence.

Com and today is the 23rd of January,

2024.

So it was the post right before this one.

So right around there,

You'll see a post that includes all these images without any further ado.

Let's see here.

So while you're bringing up the image so you and I can see it and probably a person can see it,

Just a heads up,

We go on to Decoist.

So it's decoist.

Com,

D-E-C-O-I-S-T.

Com forward slash meditation,

Hyphen rooms,

Hyphen spaces.

And I guess I get,

Whoa.

Oh no,

Whoa,

Hang on.

Let's see.

No,

So Wendy,

Something happened with the screen share.

Is it working now?

We've got screen share,

Definitely.

But did you get that image from that URL I just said,

Or is that?

I did,

More than likely,

Yes.

But I don't know if it's gonna be feasible to give all the URLs there to find them.

No,

I just thought if that's where you got them,

Then that's sort of where it is.

That's as good a place as any to start.

And maybe you found them from somewhere else.

I can't see them anywhere else on here,

But gee,

Some of these ones are pretty cool.

I'd have to say you did some good work there,

Josh.

Well,

I appreciate it.

So yeah,

If you wanna find out,

These images are,

Like I said,

They're all collected.

There's a few links where more than one of the images came from.

So you can find them that way,

Or some of them anyway.

So,

Okay,

So we're starting off here.

This just looks like somebody's space here.

I don't know if that's a mirror on the screen.

Yeah,

I think,

So what I've got,

I think you're sitting in your car looking at your tiny little phone.

I've got a,

I'm on a website,

So how about I describe it,

Because I can see it quite well.

Sure.

Okay,

So it does look like someone's got a white,

It's a white little room,

Like slightly larger than a broom closet,

And some bookshelves on either side,

A stool on one side,

And two,

What's called zafus.

And zafus are those meditation cushions that look like,

I don't know,

Wow,

Just flat little cushions that are quite heavy and hard.

And there's clearly a mirror on one side,

Round mirror,

And some greenery.

There is,

Yeah,

I think the,

Maybe the greenery is reflected in the mirror there.

And it looks like a radiator too.

So it looks like a nice,

Warm,

Cozy spot.

Ah,

It is a,

So it must be in the Northern Hemisphere.

I missed that one,

Because we don't have radiators here like that.

And then we've got,

It looks like a couple of lights up top.

But anyway,

Yeah,

We're,

Both of us are good at giving verbal descriptions.

So yeah,

This is some ideas for converting one space,

A little nook for meditation.

Now this next one here,

This is actually,

I think,

From a major newspaper.

And I think this is someplace in New York City.

So pretty wild looking space there with a sacred geometry top or ceiling.

And the lighting is just wild.

So we'll go into things like meditation halls,

Caves,

Huts,

Pods,

Chairs,

Spaces,

Indoor and outdoor.

Just that previous one,

Because that's in New York.

Have you ever been to,

I've never been to New York.

I have,

It was like 2005 though.

So I was only there for a few days.

It was a completely different person at that time.

And I'm just,

In New York City,

You could probably,

I could probably spend like days on just a single block and not see everything.

I don't know if I could go into all the buildings.

It's just so compressed.

Now around this,

It looks like a seating around it.

Yeah,

It's got seating around the outside.

It's a wooden floor.

It's got this crisscross pattern from a bloom above,

I guess it's quite nice.

It looks like maybe it's a yurt or it's got a tent or it's some kind of fabric covering and some pretty groovy 1960s lighting,

I guess I would say that.

And yeah,

I think it's,

And just a guy sitting there in the middle of the room,

I would have to say for me,

That's not a place that I'd be so keen to sit on.

It looks a bit hard and comfortable.

You'd want some cushions and some zafus and things like that.

But if it was set up so that it was,

You would be physically comfortable,

Probably,

Yeah,

Kind of interesting.

Yeah,

Because definitely the space that you sit in does make a difference in terms of,

The experience you have.

If you're physically comfortable,

Then definitely it makes it better for sure.

Well,

Right on.

And just,

Maybe this will be a little awkward because I can't get the visual cues from Wendy,

But we can hear each other.

And I think the verbal descriptions are great for those just listening on the podcast or the audio version.

If you are still,

Go and check out the visual version.

You'll like this,

Or at least go to the website and flip through these real quick.

You don't have to spend as much time again,

Re-listening.

Also these metal,

These look like cane poles,

Wooden rods or something that are all interwoven or behind each other and whatnot,

Making the design holding up if it's a tent or not.

All right,

Now this next one looks like maybe a loft space.

So it looks like there's,

Yeah,

If you'd like to give the description,

Wendy.

Sure,

Just in case you can hear a little bit of a tinkle here,

My cat is sitting right here on her little own special Zen cushion,

Otherwise known as a chair,

A chair cushion.

But so she's doing her thing.

So what have we got?

It's again,

So clearly beige is the color of Zen because pretty much everything seems to be like that.

Wooden floor,

Oh no,

It's got a dark floor and then it's got a couple of rugs.

One is a sort of a wooden kind of maybe bamboo matting and then another one,

Which is more of a cloth matting.

It's at the top of a stairwell,

A little looks like it's got a stool on one side as a bit of a shrine with some pots or stones or something,

Maybe a candle.

And then the person presumably sits in a beige chair,

Like a lounge chair with a cushion and they've got a wooden stool and a cushion.

I don't know,

Maybe when your legs get tired and then on one side it's got a bookshelf,

But everything is very beige.

So I think it's architects or interior designers in space.

Yes,

Yes.

And it's kind of like a slope,

Right?

So this is up near the ceiling of the building,

I guess.

Now we've got about 80,

I think some images to get through.

And some of these,

I wouldn't say are just places just for meditation,

But they're meditative like spaces.

And while some of them are more formal.

Now we look at this one and this almost looks like something out of a tiki.

I know my lights went off here,

But it doesn't matter.

