walking meditation

as taught by Thich Nhat Hahn (August 2014)

there is the habit energy of running in all of us. we’re not comfortable in the here and now. many are caught in regret and sorrow concerning the past. the mark of suffering is very deep. how can we get out of that prison of the past? how can we take ourselves away from obsessively hurting ourselves again and again? from missing the blueness of the sky? the same can be said about the future. we have a lot of anxiety and fear about the future. we are caught in the energy of doubt. we are so consumed by both past and future. yet life is only available in the here and now, in the present moment. the practice of mindfulness can help us live in freedom. everything is available in the here and now. life is only available in the present moment. the very experience of everything is here in the present moment. even the Kingdom of God is available here in the now. the practice of mindfulness is the practice that brings us into the now. we have an appointment with life, but that appointment takes place in the here and now.

the practice of mindful walking can be very helpful. when we know how to walk, every step brings us to the now. we can learn how to combine the breathing and walking together (rhythmical, according to your natural breath). we can live deeply. practice as follows: “i have arrived. i am home.” “i have arrived” is not a thought, but arriving in the here and the now, where life is available. are you able to experience the wonder of life? in the here? in the now?

mother earth is beautiful. she is the Kingdom of God. the practice of mindfulness is to make ourselves available to this Kingdom. every step has the power of concentration, and the Kingdom is held within, not in the past or the future. everything is a wonder. the leaf, the mud, the lotus flower, the tree, the taste of this moment. this step. this arrival. we allow ourselves to be embracing of just this.

if you know how to stop running, then you can heal yourself. when we are standing still any problem can be faced and overcome. “i am solid. i am free. i’m not being pulled away by anything.” each step made like this will cultivate more solidity and stability. these words of the mantra are not just wishful thinking. to be a Buddha is possible, and to enjoy every step is possible. “in the ultimate, i dwell”.

what is the ultimate? think of the teaching of the wave. on the surface there is being and non-being, but in the depths there is only water. the wave does not last very long, but it has a body. yet she has an ocean-body, just like we have a cosmic-body. she does not need to look for her ocean-body in her wave-body, because she is the ocean-body. when she touches this, she loses all fear. with every step we can touch the cosmic body.

learn the art of walking. walk like a Buddha. don’t walk like a sleepwalker.