WALKING MEDITATION Thich Nhat Hanh from Savor, p. 170-173
Walking with TNH Take two or three steps for each in-breath and each out-breath. Breathing in, say, “I have arrived”; breathing out, say, “I am home.” Breathing in, say, “In the here”; breathing out, say, “In the now.” Breathing in, say, “I am solid”; breathing out, say, “I am free.” Breathing in, say, “In the ultimate”; breathing out, say, “I dwell.”
To start, when you breathe in slowly, take two or three steps. Bring your attention to the soles of your feet, and become aware of the contact between your feet and the ground. Bring all your attention down to the soles of your feet. Breathing in, take two or three steps, and say with each step, “I have arrived.” Breathing out, take another two or three steps, remaining mindful of the contact between your feet and the ground, and say, with each step, “I’m home.” But, arrived where? And where is home? you may ask. According to the teachings and practice of the Buddha, life is available only in the present moment, in the here and now. And when you go back to the present moment, you have a chance to touch life, to encounter life, to become fully alive and fully present. That is why every step brings us back to the present moment – so that we can touch the wonders of life that are available. Therefore, when you say, “I have arrived,” you’re saying, “I have arrived in the here and now – the only place, the only time when life is available, and this is my true home.” “I have arrived” means, “I don’t want to be distracted and lost anymore, because I know that conditions for my happiness are already here in the present moment.” Sometimes we believe that happiness is not possible in the here and now, that we need a few more conditions to be happy. So we run toward the future to get the conditions we think are missing. But by doing so we sacrifice the present moment; we sacrifice true life. In our daily life, we have a tendency to think about the past, to get caught in sorrow and regret concerning the past, and to get caught in fear and uncertainty about the future, so our mind is not in the present moment. That is why it is very important to learn how to go back to the present moment in order to become fully alive, fully present. Walking meditation helps us do that easily. We need to learn to walk in such away that every step brings us stability, freedom, healing, and transformation. In order for each step to be solid, to be free, to be healing, to be nourishing, we need the energy of mindfulness and concentration, which is obtained by mindful breathing and mindful walking. “I have arrived. I am home.” That is not a statement. That is a practice, and only you can know whether you have arrived in the here and now; no one else can tell you. If you are truly established in the here and now, you feel free, light, and peaceful, and you can get in touch with all the wonders of life that are available. Walk in such a way that peace becomes a reality in every cell of your body, in every cell of your consciousness. When we breathe peaceful ly, the peace of our breath penetrates into our body and mind. Then very soon, in no time at all, body, mind, and breath become one in concentration, and we get the energy of stability, solidity, and freedom generated by every step we make. After a few minutes, you may move to the third line of the meditation: “In the here. In the now.” It means I am at home in the here and now. The address of the kingdom of God, the address of peace and togetherness is the here and now, not in the past, not inthe future, and not in any other location in space. After some time, you might like to move to the fourth line: “I am solid. I am free.” Solidity and freedom are the most important aspects of happiness. Without some solidity, without some freedom, true happiness is not possible; therefore, every step should be able to generate more solidity and freedom. And again, this is not a wish or a declaration. It is a practice. So, “I am solid, I am free” means I notice that now I am more solid, I am freer. That makes the practice much more pleasant. You walk with dignity, like a king or queen. You walk like a lion, because you are truly yourself, with all your serenity and strength. Every step becomes a delight. Every step has the power to heal, to transform. Not only can we heal ourselves with our steps, but we can help heal our loved ones, friends, the earth, and the environment. As we walk with mindfulness, we become calmer. Our brain becomes clearer and more lucid, allowing solutions to emerge to whatever pressing challenges we ourselves, our loved ones, our friends, or our world face. The last line of the meditation is “In the ultimate I dwell.” There are two dimensions to reality. The first is the historical dimension, and the second is the ultimate dimension. We have an ultimate dimension – the ground of our being – and if we know how to live deeply every moment of our historical dimension, we can touch our ultimate dimension. The historical dimension can be likened to a wave. And the ultimate dimension is like the water in a wave. A wave may seem to have a beginning and an ending. A wave may be seen as high or low, big or small, different from or similar to other waves. But the appearance of beginning and ending, high and low, more or less beautiful, belongs only to the historical dimension. Because the wave is at the same time the water. Water transcends the form of the wave, and the idea of beginning and ending, high or low, this wave or that wave. These notions apply only to the wave but not to the water. The moment when the wave realizes that she is water, she loses all her fear and she enjoys much more being a wave. She is free from birth and death, being and nonbeing, high or low, because when we are able to touch our ultimate dimension, we are no longer subjected to fear – fear of being less than or more than other waves; fear of birth; fear of death. This is a very deep practice. When you touch your true foundation, your true nature – the nature of no birth and no death – then non fear arises. And with nonfear, true happiness becomes possible. It is possible to live each moment of our daily life in a way that helps us touch our ultimate dimension. In fact, it is only through living our daily life in the historical dimension deeply that we can dwell in the ultimate.
