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Underground > Temple >

Prayer room, at work and elsewhere

10:25 / 17.08.06

I really want there to be a prayer room on site where I'm working at the moment. Anyone got one which is really good? I realise I want a warm dry place to go play in sacred space if it's raining or cold.

In my ideal world, we'd have a modest room set aside for prayer use. It would have a nice big sofa, for lying down and resting. It would have a cabinet of art materials: felt-tips pens, paper, clay, etc. It would be well sound-proofed, with enough space to have a bit of a dance. It would have a stereo so people could play music, to relax or to dance to. Maybe some spiritual guidance texts, maybe a commonplace book or prayer book & a pen, so people could have a sense of sharing the space with others through time, if they wanted to look into it. Maybe candles, incense etc. A sign on the door that can be turned round to display either 'in use' or 'vacant', maybe, or a lock like a loo-cubicle door.

I guess this illustrates that I regard the sacred as a resting place, for healing and renewing, solace and comfort. That's true: I understand the divine creative energy as the healing and transforming power I need to live into my tiny part in helping humanity take on the role of conscious earth-dwellers, living sustainably and peaceably with other species.

Anyone successfully persuaded an institution to set up a prayer/temple space? Do you use a public prayer space where you work or live?

12:35 / 17.08.06

SN, you make me think of living in a Heinleinian future......

I suspect the issue would be different groups being cranky over what others kept in the room. Until we hit a bliss point of true religious tolerance a carry-in carry-out policy (not including large equipment) might be best.

I always insist on having a clean bathroom at work and I use it as a reflective prayerful space when I can't go outside. Bathrooms at their best have a quality of a tiny house temple. Usually serene with flowing water (maybe not 'on' but there as an option), privacy, and yes a space which implies permission to tend to yourself as needed.

Gross bathrooms make me angry and I have been known to lecture people/businesses on the condition of the facilities. There is no reason in this day and age why basic cleanliness cannot be maintained.

...I rant...

22:49 / 17.08.06

Hey Saturn, your thread reminds me much of my stay in Turkey. Being a 99.8% Muslim country, prayer is most important as you might know. There are prayer room set up everywhere in the cities. In most public places here are prayer ooms or what are called Mescit's, and these are in Airports, Train stations, Bus Terminals etc etc. The bathrooms do get a bit wet though, as men have to wash their feet, hands and head before prayers. Most government buildings have a Mescit on every 3rd level of a highrise complex so the people can go to prayer the 3 times they are at work. I got quite used to the call to prayer 5 times a day, it was a bit surreal and by the end of 8 months, even comforting.

15:05 / 18.08.06

At my first job there was a Muslim guy who needed a place to pray during the day. They let him use the film room...and no one ever disturbed him.

The nicest prayer room I've ever seen was at a convent in Nyack, NY. It was the loft of a barn, there were cushions, chairs, and benches set up, and dried flowers as decoration. There were also baskets of rocks--nothing special, just nice smooth rocks that feel good to hold. They asked that (if you wanted) you hold one of the rocks as you prayed and put it back in the basket when you were done. Anyone was welcome there, any time.

18:55 / 19.08.06

Any place with running water and lots of growing, living things is fine by me. Indoors, that would most likely be a greenhouse or something along those lines (not the industrial veggie-factory kind of course).
I've been in long-abandoned buildings that came even closer to that temple-like ambience than a greenhouse could, but in most cases regular and/or prolonged visits weren't really an option.

As much as I like books, music, art... a room full of inanimate objects would grow stale pretty quickly, I imagine. But maybe that's just me.

Happy Dave Has Left

11:37 / 20.08.06

My firm has an 'All Faith Room', which doesn't have any sort of accoutrements. It's just a small, usually empty room with white walls and a couple of easy chairs, plus space for prayer mats etc. There's an 'People praying/Room free' slider thing on the door too. I've never used it, nor have I seen anyone ever using it, but then I'm on a different floor, so maybe it's being used all the time. Personally, if I need some time to contemplate, I wander down to the Thames and stare off into space.

12:10 / 20.08.06

a room full of inanimate objects would grow stale pretty quickly, I imagine.

Good point. I really like the idea of a greenhouse space. A friend of mine made her poly tunnel into a "play space with flowers" this year instead of packing it with veg and it's lovely.

The idea of a prayer room inside comes from my grumpy feelings when it's raining a lot or otherwise too miserable for me to want to play outside. I'm lucky enough to be working on a great campus at the moment, so several of my breaks every day I venture out into the grounds, to woods, meadows, wetlands nature reserve, or the old stately home gardens. But my viola doesn't like to be outside in the rain, and I don't like rain on my writing and drawing paper either, so I tend to feel a bit limited when it is actually raining - although I have been playing music in the underground carpark, and no-one's complained about that yet(!). A greenhouse space would be great to enjoy the rain from.