A Suitable Mind

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Ismail Hashim, a man charged with posessing heroin and methamphetamine in a house at Taman Pulai Indah, Nusaya, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession and had in court, asked the judge that he be sent to prison so that he could meditate. Now, that may perhaps make some wonder- Is the prison an appropriate place to meditate? Even now in present day Malaysia, I have heard of a Buddhist monk near Ipoh, Perak meditating in a cave and in Taiping, I have heard of a monk who meditates in a hill and comes down daily to the town market to beg for food from well-wishers. Some Buddhist monks in Thailand probably meditate in cemeteries to0 and those during Buddha's time as well as Buddha himself must have meditated in caves and forests unlike people nowadays who may have it so easy. There are meditation centres like the Osho centres strewn all over the world where one could retreat to at a small fee. Somewhere I read that there are four basic elements to most traditional meditation which are: a quiet place to meditate, a comfortable or poised posture,
an object for attention-awareness to dwell upon and a passive attitude. The last element is said to be the most essential element of all. A passive attitude means one must be able to view casually and detachedly at the various distractions such as the sound from the environment, the tingling of the skin, the numbness and pain of the body parts or the thoughts and images that intrude our mind etc etc. Perhaps, the question now is not just whether the prison or the cave or the forest or the modern bustling city itself is a suitable place for meditation; it is more of whether if the mind suitable...