We're looking at the screen,

I think for now.

And tiki,

Like a tiki bar almost.

There's a lot going on on this.

It might take quite a while to describe this.

I'll just say,

This looks a little more like a group meditative space.

Maybe there's a sand,

Like a Zen rock garden or sand thing in the middle with candles,

Tables with more candles,

Some other tables with more candles.

And this is like a wooden hut that looks like it's partially covered from the elements.

A wall beyond it,

That's maybe another kind of structure or maybe that's a wall protecting the outdoors.

So I'm not quite sure.

And something in the middle hanging down,

Almost looks like a pendulum or something,

But I don't know.

And there's some stones.

You have any other things to add to this,

Wendy?

I would say it looks like a meditation space in Asia that was designed for Westerners to go on nice expensive meditation retreats.

When you go to sort of Buddhist meditation places,

They don't look like that.

That's for sure.

No,

They do not.

This looks like a sort of a fashionable,

Nice,

They would do yoga retreats and maybe feminist awakening embodiment.

It looks like one of those.

So it's a place that's very beautiful,

Very beautiful.

So not to be,

Yeah.

Yeah,

Just different than what Wendy and I are used to.

And yes,

Okay.

So the next one just looks like a corner of someone's apartment or,

You know.

Yeah,

It's interesting.

Yeah,

So just looking at that,

I'd have to say that one is not a place where I would want to meditate because it's got a rather lumpy,

A sort of very stylish,

Interesting knot,

I guess,

Eternal knot cushion in the middle of the room.

And then it's got a sort of 1950s mid-century chair,

Which has got something on it,

Which means you couldn't probably sit on it.

Nothing looks,

It looks like it's there for the look,

But rather than the,

You know,

Comfort,

For sure.

Yes,

Exactly.

So this isn't a formal meditation space the way it is.

It's maybe a little bit of a quiet area,

Meditative-like space,

But not something for formal regular sitting practice,

It looks like.

To be honest,

It looks like something that has been done,

Has been created to make a photo because I can still see the rug in the middle,

A fold mark in the middle of it.

I think it's one of those,

You know,

Images,

Which is there for,

Yeah,

Hey,

We're really,

To be part of the in-crowd or whatever.

So to promote,

I don't know.

That's not a useful one to me.

That's what I think.

And look at all the massive amount of detail that we're picking out of these.

This is great.

And Wendy's only seen these for the first time,

I think,

Or maybe she looked at them earlier.

I'm not sure.

I didn't have a chance.

You know,

You sent them through this morning and I've just had a flat chat day.

So no,

None of that.

I'm seeing for the first time.

We get fresh eyes here and all the details she's pointed out already.

Now,

This one looks fairly inviting with,

I don't know about that wicker chair from,

But the kind of Ikea-like reclining chair.

I think those are comfortable every once in a while.

I mean,

If you're looking to support your own weight,

Of course,

A chair is not the best thing.

Some chairs are better where you can sit on towards the edge and use your back to support all your weight.

But chairs like these are made to use the back.

Lots of carpet.

The natural stone,

If it's not a facade,

Looks nice.

And there is a meditation cushion there or something like a Zafu.

But then the Zebuton is the thing that offers support for the legs,

The like matted cushion that go below the Zafu.

But I don't see one of those there.

Well,

It does have a rug or a carpet underneath it.

So you wouldn't necessarily need it because it does look quite thick and lush,

Plush,

I guess.

I would prefer to sit in the wicker chair on that one.

And I tend to,

I'm a bit naughty because I actually sit in bed.

I meditate in bed in the mornings after my first cup of tea,

I must say,

Because I have a kettle by my bedside table.

So I just make my,

Do that first thing in the morning.

I think of so far,

This one feels the most inviting and warm,

But I get more the sense that it's a bit contrived.

It's done a little bit to the image of the photo rather than it being someone's real lived experience.

I totally agree,

You know,

And then the plants are really nice too.

Now this is really interesting.

Oh,

The fireplace back there too.

Now this is supposedly,

This is some kind of meditation pod chair chamber.

And I guess I didn't read much about it or look much about it,

But I guess one of the ideas is you put the lid down and I don't know about the lighting situation,

If you can choose different lighting methods or something like this.

And also I think they play like binaural beads or a sound system around it.

I'm not exactly sure what goes on with these things,

But you could probably look that up and find out more about it.

Unfortunately,

I don't feel like I'm,

Anything I said is with a hundred percent accuracy.

So if you look it up like meditation chair pod,

I personally am not into like the artificial means,

But some people find that can accelerate practice or at least for a little bit.

But then I hear things like,

Well,

People have to undo what they've done with those things and these frequencies and things.

So I don't think the verdict's still out of what if I could recommend anything like that or not.

I haven't used one,

So I would definitely want to use one first.

I didn't know about all that.

We'll pick that up in another episode,

Actually.

That would be a great topic for maybe next episode.

We could do,

You know,

Sort of wave,

Alpha wave and binaural beats,

And maybe have a bit of a discussion about whether we think that's helpful.

Yeah,

This looks like it's part of a chair show because I can see just to the right,

There's other chairs and different space.

So it looks like it's actually part of a sales thing.

I don't know.

I would feel a bit weird by that one because I just don't want to feel,

I don't like to feel trapped.

So that would freak me out being in that,

To be honest.

That's another thing.

Maybe we could talk about two isolation chambers or,

Oh yeah,

Like the,

What do they call it?

Float tanks.

I don't know if Wendy's ever done one of those,

Or we could talk about these artificial meditation methods or something like that.

And,

You know,

Our next show,

Though,

We do have titled How Time Meditates,

Just a little teaser there.

The title is a little bit kind of provocative,

Maybe mysterious,

But we'll,

That's the next one.

And then we'll look into doing one of these ones on other meditation methods that are more artificial.

