Walking Meditation

"in The Thai Forest Tradition"

Table of Content

--1--

Introduction

• The Five Benefits of Walking Meditation
• Developing Endurance for Walking Distances
• Good for Striving
• Good for Health
• Good for Digestion
• Good for Sustaining Concentration

--2--

Preparation for Walking Meditation

• Finding a Suitable Place
• Preparing the Body and Mind

--3--

Basics of Walking Meditation and Choosing an Object

• Awareness of the Walking Posture
• From Sitting Meditation to the Walking Path
• Choosing a Mantra
• Contemplation of the Way Things Are
• Investigating Impermanence
• Recollecting Generosity and Virtue
• Recolecting the Nature of the Body
• Other Contemplations

--4--

Conclusion

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1. Introduction

In this discourse, I want to focus on the nuts and bolts of walking meditation. I Shall address the how, when, where and why of this form of meditation. I intend this discourse to include both practical instructions of the technical aspects of walking meditation and instructions for creating the quality of mind that leads to concentration, instght and wisdom through the physical activity of walking meditation.

The Buddha stressed developing mindfulness inthe four main postures of the body : standing, sitting, lying down and walking. He exhorted us to be mindful in all these postures, to create a clear awareness and recollection of what we are doing while we are in any particular posture.

If you read about the lives of monks and nuns at the time of the Buddha, you will see that many obtained the stages of Enlightenment while on the walking meditation path. Walking meditation is call cankama in Pali. Walking meditation is an activity in which one can focus and concentrate the mind or develop investigative knowledge and wisdom.

Some people find that they are naturally drawn to walking meditation, because they find it easierand more natural than sitting meditation. When they sit they full dull, or they are easily distracted. Their mind doesn't calm down. If this is the case with you, don't just presevere; do something new and try a change of posture.

Do something different; experiment with standing meditation or try walking meditation. This new meditation posture may give you some other skilful means of applying the mind. All of the four postures of meditation are just techniques, methods for developing and training the mind.

Try and develop walking meditation; you may start to see the benefits of it. In the Forest Meditation Tradition in Northeast Thailand, there is a great emphasis on walking meditation. Many monks will walk for long hours as a way of developing concentration -- somethaing as much as ten or fifteen hours a day!

The late Ajahn Singtong used to do so much walking meditation that he would make a rut in the walking path. The sandy path that he used for walking meditation would actually become hollow because he would walk so many hours a day -- sometimes up to fifteen or more hours a days! Another monk, Ajahn Kun Dtun walked meditation so much that he wouldn't bother to go into his hut a night. When he became really tired after walking meditation all day and late into the night, he would lay down right there on the meditation path and use his fist as a pillow. He would go to sleep with mindfulnessl, having made a determination to ge up the moment he woke. As soon as he woke up, he would start walking again. He basically lived on his walking meditation path! Ajahn Kun Dtum was quick attain results in his pratice.

In the West, there is not such an emphasis on the practice of walking meditation. Thus I would like to describe the process and recommend it to you to complement your sitting practice. These instructions will hopefully help you develop your repertoire of meditative techniques -- in both formal meditation and in your daily life. As so much of life is taken up with the acitivity of walking, if you know how to apply awareness to that, then even simply walking about in you house can become meditation exercise.

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from Walking Meditation in the Thai Forest Tradition