Walking Meditation Explained In this meditation method, you will be able to acquire not just the basic knowledge regarding walking meditation, but extreme power to uplift yourself and your inner experience and sensation beyond tradition and definition. Walking meditation is usually understood as primarily intended to relieve stress in the legs. While it has this effect, this is not the only meaning of kinhin. During sitting, the legs may turn numb, or 'go to sleep'. This does not mean that the circulation is bad, quite the opposite. There is an old saying in Zen, "A fire that begins in your toes and consumes your whole body"- this is the meaning of this numbness. The smallest thing- even the legs going to sleep- is a subject of investigation in our Zen training. An ancient questions asks, "can you make your body as limp as a baby's?" When your legs and feet are numb, you will notice that your ankles are usually flexible. Once when I was having private Dokusan with my Zen master, the late Reverend Dr. Soyu Matsuoka-roshi, Archbishop of Soto Zen North America, which consisted to two normal sitting periods of one hour with Kinhin and no talking- both legs had gone completely to sleep by the ending gong. When I stoop up, both feet were absolutely buzzing in my socks. As I stepped to the altar, the toes of my right foot dragged on the carpet, and folded under to where I was partially standing on the top of my foot. I nearly fell down! Sensei caught me. It woke my foot up, but it didn't hurt. Kinhin is the extension of the stillness of zazen into the action of walking. In your mind, you should strive to eliminate any distinction between the two- they are more alike than different. There is a famous Zen saying, "Stillness in Action- Action in Stillness". We have this calligraphy by the late Reverend Dr. Soyu Matsuoka-roshi of this expression. It also connotes "Silence is Thunder- Mokurai." This is the more essential meaning of walking meditation- it brings the strength of meditation into the everyday act of walking. It is also symbolic of the Buddha's walking round and round the bodhi-tree following his Enlightenment. So it likewise represents your 'wandering about in the world of enlightenment', in the words of Dogen-Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism, for the first time. Preparations For Walking Meditation Finding a Suitable Place The place where the Lord Buddha did walking meditation at Bodhgaya after his Enlightenment still exists to this day. His walking path was seventeen steps long. These days the Forest Monks tend to make their walking meditation paths much longer — up to thirty steps long. The beginner may find thirty paces too long because their mindfulness has not yet developed. By the time you come to the end of the path, your mind may have been ―around the world and back.‖ Remember, walking is a stimulating posture, and initially the mind tends to wander a great deal. It is usually better for beginners to start off on a shorter path; fifteen paces would be a good length. If you do a walk meditation outside, find a secluded place where you won’t be distracted or disturbed. It is good to find a walking path that is slightly enclosed. It can be a distraction to walk in an open area where there is a view, as you may find that the mind is drawn out to the scenery. If the path is closed in, it tends to bring the mind inwards, into one’s self and towards peace. An enclosed area is especially suitable for speculative personalities who like to think a lot; it helps to calm their minds. Preparing the Body and Mind Once you have chosen a suitable path, stand at one end. Stand erect. Put the right hand over the left in front of you. Don’t walk with your hands behind your back. A meditation master who visited the monastery where I was staying once commented when he saw one of the guests walking up and down with his hands behind his back: ―He’s not walking meditation; he’s going for a stroll.‖ By placing the hands in front, it creates a clear determination to focus the mind on walking meditation, to differentiate from ―just walking.‖ The practice is firstly to develop samādhi, a Pali word that means focusing the mind, developing the mind to one – pointedness by gradual degrees of mindfulness and concentration. To focus the mind, one has to be diligent and determined. This requires a degree of physical as well as mental composure. One begins by composing oneself by clasping the hands in front. Composing the body helps to compose the mind. Having thus composed the body, one should then stand still and bring awareness and attention to the body. Then raise your hands together in anjali, a gesture of respect, and with your eyes shut reflect for a few minutes on the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha. Contemplate having taken refuge in the Buddha, the Wise One, He who knows and Sees, the Awakened One, the Fully Enlightened One. Reflect in your heart on the qualities of the Buddha for a few minutes. Then recall the Dhamma—the Truth that you are striving to realize on the walking meditation path. Finally, bring to mind the Saṅgha, especially those fully Enlightened Ones who have realized the Truth by cultivating meditation. Then bring the hands down in front of you and make a mental determination on how long you are going to ―walk meditation’, be it half an hour, one hour, or more. However long you determine to walk for, adhere to it. In this manner you are nurturing the mind at that initial stage of the meditation with zest, inspiration and confidence.

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