Day 3: Zen is sitting, zen is walking

Contemporary Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh has written:

Walking meditation is practicing meditation while walking. It can bring you joy and peace while you practice it. Take [relatively] short steps in complete relaxation; go slowly with a smile on your lips, with your heart open to the experience of peace. You can feel truly at ease with yourself. Your steps can be those of the healthiest, most secure person on earth. All sorrows and worries can drop away while you are walking. To have peace of mind, to attain self-liberation, learn to walk in this way. It is not difficult. You can do it. Anyone can do it who has some degree of mindfulness and a true intention to be happy.

There are different forms of walking meditation; today we will explore an informal one, tomorrow a more formal practice. Today, walk outside, yes even in Chicago on February 10! Dress warmly, of course, and choose as peaceful an itinerary as you can. At the beginning, before the first step, be aware quietly of your body, your breath, your mind. Then walk slowly, mindfully, for fifteen minutes. Be aware of the snow, if there is any, the mud, the bushes and trees, the detritus of humans and animals without judging, without thinking about any of it. Just experience what is there. Before you come in again, if this seems appropriate to where you are, put your hands together and bow simply to the universe.

Please note that although Thich Nhat Hanh is using a different set of words to describe mind before thinking, this is what he’s talking about—not arousing thoughts and feelings of peace, tranquility, etc., as though our ability to do this constitutes the ideal of meditation.

He goes on to say:

Walking meditation is learning to walk again—with ease. . . . Walk so that your footprints bear only the marks of peaceful joy and complete freedom. To do this, you have to learn to let go. . . . Place your foot on the surface of the earth the way an emperor would place his seal on a royal decree. Take each step as an artist in ancient China would sign his work by carefully placing a vermillion seal on the silk. . . . Learn to walk as a Buddha walks; to smile as a Buddha smiles. You can do it! Why wait until you become a Buddha? Be a Buddha right now, at this very moment!