My ideal spot for meditation would be something like the Villa Monastera gardens in Varenna. Not so much these old ashram buildings. If I were a rich philanthropist I might endow such a garden. In Bodhgaya, they created a meditation garden, with a time-limited entry, but it’s very contrived. The Matrimandir gardens in Auroville are beautiful, but the man at the gate does not want one to sit there. There is no understanding.
When I was writing this earlier, in the meditation hall, a small boy came to sit next to me and asked what I was writing. I smiled, but stopped writing and moved away, ignoring his repeated question. D. was saying earlier that Indians are less disturbed by such interactions than are westerners.