Early Morning Meditation Places Around Bts Asoke

[Mike Goodtime]

I was trying to think where to post this post in the forums. I settled on accommodation. Please move if you feel there is a better place to put it.

 

Does anyone know of a nice, cool (temperature-wise), inside meditation place I could go in the early morning around 7 a.m. to sit and do some mantras and do some meditation. I don't need meditation instruction, but simply seek a place to do my own personal mantra and meditation practice. I have tried to do it outside in the morning in the past years, but it is still a bit too warm for me; especially since I go to a hot yoga class in the morning after my mantras and meditations.

 

I don't mind making a donation for the use of a space.

 

Any leads would be welcomed.

[StoneSoup]

I'm not sure how well this would work in practice, and it would require you to next be using the MRT to go somewhere, but if you go down to train track level at any MRT station, and you go to the far, far end of the platform, almost to the walls that bound the station - you are in a cool, clean, dry spot that is probably at least 50 meters (and in some cases - such as Thailand Cultural Center - maybe 150 meters) from the nearest soul. Assuming that you lay out some sort of mat, and your chanting is not too loud, there is a chance that no one would even notice you. As long as you did not appear to be in distress, and you are not making a mess - even MRT staff are unlikely to bother you.

 

How long would your session be?

 

I have occasionally seen groups of uniformed schoolkids grouped and sitting along a wall, with some minor rough-housing going on - and MRT staff seemed relieved that they were away from the main flow of commuters - and therefore not bothering anyone - and the MRT staff did not bother them. But - this normally lasted only 10 minutes or so, before the next train came.

 

The only complication I see is if the MRT staff thinks that you are preparing for a ritual suicide, or are tripping on drugs.

 

It is probably worth at least trying. The worst that can happen is that they tell you to cease and desist,

 

Cheers!

SS

[radioman]

Temple?

[Mike Goodtime]

Thanks, StoneSoup! My practice will be about an hour, so I don't know if that will work. But I will check it out nonetheless and see if I can get away with it. Oh, I whisper my mantras, so I don't make a lot of noise. In my home town I do them on the bus everyday and no one bats an eye. There is even one guy on the bus who has followed my lead and started doing mantras after he watched me for a few weeks. Another guy was intrigued by my devotional practice.

 

Another fellow who is familiar with the Asoke lay of the land recommended I try walking into a hotel like the Westin and act like I belong there and go to some floor and find a secluded spot. He said, once I become a fixture, no one will bother me.

 

Radioman. I am cool with a temple as long as it is cool inside and they just let me do my own practice. Do you know any open temples in the Asoke area around 7 a.m. in the morning?

[baa99]

Why not your hotel room?

[waerth]

I do not know where the temples around Asoke are, but all temples are open at 7 AM. I know the Huai Kwang temple has an airconditioned room where the monks receive their alms. I am fairly sure they would let you sit there. It is relatively close to the Huai Kwang MRT station.

 

W

[Mike Goodtime]

baa99: I stay with a Thai friend in the suburbs of Bangkok and then we come in together when she goes to work. She drops me off at a BTS station and I head to a yoga class in Asoke. I usually have an hour to burn before yoga class starts, so would like to do some meditation in a cool environment.

 

waerth: thanks for the tip. I will check it out. My Thai friend said she would look for some temples too, but I wanted to get some tips from this group too.