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Turn Your Home Into a Monastery


11/15/21 • 04m

One of the most spiritually "yes" experiences I've ever had took place in 2003 at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a long, snowy weekend in March while traveling through Santa Fe that I had the opportunity to stay at Joan Halifax's zendo, where for a few days I was awoken before light by the banging of the wooden han, did sitting and walking meditation, listened to the coyotes in the distance, and ate breakfast in silence. It was a schedule that strongly resonated with me, and I've been chasing it ever since.



Over the years, I've been involved in myriad of spiritual practices and communities, each with their own appreciation of the daily schedule. Practicing Islam between 2003–2007, I experienced some of that cadence in the 5x-a-day salat prayer that all Muslims are asked to perform. Practicing Ashtanga yoga since 2008, my early mornings are fairly laid out for me.

I love the feeling of having my day parsed by calls to contemplation. And, over the years I've employed a few strategies to recreate these experiences in my own home when I'm not on someone else's spiritual schedule. I've tried writing the times in my daily calendar, making "mental notes," and setting alarms and reminders on my phone. They all worked "Ok," but nothing gave me that feeling of being part of something bigger. Neither allowed me to feel as if the schedule was set for me, rather than by me.

Then I had a realization: "Sonos!"

Now, my relationship with Sonos is complicated. I'd like to say that we're in love, but we have frequent spats. While the feeling of walking throughout the apartment having the sound of 528hz, Hare Krishna chants, Jamaican dub, or Nathan Barry's podcast on newsletters follow me wherever I go brings joy to my heart, the fact that 50% of the time my device won't connect for reasons I will never understand has made our intimate life...let's just say...strained. But, it turns out we just haven't been speaking each other's love language.



How it works....


If you'd like to set up you home to double as an ashram or monastery using Sonos, here's how to git er done:

  1. First, create a playlist on your Spotify, populating it with a few tracks containing sounds of singing bowls, chimes, a rooster, whatever brings you into a mindful state.
  2. Then, open Sonos and click on the alarm button.
  3. Next, set up your alarms to sound at specific times of the day. Set your volume and the duration of the alarm. (I have mine set to 8:45am; 12pm; and 5pm; each for three minutes).
  4. Lastly, click "save" and go about your business.

(For those of you who would rather forego the monastery angle and instead have these alarms set to prompt you to take breaks from work, take walks, look out the window, write a thousand words, that could be done as well).

Why not just use your phone?


One of the problems I have found using my phone is that the reminder or timer is often visible, which means it never quite leaves my mind. The upcoming pause ends up feeling like another task with a due date and time. Using Sonos has a fundamentally different effect.

The first morning I set this up I actually forgot I had done so, and by five o'clock, deep in a flow, I completely spaced on having set up the alarms when, while typing, I heard a faint sound of bells ringing throughout the house. For the first couple seconds I thought they were coming from outside. But, then I remembered. The house was calling me back to mindfulness! And, It. Was. Wonderful.

Closing


Having your day marked by a series of bells or calls to prayer is an experience like none other I've had. There is an unspoken belief, a wiring deep in our brains that says work doesn't stop until it's either finished or it's the end of the day. But, a day marked by cyclical prayers and contemplation, practiced by, literally, billions of people around the world, suggests otherwise. The ringing of bells, the singing of calls to prayer, the blowing of horns takes precedent over the work day, regardless of how mobile or ever-lengthening it continues to be. No matter what you're working on, no matter what you're doing, it too must yield to giving thanks. It too must pause for contemplative practice. 🌴


Bob is the author of Sitting with Spirits: Exploring the Unseen World In the Margins of Christianity; The House of I Am Mirrors: And Other Poems; Acupressure For Beginners; and The Power of Stretching. You can stay up to date on his doings and goings by signing up for his weekly email “The High Pony: Really Good Insights for Living an Inspired Life.” bobdoto.computer for everything else.