Okay,

So another internal one,

This looks a little bit like a thrown together thing,

But you know,

There's a,

I've never seen a zafu like that.

It looks almost hand knitted.

What do you think about this,

Wendy?

Yeah,

It looks like that.

The thing is,

If you had it like that,

It would be quite,

It would probably,

I don't know if you sat on that,

It would just be a bit ridged on,

You know,

Under your backside.

It would just probably hurt after a while.

I don't know how much you could really attend to it.

You know,

I don't have a sense that that would be a,

You know,

A useful,

Yeah,

Yeah.

I think these ones are,

A lot of them are for look and sort of the Pinterest thing.

I don't know that you could ever really get into the enjoyment of it.

That's my thing.

Well,

I don't know.

I've never seen,

My take is,

I wonder though,

If it's just a cover,

Like a,

You know,

A regular zafu cover doesn't have anything like that,

But what if it's just a regular zafu on the inside,

But it's just has a special cover on the outside.

And it,

You know,

It's just a little bit rougher on the texture of the outside,

But actually it's just a regular zafu on the inside.

I don't know.

I've never seen anything like that.

I wonder if somebody knitted just a cover to go around a standard zafu thing too.

Maybe,

Maybe,

Maybe,

Maybe.

Okay,

Here we are.

This looks more like an ordinary meditation place.

This is the sort of thing that you might see on larger scale in a Buddhist center,

That sort of thing.

It looks quite familiar,

But without the fancy candles and lights and mirrors and things like that,

But definitely has a much more familiar tone to it.

Definitely.

And it's got that rug underneath the knees and a little cloth.

I think that looks,

That actually looks sensible to me.

And a view out the window.

Yeah.

It does.

The one prior to that,

This one looks like a little,

You know,

Efficiency apartment,

See through the window,

There's tall buildings.

So sometimes people only have so much space to work with.

And so they've got to make do with what little space they have.

And this one that we're talking about,

Yeah,

It does look like it's at a bigger space because we've got all these mats and cushions and rugs.

There's a pile of Zafu's on the left.

I do see some of these salt lamps in the middle there.

That's interesting.

And maybe a couple of candles that are unlit in the middle,

But still,

Yeah,

In a plant,

But yeah,

Very taste,

Very practical and more open space.

Okay.

Now this one,

There is a pillow there and it looks like a smudging of sage there in a journal.

So this looks like someone's kind of sacred space where they just might spend some time.

It looks like there's,

Oh,

I don't know,

Just different objects on the altar,

Like plants and candles and crystals.

And it looks like there's a pyramid there and plants,

Books.

So yeah.

Yeah.

I did hear,

By the way,

Somebody said,

Don't use the word altar because that's where they used to sacrifice animals.

So I don't know if that's true,

But that's something to think about.

So I've always tried to use the word shrine.

I've got no idea whether the etymology or the use is correct.

So if our listener would like to correct me,

Feel free.

What's the next photo?

Because a lot of these I feel are a bit,

I don't know,

They feel very contrived.

There we are.

Here we are.

We've got 20 people meditating.

This is more like it.

This is a Zen one for sure.

Yes.

It looks like a Zendo.

I don't know where this is.

If anyone knows,

Chime in on the comments.

And yeah,

With the sliding walls,

I haven't really been to too many huge Zendos.

It just,

The one Zen space I went to,

Soto Zen was just in a house and,

You know,

In a neighborhood.

So nothing like this.

Now this,

The listener,

So someone commented.

I would just really quickly,

I totally agree with that.

There's a lot of,

You know,

Abrahamic religions and other things that,

You know,

Nothing per se against them,

But there was,

You know,

In certain times,

There were blood sacrifices on altars and all kinds of interesting things going.

So I think shrine,

I would agree with that.

I have to be mindful of my speech here.

And I do agree that's a more helpful term.

Just going back to the previous one,

The Zendo,

The first retreat I did,

Which was eight days and with almost no experience.

Don't do that by the way.

It's too much when you're beginning.

I should have definitely not done that.

But that one,

It was a Zendo.

And then it looked out onto a,

It was in the middle of a field.

And it was great because I looked out and I got to see this beautiful,

Lovely green landscape.

It was divine.

And it was very interesting to see how my mind changed over the course of the week.

And that experience has never left me.

So that was very nice.

So I have fond memories of that.

I remember you mentioning this on the last one and actually go back and listen to that if you haven't listened to that,

Whoever's listening to this,

Because Wendy goes into more details about that experience.

And I find it fascinating getting,

And I've heard people going into the 10 day Goenka retreats not even knowing what,

Having ever even heard of meditation before.

I mean,

That's pretty wild.

That's pretty intense,

I hear.

Something like that.

So this looks like a room that somebody's converted a space or I guess just a regular room in the house.

Although it's not a standard square room,

Right?

Are the walls angled or something?

Either way,

There's a shrine there.

Go ahead,

You take it.

I think it's an ordinary room,

But it's got some panorama vision set on the camera.

It looks,

It has a shrine at one end underneath the window and a lovely mat.

It does look like there might be some cushions and rugs or something in one corner.

It does look like the sort of space a person might use,

But for some weird reason,

All these rooms have to be beige or wooden.

I don't know what that's about.

I haven't seen one which looks anything like what people actually have at home.

I mean,

This is a very nice,

Attractive space,

But has your meditation space ever looked like that,

Josh?

I haven't seen so much beige recently.

I don't know what's going on with this,

But yeah.

So yeah,

And this is another thing that comes up because the meditation space can be a multi-use space,

Right?

It doesn't have to have the cushion layout there all the time.

So I like this one where it can be tucked away and then brought out each time we meditate.

And then like there,

It looks like a desk on the side there.

So it can be multipurpose if we only have so much room to work with.

Now this one,

There's some nice soft cushions there.

This looks a little bit,

I don't know,

But then there's some of these shingles on the left-hand side.

I think this is right before you go outside.

