Imagine you were given a quest, to go around the world for a year and meditate at all different sites and locations
What would be your personal choice?
If I were to embark on such a journey over a year-round, 2017 let’s say, I would definitely sit down and mindfully create such list. I would liberate myself from staying at one spot for too long of a time and would enjoy the real pilgrimage, a journey of a life-time, that would transform me, enable me to really know myself and the world. In fact, I have sit down and have created my list.
If you agree that there is nothing better than meditation outdoors, keep reading. Share your favorite sacred site you would meditate in the comments section below!
#1 I could start here: Giza, Egypt & at one of the first wonders of the world
Why would I go to Egypt to start my meditation pilgrimage? Well, why not start at one of the epicenters where human civilization had started. By the Nile River, and by the grandeur look of the Pyramids of Giza. I am conscious that over the past couple of years, the Pyramids of Giza have become all too much of a hot touristic spot, but that won’t stop me. I wish to meditate at the verge, where the dessert starts and where all the more riddles come, for scientists, archaeologists and historians. The realms of this ancient country is all to mysterious, perplexed by the endless dunes that I would instantly imagine positioning myself there, at the end of the city of Giza, and with my look towards the pyramids, with the hope that I will connect myself with the ancient and old Egypt.
#2 It is unimaginable to have this type of tour without setting my foots on the sacred lands of Thailand
After Egypt, I would visit the sacred sites and lands of Thailand, in South Asia and make my meditation there. Since ancient times, the people of Thailand largely follow the Theravada school as a Buddhist practice. Buddhism is inviolable part of Thai culture as it is also considered a tradition for Thai men to become monks at some points in their lives, even though that might be a very short period of time. Temples are really a sacred territory and Thailand as has a plethora of them which makes you indecisive where to go. Hence, I suppose I would roam around the whole country and explore all sacred lands for a while.
#3 From Thailand to the Sacred Lands of the Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Once in the region, I would not miss to see and meditate aside the magnificent and glorious Angkor Wat. This sacred site is considered as one of the most important archaeological parks in the realm of South-East Asia. Situated in Cambodia, the Temple of Angkor Wat each year hazes many with its incalculable number of sculptures and decorations, but much more than that, the story of the temple is well beyond just ordinary.
As the temple complex gazes upon the West, it designates the direction of the death, which has led researches to think that probably the Angkor Wat must have existed as a tomb, and then as everything else. Its bas-reliefs are constructed so they can be viewed anti-clockwise, that in the roots of the ancient Hindu funeral rites, makes a lot of sense. Vishnu was associated with the west. To intensify the feeling a little bit more, the Angkor Wat is the architectural manifestation of the sacred Mountain Meru of the Hindu faith, or what will equal with the Mount Olympus in the Greek mythology.
#4 I would also jump to Myanmar & Meditate by its Numerous Wondrous Pagodas
Using a particular sacred land to meditate is by no means naive or over-pumped story. Each time you have the occasion to meditate at some sacred lands, it is an opportunity to connect with our ancestors, introspect different types of connections, and possibly become a medium as you can receive invaluable information from past times and past lives.
Myanmar is less known country in South East Asia, but not the less ‘relevant’ to do this. It is beautiful and peaceful, a special realm where numerous pagodas are scatted in the wilderness. Our team was already here. We reached the greatness of Myanmar and maybe this is one of the reasons we have set ourselves the task to embrace this list of 12 sacred sites around the world to meditate. The sacred grounds of Myanmar are perplexed with bewilderment of nature, hence it is a perfect spot to sit down and meditate for some hours.
Further than that, I would not miss to roam around the next country on my journey!
#5 Visiting the Sacred Lands of India
People say that as you go from the West to the East it is all more transformative, as if the very soil beneath your feet has a different vibration than the one on the West. This is particularly true for India, where many of the spiritual schools and practices on this planet had started since ancient times. It is not just any overrated story, it is not only about the far more popular Goa, but India has its charm of its own, and it cannot be pinned down at any means.
I wish to settle my foots on the sacred grounds in India, and explore everything that hides and lurks inside its depths, without really trying to pin down things, but just be there, at the Taj Mahal, at the spice bazaar, at the rush hour, in the jungles or elsewhere.
Finally, will not miss to have my copy of the ancient teachings of the Vedas, as I would always find new meanings, new knowledge and intuitively gain new insights about what I should do next in life. I wonder, what those teachings will tell me if I go over them in the country of their origin?
#6 By the Temple of Heaven in China I would sit down and meditate
China looks much different today. It has become virtually the “factory of the world”, and I find it hard to compare China of 2016 with China of the previous centuries. Yet, what’s sacred is supposed to remain sacred, like the beauty of the Temple of Heaven among other pagodas, temples and sites in this ancient country of the world. I would bring my energy to China, experience the country myself and sit for a quiet meditation. Sometimes, all you have to do in fact is just bring your own energy at another side of the world.
What would be your place where you would enjoy an outdoors meditation? Comment below & see my full list of 12 sacred places around the world to meditate here.
Originally published at medium.com