It has been speculated that the King's chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza has a special spiritual atmosphere conducive to spiritual experiences. Is there any evidence that architecture can boost progress in contemplative practice ? I can't see the need to shift millions of tons of rock just to give an Egyptian priest a chance to sit down and meditate, personally, is there more to it than I know ?
Similar things are claimed about European cathedrals, and other types of temple. Any benefit ?

I guess you can use the example of the buddhist cave as an extreme example of how people use dwelling and built environment to try and assist practice but is it, in the end, really useful or is it folk tales ?

Has anyone scientifically researched this ? It wouldn't be too difficult to arrange a study with one group spending time in a cathedral and another in a living room or lab, would it ?

Pyramids, cathedrals etc are just rich dudes wanting to make a statement. There are nothing spiritual or supernatural about them. Just think of them as older versions of Trumptower, all these buildings today where people wants to have the tallest building innthe world.

The caves are just practical stuff for solitary practice.

howdy,
there is more than speculation to this.  there are many reports of "strange feelings" people have when in this rare chamber.  unfortunately these reports are all rather subjective and can be fulfillments of their owners expectations, the stillness encountered in such a stone monument, lack of gamma rays or a million other undefined phenomena.  these types of reports are not limited to the great pyramids at giza but are reflected in the practices of people as divers as nostradamus ( who meditated under a brass tripod contraption)  to the millions of pilgrims who go to meditate at bodgya because of the "vibes of the bodhi tree" to us just a couple out of millions of examples.

i teacher of mine used to religiously face east when he meditated.

so my take:  maybe there is something to geography, lay lines, architectural structures, astrology etc.  they are far less effective to me than a regular practice where you train your attention to far less subtle phenomena.

that said, i used to have the same opinion of chakras until i had several ah ha! experiences myself and realized these as existent phenomena in my awareness.  so perhaps these other things are just outside of my reach.

peace

tom

Why is it always the rich douchebags buildings that gets associated with "powers", why is it never the poor mans grave, or the unknown soldier. That is the real question of interest.

Plenty of poor saint's graves are holy shrines with supposed mystical/performative qualities.

I pretty much agree, and the point of a pilgrimage centre, really, I would think, is to focus the mind on the path at hand.
I don't think there's any doubt that many temples are designed and built specifically to inspire and evoke, and anyone going in a big cathedral will be able to feel there is certainly a point to it. I would expect, say, someone attending a large cathedral or other spectacular temple to be more likely to have spiritual experience, but only a little more likely.

So I wonder what the percentages are. If there is a sacred science of geometry or lay lines behind some of these buildings I'd have to ask if it is really successful, because the number of people going through them and coming out having had a full blown mystical experience must be pretty low, otherwise we'd be hearing about it. So would it be much of a science if only 0.001% of people really got the benefit ?

People like Persinger and his colleagues have pretty much made their minds up that the Earth has points at which it's magnetic field will influence the mind in such ways, and the theory goes that sacred sites are placed at such points, but has anyone done a survey and really proven this ?

...no one has 'proven' anything of the like to me in any kind of deductionist way.  that said, i have been to places which are known as 'energetic centers' and such like terms which have definitely positive effects on me.  maybe these things are 'physical' , whatever that really means or perhaps just psychological...however 'unreal' that may be.

on the other end of the 'awe' spectrum is the , to me, obvious intention of cathedral builders to demonstrate, affirm and consolidate their power over life, death and peoples actions.  primitive propaganda, over-generational control and indoctrination mechanisms.  a physical symbol reinforcing the dynastic nature of a tribal power class..... or douschbag if you will ;-)

Well, I suppose an experiment is in order. Build two retreat centres, but build one in a place where there is high geomagnetic activity, and one in a normal pace, and compare the results. Build another two retreat centres, one using sacred maths in it's architecture, one purely functional - same deal. :-)