It's hard to tell because there's like a veil there.

I don't know if it's partially open to the elements it kind of looks like.

I don't know if there's glass there or whatever.

I don't know what else to say about this window.

I think they've got some sheer drapes coming down and it looks like,

Again,

One of those places you might find in Asia where wealthy Westerners go there on a retreat and have a particular Asian Western retreat.

It's completely nothing like if you were sort of more into the Buddhist meditation stuff that is a Buddhist meditation thing,

Nothing like that.

And even what I've been to is more Western than what most locals would have in Asia.

And in fact,

Asians,

It's not part of their Buddhist cultural practices to meditate.

So yeah,

Often that's a very strong Western thing to be meditating,

I think.

Yeah,

I think,

Well,

It depends on where you're at and what kind of practitioners there are.

But yes,

I would definitely say there's more devotional practices in Asia than there are hardcore meditative settings.

Although I don't know,

I think in Burma,

I haven't been to Burma,

But I think there's a lot of fairly serious lay practitioners there too.

But I don't know.

Now this,

It's hard for me to tell.

It looks like a reflection in a mirror,

Actually several mirrors.

This looks like a little bitty tent or meditation pod.

And some of these actually just have different geometries that some people say,

Well,

They'll experience different feelings or sensations or activity or,

Oh,

I don't know how to say this.

You'll see some pyramids later about people experience different things while meditating in them.

Just like some people might experience certain,

I don't know,

Mystical states or something when they are just different inspirations when they're meditating at holy sites.

But I don't know enough of the,

I think some of the science has been done on these things.

Some of it might be considered pseudoscience.

So I'll just say,

This is an interesting shape.

I don't know exactly what it is,

But I think once you're inside of it,

You can meditate.

Yeah,

Just a heads up about the word Burma.

The country changed.

Oh,

Myanmar,

Burma.

Yeah,

I like to say actually both of them.

I mean,

Sort of maybe 20 years,

20,

30 years ago,

I think it changed from Burma to Myanmar.

So,

Or Myanmar,

Myanmar.

So just a heads up on that.

I appreciate that too.

I like to use both of the names because I know there's a loaded political situation that I know nothing about and I have no interest really to get into it.

So I kind of just say both of the names when I'm more conscious in order to not stir up anything,

Because I know if you use one or the others,

One camp might get offended.

So I use both of them.

So I have no,

I don't know what's going on there.

You know,

I don't.

So thank you for that.

I forgot to say Myanmar.

All right.

So yeah,

That looks like it's trying to do some space-agey intergalactic travels.

All right.

So yeah,

Again,

You know,

You're in the dark on this one,

Aren't you?

So it's got a spacey kind of,

So here are the options.

You can have beige,

You can have wicker and tree,

Wood,

Flower,

Grass,

You know,

Plant,

Or you can have intergalactic.

These are our options.

This is wild.

This looks like a really,

A lot of money went into this,

You know,

This space,

Or maybe not,

But these looks like huge wood pillars and rafters,

And then a lot more wood,

And then lighting,

Lots of very specialty lighting.

Yeah.

So this is interesting.

I don't know what else to say about it.

Now,

This looks like a traditional meditation hall,

You know?

This is the one that I've seen 500,

000 times.

This is,

So let's explain this one,

Because this is actually quite interesting.

It is,

It has sort of a dark cream color,

So not quite that white,

You know,

Zen look that we've seen on the previous ones.

It's got a lovely parquetry floor,

A parquetry roof ceiling,

I would say,

With some little downlights.

It looks like a Western meditation hall,

Probably given it's brown,

Probably in one of the Theravada traditions,

Potentially from,

You know,

A Burmese one,

A Myanmar one.

That would be my guess.

Maybe Thai,

Or from Laos.

Anyway,

Cambodia,

One of those.

It's got a few chairs on the side for,

As in one temple,

One Asian temple,

They said,

Yes,

People with disabilities and Westerners can use the chairs.

So I thought that was kind of the statement of it.

Yes,

People with disabilities,

Old people,

And Westerners use chairs.

We all,

The rest of us have to be lower than the teacher.

So that's why they're all the cushions at the bottom.

And yeah,

So that looks like a very standard,

Some little of those little brown square cushions and some zafus.

And at the front,

There would be a shrine and a couple of windows on either side.

This is a nice space,

That.

It is,

And I think this is actually from,

Yeah,

Obviously a Buddhist meditation center,

I forget which tradition to.

Of course,

It looks like they're on an upper level because of the tree there.

I could be wrong though.

And of course the Buddha Rupa,

It's hard to tell.

It does look like it's made out of wood,

But it's kind of low res.

Okay,

So now another,

Now these are actual zafus here in assorted colors.

This looks like it was set up just,

It looks like somebody just threw some meditation cushions in a room that was already there and called it a meditation space.

However,

You know,

That rug,

The legs might feel okay on that rug,

I don't know.

But yeah,

If you wanna build a fire.

No,

It's a bit lumpy.

It is a bit lumpy,

Yeah.

It looks a bit lumpy to me and it looks a bit,

Yeah,

I don't know what that space is.

Anyway.

We'll go on to the next one.

Yeah,

Wood and it looks rustic.

Now this looks very,

Maybe Oriental,

I'm not sure.

And I don't know if that's an actual window.

Japanese.

Japanese,

I was thinking this,

Yeah.

I don't know if that's actually the nature outside or if that's an elaborate window or Photoshop thing,

But either way,

Yeah.

Wood,

Wood floors and candles.

Yeah,

I mean,

It's very aesthetic.

It's not beige,

Which is quite nice.

Yes.

And it's not got the wicked thing,

Which is quite nice.

And it's not got the weird space age thing.

So that,

It actually looks,

I mean,

That looks like a space that I would quite enjoy to be How about you,

Josh?

Yes,

It looks very clean and simple,

Not overly done,

And if that is the actual view outside,

That would be all about the nature.