To start, when you breathe in slowly, take two or three steps. Bring your attention to the soles of your feet, and become aware of the contact between your feet and the ground. Bring all your attention down to the soles of your feet. Breathing in, take two or three steps, and say with each step, “I have arrived.” Breathing out, take another two or three steps, remaining mindful of the contact between your feet and the ground, and say, with each step, “I’m home.” But, arrived where? And where is home? you may ask. According to the teachings and practice of the Buddha, life is available only in the present moment, in the here and now. And when you go back to the present moment, you have a chance to touch life, to encounter life, to become fully alive and fully present. That is why every step brings us back to the present moment – so that we can touch the wonders of life that are available. Therefore, when you say, “I have arrived,” you’re saying, “I have arrived in the here and now – the only place, the only time when life is available, and this is my true home.” “I have arrived” means, “I don’t want to be distracted and lost anymore, because I know that conditions for my happiness are already here in the present moment.” Sometimes we believe that happiness is not possible in the here and now, that we need a few more conditions to be happy. So we run toward the future to get the conditions we think are missing. But by doing so we sacrifice the present moment; we sacrifice true life. In our daily life, we have a tendency to think about the past, to get caught in sorrow and regret concerning the past, and to get caught in fear and uncertainty about the future, so our mind is not in the present moment. That is why it is very important to learn how to go back to the present moment in order to become fully alive, fully present. Walking meditation helps us do that easily. We need to learn to walk in such away that every step brings us stability, freedom, healing, and transformation. In order for each step to be solid, to be free, to be healing, to be nourishing, we need the energy of mindfulness and concentration, which is obtained by mindful breathing and mindful walking. “I have arrived. I am home.” That is not a statement. That is a practice, and only you can know whether you have arrived in the here and now; no one else can tell you. If you are truly established in the here and now, you feel free, light, and peaceful, and you can get in touch with all the wonders of life that are available. Walk in such a way that peace becomes a reality in every cell of your body, in every cell of your consciousness. When we breathe peaceful ly, the peace of our breath penetrates into our body and mind. Then very soon, in no time at all, body, mind, and breath become one in concentration, and we get the energy of stability, solidity, and freedom generated by every step we make. After a few minutes, you may move to the third line of the meditation: “In the here. In the now.” It means I am at home in the here and now. The address of the kingdom of God, the address of peace and togetherness is the here and now, not in the past, not inthe future, and not in any other location in space. After some time, you might like to move to the fourth line: “I am solid. I am free.” Solidity and freedom are the most important aspects of happiness. Without some solidity, without some freedom, true happiness is not possible; therefore, every step should be able to generate more solidity and freedom. And again, this is not a wish or a declaration. It is a practice. So, “I am solid, I am free” means I notice that now I am more solid, I am freer. That makes the practice much more pleasant. You walk with dignity, like a king or queen. You walk like a lion, because you are truly yourself, with all your serenity and strength. Every step becomes a delight. Every step has the power to heal, to transform. Not only can we heal ourselves with our steps, but we can help heal our loved ones, friends, the earth, and the environment. As we walk with mindfulness, we become calmer. Our brain becomes clearer and more lucid, allowing solutions to emerge to whatever pressing challenges we ourselves, our loved ones, our friends, or our world face. The last line of the meditation is “In the ultimate I dwell.” There are two dimensions to reality. The first is the historical dimension, and the second is the ultimate dimension. We have an ultimate dimension – the ground of our being – and if we know how to live deeply every moment of our historical dimension, we can touch our ultimate dimension. The historical dimension can be likened to a wave. And the ultimate dimension is like the water in a wave. A wave may seem to have a beginning and an ending. A wave may be seen as high or low, big or small, different from or similar to other waves. But the appearance of beginning and ending, high and low, more or less beautiful, belongs only to the historical dimension. Because the wave is at the same time the water. Water transcends the form of the wave, and the idea of beginning and ending, high or low, this wave or that wave. These notions apply only to the wave but not to the water. The moment when the wave realizes that she is water, she loses all her fear and she enjoys much more being a wave. She is free from birth and death, being and nonbeing, high or low, because when we are able to touch our ultimate dimension, we are no longer subjected to fear – fear of being less than or more than other waves; fear of birth; fear of death. This is a very deep practice. When you touch your true foundation, your true nature – the nature of no birth and no death – then non fear arises. And with nonfear, true happiness becomes possible. It is possible to live each moment of our daily life in a way that helps us touch our ultimate dimension. In fact, it is only through living our daily life in the historical dimension deeply that we can dwell in the ultimate.
