Introduction
In this discourse, I want to focus on the nuts and bolts of walking meditation. I shall address the how, when, where and why of this form of meditation. I intend this discourse to include both practical instructions of the technical aspects of walking meditation and instructions for creating the quality of mind that leads to concentration, insight and wisdom, through the physical activity of walking meditation.
The Buddha stressed developing mindfulness in the four main postures of the body: standing, sitting, lying down and walking (DN 22, MN 10). He exhorted us to be mindful in all these postures, to create a clear awareness and recollection of what we are doing when we are in any particular posture.
When you read about the lives of the monks and nuns at the time of the Buddha, you see that many obtained the stages of Enlightenment while on the walking meditation path. Walking meditation is called Cankama in Pàli. Walking meditation is an activity in which one can focus and concentrate the mind and develop investigative knowledge and wisdom as well.
Some people find that they are naturally drawn to doing walking meditation, because they find it easier and more natural than sitting meditation. When they sit they feel dull, or they’re tense, or they are easily distracted. Their mind doesn’t calm down. If this is the case with you, don’t just persevere; try a change of posture and do something new. Do something different; experiment with standing meditation or try walking meditation. This new meditation posture may give you some other skilful means of applying the mind. All of the four postures of meditation are just techniques, methods for developing and training the mind.
Try and develop walking meditation; you may start to see the benefits of it. In the Forest Meditation Tradition in Northeast Thailand, there is a great emphasis on walking meditation. Many monks will walk for long hours as a way of developing concentration – sometimes as much as ten or fifteen hours a day!
The late Ajahn Singtong used to do so much walking meditation that he would make a rut in his walking path, and the novices would have to come and fill in the hollow. The sandy path that he used for walking meditation would actually become hollow because he would walk so many hours a day – sometimes up to fifteen or more hours a day! I know of another monk who walked meditation so much that he wouldn’t bother to go into his hut at night. When he got really tired after walking meditation all day and late into the night, he would lay down right there on the meditation path and use his fist as a pillow. He would go to sleep with mindfulness, having made a determination to get up the moment he woke. As soon as he woke up, he would start walking again. He basically lived on his walking meditation path! That monk was quick to attain results in his practice.
Here, in the West, there is not such an emphasis on the practice of walking meditation. This is why I would like to describe the process and recommend it to you to compliment your sitting practice. These instructions will hopefully help you develop your repertoire of meditative techniques – in both formal meditation and in your daily life. As so much of life is taken up with the activity of walking, if you know how to apply awareness to that, then even simply walking about in your house can become a meditation exercise.
IntroductionIn this discourse, I want to focus on the nuts and bolts of walking meditation. I shall address the how, when, where and why of this form of meditation. I intend this discourse to include both practical instructions of the technical aspects of walking meditation and instructions for creating the quality of mind that leads to concentration, insight and wisdom, through the physical activity of walking meditation.The Buddha stressed developing mindfulness in the four main postures of the body: standing, sitting, lying down and walking (DN 22, MN 10). He exhorted us to be mindful in all these postures, to create a clear awareness and recollection of what we are doing when we are in any particular posture.When you read about the lives of the monks and nuns at the time of the Buddha, you see that many obtained the stages of Enlightenment while on the walking meditation path. Walking meditation is called Cankama in Pàli. Walking meditation is an activity in which one can focus and concentrate the mind and develop investigative knowledge and wisdom as well.Some people find that they are naturally drawn to doing walking meditation, because they find it easier and more natural than sitting meditation. When they sit they feel dull, or they’re tense, or they are easily distracted. Their mind doesn’t calm down. If this is the case with you, don’t just persevere; try a change of posture and do something new. Do something different; experiment with standing meditation or try walking meditation. This new meditation posture may give you some other skilful means of applying the mind. All of the four postures of meditation are just techniques, methods for developing and training the mind.Try and develop walking meditation; you may start to see the benefits of it. In the Forest Meditation Tradition in Northeast Thailand, there is a great emphasis on walking meditation. Many monks will walk for long hours as a way of developing concentration – sometimes as much as ten or fifteen hours a day!The late Ajahn Singtong used to do so much walking meditation that he would make a rut in his walking path, and the novices would have to come and fill in the hollow. The sandy path that he used for walking meditation would actually become hollow because he would walk so many hours a day – sometimes up to fifteen or more hours a day! I know of another monk who walked meditation so much that he wouldn’t bother to go into his hut at night. When he got really tired after walking meditation all day and late into the night, he would lay down right there on the meditation path and use his fist as a pillow. He would go to sleep with mindfulness, having made a determination to get up the moment he woke. As soon as he woke up, he would start walking again. He basically lived on his walking meditation path! That monk was quick to attain results in his practice.Here, in the West, there is not such an emphasis on the practice of walking meditation. This is why I would like to describe the process and recommend it to you to compliment your sitting practice. These instructions will hopefully help you develop your repertoire of meditative techniques – in both formal meditation and in your daily life. As so much of life is taken up with the activity of walking, if you know how to apply awareness to that, then even simply walking about in your house can become a meditation exercise.
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