Now here we've got a,

It looks like an upper apartment in our space in a city or a town.

It looks like there's some green space outside,

Plant here.

Hardwood floors,

An interesting shelf with all kinds of knickknacks and sacred objects or meditative like objects.

And yeah,

There's actually a yoga mat and a cushion there.

So,

You know,

There it is.

Yeah,

I think that looks like it might actually be some kind of space that a person might use.

That looks like something actually someone does use.

Yes,

It looks like it could be a yoga studio being here or something.

Yeah,

Maybe.

Someone's yoga space as well.

And this looks like somebody's kind of in their house,

Right,

Like the big emphasis on the shrine there.

That's lovely,

Buddha rupas,

And I forget the devotional characters or maybe arhats or monks on the bottom with a non-jali mudra and another Buddha rupa.

Yeah,

So that's kind of inspiring.

And then of course,

More Buddha rupas and other forms and statues in the shelves.

And of course,

You've got probably Dhamma books on the shelves below it.

It looks like some seats there on a maybe bamboo mat.

Maybe it's a reading space.

Maybe that's their library.

I think this is going to be a room in a temple where people meditate.

That looks to me like that.

So I don't know if you're aware of this,

The Gandhara Buddha.

Do you know what I'm referring to with that?

Well,

Gandhara,

Yeah.

And actually that's some of the least stuff I'm familiar with.

I was at the British Museum and saw their Gandhara exhibition.

But no,

Tell me more,

Wendy.

So the Buddha for the first,

I don't know,

1,

000 or what,

2,

000 years,

The image of that was a footprint or a dharma wheel.

That's all you had.

It was the,

That's all you had,

Which symbolized the dharma or the Buddha.

And then Alexander the Great came across from Greece,

Well,

He was from Macedonia and he gallivanted and murdered along the way.

And he was a strapping buff kind of guy.

And it became very popular to be very buff.

And so Buddha became buff at that time.

He became this toned dude who sat there in peace.

But that's actually not,

Went to the first 1,

000 years or whatever,

That was far,

Far,

Far from how the Buddha was portrayed.

So there you go.

Yeah,

It's a really interesting point too.

I don't think the Buddha,

If I remember right,

He didn't advocate having images of him,

Of a human form like that.

And it wasn't until Alexander.

I do want to say there was a few other symbolic ones they used like an empty throne.

And I don't know,

The deer has also,

And has played a role.

There might be a couple other ones,

But yeah,

Like you're saying,

The wheel and the footprints were the most predominant.

We've got a stand,

I think the standing Buddhas.

Do you see them?

There's a website called Original Buddhas or Antique Buddhas.

A guy in the Netherlands sells,

He goes all over Asia and to looking for antique,

Older,

High-end or higher-end Buddha rupas.

And he has a whole warehouse and he sells them online.

I've got a couple ones from Nepal,

I think.

Anyway,

There can be quite inspiring to see some of these things.

It's quite controversial for that,

Just as a heads up.

There's quite a lot of question now about whether Westerners have the right to.

.

.

Yeah,

There's a lot of repatriation of.

.

.

So in Australia,

We have a lot of sacred objects that Aboriginal people had stolen from them when white Europeans came and they just took it and said,

This is what it is.

And they put it in an object as an item of curiosity.

But this is people's lived experience.

And there's quite a lot of that kind of.

.

.

So now many countries like France and England having to return those objects back to their rightful owners.

So I caution against buying those just because you don't know the ethics of how that person came by it,

Whether it was stolen or whether that was given generously or whether that was a stolen artifact.

So just be careful on that stuff.

Totally.

So now this guy from the Netherlands,

You have some of the really old stuff I don't know,

But the one I have is only from,

It's not even a hundred years old.

So he would go to a shop and help support the people.

He has film of people doing the molds of these things.

He does new ones too.

Now the super old ones,

Yeah,

You have to go and I'm sure he's,

I've communicated with him.

So he's very open about how he sources things like this.

So I would definitely recommend going there and checking out the ethical sourcing of these.

So as far as I understand,

He cares very much about this.

No,

If so,

If that one might need something to ask him too,

If anyone's ever reached out and laid claim to some of the older ones,

So that's a really good point.

Now,

I agree the most with Wendy when we're talking about things in museum.

So that,

Those are,

Yeah,

On public and things like this and things that have been unethically sourced and unethically gotten,

That's the thing.

So yes,

Do due diligence on,

Do do your due diligence on where you might source these things.

So from what I understand,

He personally goes around to Southeast Asia and acquires these.

So yes,

I don't know too much about it,

But the one I have is not that old.

So I'm,

Yeah.

Yeah,

Cool.

I just think it's really important because people,

There is quite a lot of appropriation of Asian exoticness into Western life and society.

And people aren't,

For us,

It's maybe just an object or a commodity,

But I think it is somebody's religious practice with historic in their own culture.

In the same way,

Would you want somebody to come here and take something that was super precious,

Like a temple or something here,

Like a church,

Something that was super precious here,

And then say,

Yeah,

This is ours and we're going to put it on display as,

Look,

These weird Westerners,

Look what they do.

They're so exotic and it's sort of got a slightly weird vibe to it.

So there you go.

Anyway,

We are on,

Let's look at this image.

It is.

I think it's also like how sincere one is in the practice.

And if someone were to claim that,

I would gladly give it back to them too.

And this is a,

Maybe we could do another show about this.

It's what inspires one too.

And I even questioned,

Even though I have one,

I mean,

I like these notions of not having a human form that I give special significance to because the whole idea of the Buddha is this awake.

It's not necessarily of a certain human at a certain time,

Which that's might be part of it,

But how do we gain,

Go towards awakening for the benefit of ourselves and others and for the environment we live in too.

So having a form of a human or a human form when the Buddha actually claimed that he went beyond being human,

Right?

