One of the unique challenges of maintaining my Vipassana practice is meditating two hours a day. While I find this time is well spent it doesn’t necessarily fit well into my schedule. I’ve been wondering what it would be like if everyone was trying to fit in these one-hour meditation blocks. Would universities have set times in the day for people to meditate together? Would businesses encourage employees to meditate at work? Would social gatherings start with a one hour sitting? Would meditation rooms become as common as guest bedrooms? Would a town clock tower have a special ring to start and end meditation sessions?

Then I started thinking about activities that do have set time slots. Schools end their days early enough so students can have sports practices afterwards and often have half day on Wednesdays so they can travel to games. Church is always Sunday when most people aren’t working. Hot cities often work a siesta into the workday. That’s not a great list but it’s something. I’m sure there are other example that aren’t currently entering my brain.

I’ve often enjoyed sharing meals with people who like to share a moment of silence before they eat. I can only imagine how delightful it would be to regularly share an hour of silence with people I work with, live with, or play with. If this was typical it would completely change the makeup of our social structure. I’ve experienced one fantastic evening when I meditated with 3 friends prior to going out to dinner together. Maybe I’ll be able to duplicate this experience in the future.