Spiritual alchemy occurs not when we surround ourselves with the perfect house/meditation chamber/job/circumstance…It happens when we are sufficiently trained to wring the potential from ANY house/meditation/job/circumstance—when we can see glaring divinity within the high and the low alike.  And for those who are interested in being able to spin empires out of ether, that seems to be a pleasant side effect of sharpening the spirit (or so I’ve read).