And the whole part,

The whole point is to inspire awakening in practice and heart qualities,

Seeing reality for what it truly is.

So if there's a statue that does that,

That helps inspire and bring about that to practice,

Then maybe it might be helpful,

But it can also fall into worshiping.

And like Wendy says,

Having exotic tendencies or just for the art,

And this looks cool.

People might think I'm cool.

What's the intent behind having these things?

Why not just footprints or a wheel either?

So these are all good questions.

So this room here that we've got,

That looks actually,

It just looks like probably Zen.

That would be my guess from that one.

And yeah,

It just looks like a very small Zen space that yeah,

It probably is in Japan would be my guess.

Yeah.

Yeah,

Interesting circle area there and kind of a double cross on the bottom and candles,

Singing bowl,

Crossed hatch ceiling,

Drop ceiling maybe.

Yeah,

I don't know if it's a facade or what,

But it's interesting space.

Yeah,

And this one.

Okay,

Is there more beige here?

It's a beige one.

This one is there for look.

It's got a hammock too,

So cool space,

But I don't know how practical for meditation.

I think you would sit on the sofa on the right-hand side and meditate there,

Sit with cross-legged there and then just meditate there.

It's got a boat coffee table.

It has.

It's got a boat coffee table,

Maybe.

Pretty cool coffee table.

I like the coffee table.

It is.

Yeah.

Kind of jealous of the space,

So that's why I'm making fun of it.

Yeah,

It's actually a very nice space,

Very nice aesthetic.

Somebody,

The interior designer on that one did a lovely space.

This I think is cool,

Just because you can look outside nature.

This would be a good place to have morning coffee,

I think,

Minus the Buddha head there.

And that's another thing,

I'm not on board with the Buddha heads as much because it's just like capitate the Buddha and then hold that like a trophy,

You know?

So.

You know the story about Descartes?

When he died,

He was a very tall man and he was very much into the separation of mind and spirit,

Mind and body.

He said,

You know,

They don't sort of meet.

And actually it turns out he's so tall that when he died,

They actually had to put his head,

Like his head couldn't fit in,

So they cut it off.

And it's actually in one place and it's masked.

It's like in a whole different country from the body.

So there you go.

I wonder if he's still thinking and therefore he is wherever his head's at or if his body's doing it too or whatever,

But.

Now this looks like a tree house.

I don't know about the yin yang symbol,

But that is an interesting space.

If it is actually a tree house,

I think that might just be,

I don't know,

But very earthy.

It's a cool space.

It's again,

That kind of slightly wicker,

You know,

Plant space.

That's right.

Like it's probably got stained glass windows that are green.

Oh,

There we go.

And with trees and branches and it's got a yin yang at the bottom.

It looks a bit,

You know,

Created for the purposes.

I don't know whether anybody would actually use it.

Maybe they would,

But it's quite small and you couldn't have it as like a group experience.

And I like to meditate,

Not on my own,

You know,

I like to meditate with at least one other person.

The whole thing is just that much easier.

Cool.

Well,

I'm on both.

Now I don't,

I think this is one of the cave entrances.

So there's not really much to say about that.

And I think we're gonna have to pick it up here with our time.

I can check here.

So this looks like it's partially outside here too.

Triangle windows are very interesting.

So maybe part of a geodesic dome.

This one looks like it's a little bit neglected.

It looks like there's stains and wood rot on here too.

And yeah,

It looks like it needs a little redo and devotional space over here.

I mean,

It looks very pretty.

I don't,

It has got a,

You know,

A meditation kneeling stool and they can be quite comfortable.

So yeah,

That looks like it actually might look like somebody.

This one is beige.

Next one is,

We're into the beige,

The zen.

This looks like a Neo-Japanese or like an American Japanese or post-modern Japanese or something Western style.

Wow,

This is kind of whitewashed.

This looks like maybe in an attic space or something,

Converted attic space.

Of course,

Contrived for the picture,

Right?

Yeah,

It doesn't look like,

I mean,

You could meditate at one end on the sofa there.

That would be quite a nice space,

But you'd be having your back to the window and I think you'd want to look at the window.

So I think that's just an image one.

More Japanese inspired.

This is Japanese,

I think,

Actually.

It looks like it might be in Japan.

It looks like a tea ceremony site or a tea spot.

Yeah,

Something like that.

Bonsai tree on the right.

It does,

Yeah.

Another,

Maybe that's a Brahma Vihara head with the four faces.

We've got like the,

What is the symbol there?

The Om symbol.

Om mani padme om,

I think.

Yeah.

And some hippie looking Zafus.

I don't know what,

Yeah.

Okay,

So wow,

Lots of colors there.

More Zen or Japanese inspired and it looks like it opens to the outside there.

Yeah,

It looks nice,

A nice space.

This is,

Go to the next one.

That's quite a nice,

I mean,

It's quite nice to have triangles actually.

Triangles are actually,

They do make it nicer than the sort of lots of,

Very square lines.

Yes,

And that one is to showcase that triangular shelf,

Which is very nice.

This is like a really high end space.

It looks like it opens out to a deck and it looks like it's pretty high up with the tree there and the great opening on the skylight up there,

Kind of more Asian too.

Japanese,

I would say Japanese inspired.

This looks more like a little bed nook.

I don't know what this is,

But it may be Middle Eastern,

I'm not sure.

Yeah,

It starts to go more towards there,

Doesn't it?

It's sort of more,

Yeah,

I mean,

It does have,

I mean,

The Buddha was in Afghanistan,

So yeah.

There's sticks up top,

Seeing that.

So there were a lot of,

It might've been somewhere in sort of like Afghanistan area,

That kind of area.

Potentially,

Yeah.

Got the Buddha eyes here,

Buddha image,

A gong.

It looks like somebody's corner,

They converted the corner here.

Yeah,

I don't know why you'd wanna ring gong in a small space like that,

Gong.

