“Walking meditation”
Question: “Would you explain the proper method of walking meditation?”
Than Ajahn: “It’s the same like sitting meditation, but instead of focusing on your breath, you focus on your walking or on your steps, on your feet. When you move your left foot, you say, ‘left,’ when you move your right foot, you say, ‘right.’ Left, right, left, right. That’s to stop you from thinking about other things. Do this until you feel tired, then you come back and sit again. You cannot get full absorption from walking. You need to walk in order to alleviate your physical pain after sitting for a long time. After you sit for a long time, you feel painful, then you get up to relieve the pain. After you walk until you feel tired, then you go back and sit again. The important thing is to be mindful when you walk, and to be mindful when you sit. When you sit, be mindful of your breath. When you walk, be mindful of your feet, of your walking.”
“Q&A, Jul 26, 2017”
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Monk: “We have two teachers who gave us meditation instructions. One of them told us that when we do walking meditation, we don’t have to bother about the feeling touching the floor or even noticing left foot or right foot, instead we just concentrating on the mantra ‘Buddho’. The other teacher said that we should be aware of the foot touching the floor, we should be aware of which foot is moving. Some of my fellow monks are confused with regards to these two methods, could we ask some clarity about these two points from Luangphor?”
Than Ajahn: “Actually both methods are okay. It depends on individual preferences, that’s all. You can use ‘Buddho’ while you walk. The goal is the same, which is to prevent the mind from thinking aimlessly. When the mind has to recite ‘Buddho’ or when it has to watch the feet walking, then it cannot think aimlessly. That’s the whole purpose – to stop the mind from thinking aimlessly. So whichever method you want to use, it is okay. You can even use body contemplation, then you are developing both mindfulness and wisdom at the same time. In practice, there are many different methods. We have 40 kammaṭṭhāna, 40 ways of developing mindfulness and samādhi. So it is up to you to use whichever way you like, whichever way that will produce the result you want to have.”
“Singapore via skype to 57 newly ordained monks, Aug 09, 2015”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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“We contemplate continuously until we see that the body is just another doll that we have possessed and taken as ours temporarily.”
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Question: What about walking meditation?
Ajahn: Walking meditation has two purposes. Walking for the sake of cultivating mindfulness and walking for the sake of developing wisdom. Which purpose we choose depends on whether or not we have concentration.
If we are not yet able to attain concentration, then we should cultivate mindfulness in order to do so. If this is the case, then as we walk, we shouldn’t allow the mind to think in terms of wisdom, but only allow it to think Buddho, Buddho, or to closely watch the movements of the body, such as observing the feet, noting whether the left or right foot is hitting the ground. We do this to prevent the mind from thinking about this or that issue.
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Question: Should this be done alternately with sitting meditation?
Ajahn: After you walk for some time and you start to ache, you have to sit, don't you? If you are stiff from sitting, get up and walk. The purpose of meditation is to restrain and control your thoughts in order to make the mind peaceful, at least on the level of entering concentration. Once we have attained concentration and come out of it, we might be sore and stiff from sitting for a long time so we can then again do walking meditation.
But this time instead of observing the movements of the body, watching the left or right foot, or repeating Buddho, Buddho, we can contemplate the body. We contemplate the 32 parts of the body, its loathsomeness, its nature to be born, age, sicken, and die, how it is composed of earth, water, wind, and fire.
We contemplate continuously until we see that the body is just another doll that we have possessed and taken as ours temporarily. It is just like a cell phone. We have to look at it in this way until we can really see it, until we can let it go, until we are no longer bothered or fear old age, pain, or death. No matter where we are, no matter how alone, we’ll be able to stay. We will feel no fear.
“Mountain Dhamma, Apr 6, 2013”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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