Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

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retrofuturist
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Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

The Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery in Melbourne has a nice shrine/meditation room upstairs... I try to get there to meditate at lunchtime at least a few times each week.

Image

Image

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by jcsuperstar »

wait, is this in the same building as the one you work in?
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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Ben
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Ben »

Lovely!
Thanks for sharing, Retro!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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retrofuturist
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings JC,
jcsuperstar wrote:wait, is this in the same building as the one you work in?
I wish! No, it usually takes me 10-15 minutes to get there... depends if I walk all the way, or use the trams. The days I don't go are usually those where the weather is terrible, or when naughty people try to book meetings with me at inappropriate hours too close to my lunch break!

Metta,
Retro. :)

P.S. That second picture is currently the wallpaper on my mobile phone.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by jcsuperstar »

well now it's not as cool as i thought but still pretty cool.
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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Monkey Mind
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Monkey Mind »

My first thought is, 'Meditate during lunch? That's my only time to eat!" The shrine room is very beautiful, good for you for finding it! I keep an "alter in a box" in my office, and during free-time I set it up and meditate. Of course, I have fallen asleep a few times so I always set an alarm.
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.

Sutta Nipāta 3.710
alan
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by alan »

Looks so very Chinese. Reminds me of a temple in Singapore which is always too crowded with people toting incense and doing their ritual things. Are there no ritual incense-toters in Melbourne?
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retrofuturist
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Alan,
alan wrote:Looks so very Chinese.
Yes, the Fo Guang Shan is Taiwanese in origin.
alan wrote:Reminds me of a temple in Singapore which is always too crowded with people toting incense and doing their ritual things. Are there no ritual incense-toters in Melbourne?
Don't know about Melbourne-wide... but as for this place, the occasional person will come in, do a few quiet chants, offer some incense and then go. At any time there'll be about 0-7 people in there, either doing that or meditating. Sometimes one of the bhikshunis will come in, do some quiet singing, make some dinging sounds and then head back out. I like that actually... even if I am trying to concentrate on the breath, or something else.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Lazy_eye
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Lazy_eye »

Cool pictures -- thanks for posting! I had the chance awhile back to visit the Fo Guang center in Boston. They had a meditation room as well, with three Buddha statues, and they served vegetarian meals in the adjoining teahouse. Very nice place.
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Viriya
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Viriya »

It's looks beautiful, thanks for posting. I've been using the university library basement for the same purpose...it's absolutely perfect, in that no-one seems to realise it exists. (=
I'm not very good at right speech, although I try, so please guide and correct me if necessary so I don't make bad kamma for myself and cause others to be annoyed. (=
Pacific
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Pacific »

nice... there is one in Sydney as well & it's nice to go there, and only a few people might come in. There's also Bodhikusuma nearby which isn't open every day however
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Kori
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Kori »

I know this thread is old, though it's just been bumped courtesy of Pacific ( :tongue: ). That's quite the beautiful place to meditate! But I have to ask... Why is there a Swastika on the Buddha's chest? Is there some other sort of symbolism that I don't know of? :shock:

Mettā pāramī,
Leah.
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him."

Dhammapada, Ch. 1, Verse 2.
Jhana4
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Re: Where I meditate at lunchtimes during the working week

Post by Jhana4 »

Yes.

The swastika is a religious symbol that goes back to ancient India.

Adolph Hitler was into all sorts of things that in today's parlance would be called "nuage".
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
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