A Feeling of Chan in a Room

 During the group sharing this morning, one of the participants mentioned that he quite enjoyed the energy of the center. I have often wondered, where does that energy come from? I think that in a sense, it was coming from his own experience of the place. Quite literally, it is a heart connection that a person makes, partly from their own attentiveness, and partly from the ability of the surroundings to invoke or enhance it in some way.
   I am often surprised in my own experiences to know or discover what qualifies as a 'Chan' or 'Zen' environment. The basement in which we conduct our private Sunday morning gathering is hardly an auspicious place. It is not even set up to be a 'proper' Chan Hall: the floors are carpeted, there is a big drum in the center of the room that has to be relocated to the back, and there are many visual distractions around it, from a nearby children's playroom to an overstocked storage space. Yet, somehow, I have to admit that this place endears me a lot. There is something about the rustic cramped-ness of the room that gives it an authentic Zen/Chan feel. Can I say that, in spite of the cold temperatures in the basement, it is cozy in some way? And I also wonder: what is it about cramped, often cluttered spaces that makes them 'cozy'? Here, I believe that there is an unabasedly human element to the messiness. I even wonder if people deliberately make messes (subconsciously) in order to induce that state of 'someone is here' or 'lived in' feel of the room.
   Sometimes, a place does not need to be particularly well constructed or organized to have a good energy for practice. While there should perhaps be less clutter, there also doesn't have to be so much planning or preparation. Sometimes the space takes care of itself, just as the mind will tend to settle naturally if there are few attachments.
   At the end of the day, a good spirit energy must arise when everyone agrees to practice--and put their whole hearts and minds into it. That energy will tend to linger for a long time, and build itself into the space like a habit.