Walking through life as a practice of walking Meditation.

Forest Of Light - Artwork by Sofan Chan

The simple instruction in walking mediation is like this - Be mindful of every single step as the foot get lifted up from the earth, carried in the air while the body weight is supported by the other leg, gently get placed on the ground with the sole of the foot touching the ground first and the front part of the foot easing into the ground slowly.

Although walking is a everyday mechanical function of the body, we don’t have to consciously instruct the feet to walk. Walking is a learnt mechanical bodily function. There is a way we walk, some walk quickly, some walk slowly, some walk waddly, some walk with certainty, some walk bouncily, etc. In general, we are not giving any precise instruction to every muscle, bond or even the blood vessels involved. We just walk. It happens to life as well; rarely we give precise instructions to how to live a wholesome life. We eat, excrete, make a living, procreate, drink, play and do everything else possible to forget how to live a life full of joy, love and spiritual development.

Walking meditation is down-to-the-earth spiritual practice in using a everyday mechanical function of the body to bring in a quality of spirituality to it. In doing so, we create beauty, joy and peace in every step we walk and it is certainly a challenge. As the mind loves to do everything and anything mechanical at its best.

In practising walking meditation, the mechanical function of the body has to slow down, so the awareness can take place in the body – what the body is feeling, what are the thoughts streaming through the mind, what are the sensations in the body and the mind. 

Awareness then can expand into our thoughts – noticing how thoughts coming and going like wind passing through the leaves of the trees, thoughts have their own movement though time and space. Next what will happen in the walking meditation is the awareness will slowly expand into the surrounding, through the sights and sounds. 

Whenever sounds occur, our consciousness immediately go out to detect and examine what it is, like a faithful guard dog. Simultaneously whenever there are moving objects, or just physical object around in term of colour, words or any kind or visual elements that the mind is interested in – the same thing happens, our bodily consciousness goes out and examines what it is or maybe taking fancy of what it is. The awareness which has been concentrating on walking shifted to other sounds, visual elements or thoughts. Momentarily, the concentration is distracted by inner factors – thoughts and bodily sensations, or external factors – sights and sounds.

In the beginning of the walking meditation, the body was tensed and was still in its own habitual way of walking, When we consciously place the awareness in every step of the walk, the body resists a new way of walking. The body, the mind and the consciousness all have to working together with huge effort in concentrating on the slowly movement of the walk. Walking conscious in life is the same, slow down and be aware every doing and every events that we created - what is our motivation behind it all? Wholesome? Or unwholesome? 

As the mental and the bodily faculties in such a heightened concentrated in the new way of meditative walking, our consciousness expands in the inner world as well as the external world. The consciousness becomes an observer who observes the event which is taking place in walking as walking, the bodily sensations as bodily sensations, the sights of the external visual elements as external visual elements without reacting to each of every events, thoughts and sensation that happening external and maintaining the equanimity internally.  

As we walk through life as a practice of walking meditation. The body becomes calm, there is inner peace arises.

As we are consciously placing no resistance to the sights, sounds, bodily sensations and thoughts as they happen; we are in fact creating inner calmness in the walking meditation as inner peace and joy arise from within. Every step becomes our inner peace imprinted onto our trusty earth, both benefited.

Buddhism Reading Cards - Card 14 Front - Awareness

Buddhism Reading Cards - Card 14 Back  - Awareness

Dharma speaks from the heart

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” -  Helen Keller.

Strangely that we fight for security and certainty at all cost in exchange for a secure job that pays well, a comfortable home to provide security to the family and a stable partner who is socially responsible, like we are fighting for our last breath.

How on earth then in amongst the well paid job, the comfortable home, the stable partner and the academically advancing children as well as all insurance policies for the home, health, children accident, the cars, the boats, the possessions, the investments; we are still feeling unsecured in so many ways and caused our heart to suffer. Suffocated. Empty. Our heart pants while we run so fast in chasing security.

Are we seeking security against the nature of things – impermanence, ebbs and flows, destruction comes after construction, constant changes that we call evolution are the norm of life? As a result, we become the prisoner of security  to insure our life and possessions against the nature's odd for our mental comfort only. 

The truth - our heart yearns to experience the unknown and life as a mystery. When every moment is renewed and brings about the impulse of joy that gives us directly experiences of being alive and free. Just like children jumping into the river in a cold day without asking what the water temperature is; they strip, they swim, they laugh and they get out. It is so simple when the impulse of life is what we are in sync with.

We build a swimming pool to provide clean water for the children to swim, but god knows that their heart yearns to swim in the wild river to experience freedom. We build a fortress as a home to keep the rain out and hold the warmth inside, but the soft animal of our body loves the feel of raindrops washing off the city dusts while the summer breeze awakes the spirit inside our flesh and bones.

How often we trust the impulse of our wild spirit – our passion - can navigate through the complexity of life and take us to experience the freedom of being alive. The irony is that only when we use our innate passion as a compass to cut through the mental derbies like fear, self- unworthiness, self-hatred and frustration hat we are unconsciously covering up with a fabricated mental concept called security and certainty; then WE COME ALIVE.
 
In choosing the path that seems the most certain and secured, we are guaranteed only one thing: that we go through life wondering how things could have been if only we weren’t so afraid.

Today if you find yourself tightly wrapped within the blanket of security, comfort and certainty; and yet - the heart is feeling suffocated and lonely. Ask yourself - "Are these the moments I want to remember when I look back on my life some day?"

 “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” - Helen Keller.

Is there a path leading to a daring adventure that your heart yearns for? If you so choose, let's the truth - Dharma - speaks from the heart! 

Buddhism Reading Cards Deck - Card 4 Front - The Path

 

Buddhism Reading Cards Deck - Card 4 Back - The Path

Buddhism Reading Cards Deck