I think this is,

This might actually be somebody's guest room,

Like an Airbnb guest room or something.

We could also double as a meditation room,

A Buddhist inspired room here.

Very Buddhist inspired.

Could be wrong,

Yes.

And then we've got a traditional meditation hall,

It looks like.

Yeah,

It looks like a- Prajna,

I see Prajna,

Which is wisdom,

I don't know the other ones.

Yeah,

So that would be Western inspired,

Go back,

Yeah.

So that's some sort of Western inspired,

I can't imagine any Tibetan place looking like that.

This is a Western inspired,

A Buddhist space with the lotus there,

The lotus flower in the window at the end.

So yeah,

Nice.

Circular roof.

Circular roof,

Nice space,

Nice space.

Or I should say half circular.

So here's one of these geometry things,

Like a hippie checking it out,

See if the sacred geometry does anything.

He doesn't look like he's totally convinced at the moment,

Yeah,

He looks,

Yeah,

It does look a bit,

He looks a bit silly in that,

I think I would feel a bit silly in that.

I'm stuck in the garden or something.

There was a television series,

An English television series in the 1980s,

I think,

And it was called The Young Ones.

And it looks like the sort of thing Neil would have done if you knew The Young Ones.

This would make sense to anybody who knows that television.

Yeah,

There was a friend of mine who somehow got a hold of that in the States and I need to revisit that.

I have heard lots of good things about that show.

Okay,

Another kind of more traditional meditation space here,

Right?

Yeah,

I think that looks like a nice place to go.

I want to go there,

Can I go there?

Yes,

Well,

Yeah,

Whoever space that is,

Please reach out to Wendy sooner rather than later.

You can give it to me for free,

I want sponsorship.

You can pay for flights too.

So we've got a pop- This is like a nice space.

Yeah,

This is kind of a pod.

I was wondering about like pre-manufactured spaces.

So we're just going to keep going here.

Here's a cave,

Which is- No,

Go back to the pod,

Go back to the pod.

I know we're wrapping up,

I know we're wrapping up.

But what I like about that,

Because it doesn't matter if we get to the end.

It doesn't matter if we get to the end.

You want to get to the end.

All right,

But what I like about that is you could sit in that and it would actually feel quite contained and look out.

So I think that you would feel quite protected in that.

It is.

At the same time,

Not claustrophobic though.

So I'm just going to go through.

This is some kind of strange pre-fabricated pod here.

This is a tent.

I saw one,

You were in a cave,

You were in a cave.

Go back,

Go back.

Yes,

Yes,

Yes.

So is that one there?

That looks like a sort of,

Yeah,

Some guy in India looks slightly uncomfortable actually sitting there cross-legged.

Yeah,

That's a rubbish one.

That's a contrived one.

All right.

I think these are some kind of pods or tents for bigger spaces.

Pacific Domes is actually the company.

So check that company out.

This looks a little bit pre-fabricated.

This looks like some kind of temple.

Another classic meditation space.

Same here.

This is a cave.

Go ahead.

Yeah,

No,

Those ones look like the sort of places you would actually go to.

If you went to a meditation place,

This is what would be.

That's right,

Exactly.

Like a Buddhist meditation center,

Yeah.

Now these are,

This is just an outdoor space.

I don't think those pods are functional.

This is somebody's room.

Now this is an outdoor space.

These kind of pavilions or something.

Of course,

This has been converted into a room.

We've seen several like this.

Now this is inside of,

I'll show you later.

Take note of this.

This is the inside of a big metal dome that looks interesting.

This is partially outside.

Again,

Another sacred geometry thing.

Another home space.

This is a geodesic dome.

Now I've actually been in this as SIU Edwardsville.

I did a sound bath,

A sound gong in this place.

So Buckminster Fuller,

It's actually the Buckminster Fuller Dome was a famous architect.

He's an interesting guy,

Actually,

Buckminster Fuller.

He's a very interesting guy.

Quite thoughtful,

I gather.

Now here's a place outside that's made of natural stones.

We don't see the inside of it.

Don't know where it's at.

Again,

Another more traditional meditation space.

Another pyramid,

A pod outside,

Just a little nook outside.

This is- I don't know.

I think you should be taking psychedelics by having that one.

That's kind of- Exactly.

It's got some,

Yeah,

Weird thing.

Anyway.

Yes.

Now this is the dome I mentioned of,

Let me go back real quick,

To the internal space that supposedly is inside.

You can see the top roof that kind of reflects of this.

I don't know where this is.

Maybe somewhere in India.

That's pretty massively unique.

This is a yurt.

And then,

I don't know where that is.

That's more traditional meditation.

That's like a pretty standard shrine room.

This is clearly a yoga space,

But they do lots of exciting things.

They're standing there being in contorted sentient spaces.

Yes.

And I think this is one of those tents that I said,

Of the name drop,

The company I named dropped a bigger one of those that one can self-assemble.

This is partially covered with earth,

Which is pretty cool,

I think.

But I don't know how moist and damp that would be in there and clean it would be,

But very earthy.

This one is partially inside,

I think,

But it looks like it's outside,

But I can't tell with the,

It could just be a room,

Another room.

Yeah,

It very well could be.

Can't see the ceiling or the other side,

But yeah,

Pretty wild.

So again,

Pacific Domes,

That's the company.

And then Fire Mountain,

India,

I guess is where that particular one is.

This is a cave in Thailand,

I presume.

This looks very Zen,

Or I mean,

Yeah,

The Japanese inspired.

Koi pond,

Maybe?

Yeah.

Cave,

Some of those famous meditation caves,

Another indoor space,

More traditional classic one.

This is like an earthen hut or pod.

Oh,

What do they call like earth ship?

Yeah,

Earth ship houses.

That's another thing I'm maybe looking into.

This looks like it's,

Yeah,

Maybe a prefab or made small space.

This is what we saw at the beginning.

