Why pay if there are no 'real' costs?

You're not paying. You're making an offering as a gesture of honoring the container held by a teacher with decades of experience. 

Amounts are suggested because most Westerners don't have a reference point for what it means to sustain people that have devoted so much of their lives to deepening their own practice, insight and wisdom so they can hold space for others to do the same.

Some will offer more. Some less. We trust it will all work out and not having high space costs means these offerings become more viable, especially for teachers that do not have (or wish to have) institutional support.

You don't "pay to sit." What you can touch on in a strong container are flashes of insight or expanded awareness that can be folded into the rest of your life.

That's priceless.

So offer what makes you feel generous, rather than contracted.

No one will be turned away for lack of financial resources.