I think that's when it's full of meditation cushions.

Maybe the space in New York,

I'm not sure.

Wow,

I don't remember where this is,

But this is interesting.

The ceiling on that is incredible.

Yes.

Another cave.

This is a,

One of the Kuti's.

It looks like a Kuti or something,

Yeah.

Yeah,

A Kuti at a meditation space.

I think that maybe Beth Upton had recommended people can do long personal retreats at.

I'm blanking on the name of it now.

We actually showed this already.

These are some famous meditation caves.

I don't know where in China.

This is another one of a space with Beth Upton recommended.

Again,

I'm sorry,

I'm blanking on it where it is.

This is the Maharishi Dome in Iowa.

Big TM Center,

Or I don't know if I'm allowed to say that.

So just forget I said that.

I don't own the copyrights to that either.

Now,

This is a pod,

A meditation pod.

This is a Zendo,

Right?

Traditional Zendo.

This is some temple somewhere in India,

I presume.

Maybe a cave.

This is another cave.

That one's in like the root system of a tree.

I know.

That's pretty cool.

I know.

Isn't it all the carvings?

I don't know if those are actual roots or not,

But it says meditation cave down there.

Again,

Another cave.

This is a pod.

This is real interesting.

That looks maybe Malaysian.

No,

I don't know where that would be.

Yeah,

I mean,

It definitely looks like it might be Malaysian because it looks very influenced by Islam.

So,

And Indonesia is Muslim.

It's the largest,

I think,

Largest Muslim country in the world,

Highest most population.

Here's an ancient temple.

The website's down there.

You can see on the screen.

Oh,

We had that one before.

I know,

That's a double.

Sorry,

I forgot to take the doubles out.

And this is another interesting one,

I guess.

Look,

So they have the sand in the middle of the room,

And there's a Buddha.

We saw that one before,

And it looked different,

I thought.

It might've been.

I know we had a sand thing in the middle,

But this might be different.

Yeah,

It might be different.

It might just be a similar circle with sand on it.

And they've got a loose Buddha hand there.

We've seen that before.

Sorry about that.

I think I have double versions of this.

I don't know where that's.

This is another temple,

I guess.

Very rudimentary stone on the outside there,

But a really nice floor,

Which is really interesting.

The concrete cinder blocks,

But then it's got a really nice floor.

This looks nice.

It looks partially brick,

But then wood on a pond.

Yeah,

That may be Korean or something.

That looks Tibetan differently.

I see.

This looks bizarre.

I don't know what these,

This must be not Buddhist,

But some,

I don't know,

I have no idea.

It looks really interesting.

Yeah,

I don't know.

Purple though.

I like this.

I use this one for the main image for the post,

And it looks like there's a nice sliding glass right to the elements there.

I don't,

Yeah,

And some natural stones,

But it does look inside,

Indoor.

Another little earthen pod hut.

Okay,

Josh,

So we're coming up to the end.

Have we got many more?

Because let's do a quick overview of- Sure.

Basically,

What do we reckon about,

What are we sort of,

What's our sense about all these spaces,

What works?

I mean,

I guess it's,

Everybody has their thing.

Everyone can do what they want.

You know,

The main thing is to find the thing that works for you,

And that's,

Yeah.

And Western places differ from,

You know,

It's culturally Western,

It looks Western,

And that differs from what you see in Myanmar and India and Malaysia and other places,

Japan,

Other places.

So China.

So yeah,

I think there's often quite a,

How would I say,

A contrived thing in the,

Because you can make a,

There's a lot of people wanting to part with money these days.

So I'm not sure that,

Yeah.

I think be careful where your cash is,

For sure.

Yeah,

You know,

This is,

This brings up a lot of things.

One of the reasons I did this is because I wanted to find out,

And then we're green sharing now,

If I were to get land and I wanted to build my own structure for myself and others,

What would I do?

You know,

How would I do it?

And if I inspire others,

You know,

To either make the space that they have into something they can actually do a formal sitting practice at,

Either alone or with another or in a group,

You know,

And to just get inspired about a sitting.

And then with people with a little bit more money,

I would encourage you to find and build a unique space and invite others and have others access to others that you would like to do that.

That's where I was really coming from with this.

Now,

I love Wendy's analysis on each of these two,

And we can go in and discern and use discernment on,

You know,

What things are doing,

How we feel about them and ideas around them.

And so I enjoyed that as well with this,

You know,

That kind of the do's and don'ts of meditation spaces,

Well,

Kind of based on our preferences,

But you know,

Maybe there's some more universal aspects there too.

Yeah,

I think,

You know,

If there's a place in your,

If there's a meditation place in your area,

Like close by,

Then frequent it,

You know,

Make it,

Use it,

Because then that makes it better,

That makes the space better,

It means it becomes bigger and more popular.

And if you live in a place like I do,

Where there ain't none of that,

There's nothing for a long way away.

I'm in a quite a poor area,

So there's just not that.

And there's a lot of people who are homeless.

So it's interesting when I do that.

Now,

The gym is going to have a bit of a space and I was thinking,

Oh,

I could just set up a little bit there,

A meditations place.

So yeah,

That's that.

Do it and go on retreat too.

Ask people about where to go on retreat.

Suggest to your friends,

Hey,

What,

You ever thought about setting up a meditation space there or,

Hey,

What do you think?

How do you think I should set up a space here?

You know,

Maybe make it social,

I don't know.

I mean,

I've got my place and I don't have a meditation space.

I just have my bed and I sit in my bed and I squish my pillows.

That works,

Yes.

Wherever,

However you've got to do it.

Absolutely.

All right,

And I think with that,

We'll see you back here.

We plan to see you back here again and plan to see Wendy back and be back here again next month where we do how time meditates and maybe one after that on what we talked about earlier.

So until then,

Take good care of yourselves.

Yeah,

Have fun.

Yes,

Bye now.

Bye.