A few years later, when I visited the Land of Serendip, as Sri Lanka was once known, my first non-Western Buddhist environment, I was severally invited to join in with group meditation lead by a senior lay person or a monk. To my astonishment, no one even tried to effect a lotus posture, full, half or otherwise. People sat in what ever seated posture they could manage. Heads might be down, spines might be arched. No one cruised through the crowd with a kyosaku (stick of compassion) to adjust posture. The important thing was that you brought the mind to a state of attention. I smugly assumed my very sharpest half-lotus.
At my present level of practice maturity, I would recommend a standard somewhere between these extremes. I know that bullying my body into impossible (for me) poses, offers little strength for insight. I also have confirmed repeatedly that a certain formality and structure of posture proves much more potent for my sitting practice. What I have learned about sitting has also come with a maturing in walking practices, so I tend to see the two practice postures as inter-related. We only have one body, after all. This echoes the advice of one teacher who would describe simple indoor walking practice as identical to sitting in purpose and posture, with the exception of the movement of the legs. Holding that description gently for now, let’s explore postures, walking and sitting. Apart from the arrangement of the legs, what are the key elements of the sitting posture?
• The spine is relaxed and uses its natural curvature for support;
• The balance tends to be slightly back-leaning;
• The chest is open, the shoulders back, to facilitate fullest breathing;
• The chin is tucked in, with the tip of the tongue resting on the upper palette;
• The spine is lightly stretched to relieve any compression in its bones;
• The gaze is straight ahead, eyes closed or in ‘soft focus’;
• There is no rigidity, the body will float gently with the flow of breath, adjusting its centre and balance with the changes in the upper chest;
• There is little other movement, no swaying other than this floating with the breath;
• Breath flows naturally, the belly swelling and collapsing;
• Hands and arms are stabilized in a supportive posture.
For most walking practice, the posture is the same. A good way to experience or establish the posture is to remove shoes and back up to a wall, with heels close to the baseboard. Stand with arms to the side, chin tucked in and follow all the other forms of sitting posture. Fall backward (as it were), into the wall, imagining yourself to be lying horizontally on the floor. Without changing anything above the hips, take a step forward. This is your walking posture.
At first it will seem awkward, but probably no more than what you felt the first few times you sat properly in meditation. The best way to introduce this posture is to use it for formal indoor walking or kinhin. As you come to understand the posture and the way the body balances and adjusts in walking, you will be able to employ the same principles for either indoor or outdoor walking.
These are the general principles of walking posture. When we examine other practice forms, we will need to make adjustments or allowances in this posture. For example, extended distance walking outdoors will abandon structured hand positions entirely, in favour of the use of some kind of walking support, such as a pole. Any practice which entails carrying some object, such as a mokugyo or maktok (the hollow wooden fish-instrument held with one hand and struck with a wooden striker in the other, and used for walking recitation), will require some variation. As with sitting practice, we are guided by the essential dignity of our posture. However and wherever we walk, we are each the companions of countless Bodhisattvas, and our practice, as with theirs, is the practice of liberating all beings. Our practice is the noblest of endeavours and calls for us to represent that nobility and dignity in how we stand and move.
The Hand Position
Hand position is just another element of posture. As with all the elements of posture, the hands influence or at least contribute to the overall posture. For example, the infamous urban text-walking posture illustrates a posture ill-suited to mindful walking (not to mention the inherent risks in traffic!). In this posture, the hands are extended at about chest height, cupped and cradling the mini-screen. The balance is forward, immersed in the changing display of the device. Awareness of the environment of the walk, of the feel of the step, of the flow of the breath is minimal or non-existent. As a 21st century Shakespeare might have said, “The screen’s the thing!” Nothing could be further at odds with proper walking practice.
As we will see begin to see in Chapter 5 and following, there are several variations for each of the types of walking practice. The primary considerations of all hand positions are that they complement the overall balance of the walking posture and movement; they do not contribute distractions to the centering of awareness and the attention to the dynamic flow of body-awareness; and as much as possible, they sustain the strongest and most complete cycling of bodily energies, so the practice is invigorating, not tiring.
Different practices necessitate carrying appropriate objects, be that a shakujo-staff, a percussion instrument like a mokugyo, or a mala (beads for recitation). Circumstance may suggest an umbrella, a map, water bottle or identification guide at the ready. As much as possible these need to be portable without involving the hands, so as not to interfere with engaging the hands and arms in the broader posture of the practice. Various hooks, straps and packs are recommended in these cases. Master Thay is renowned for recommending walkers hold the hands of a child. The child will:
…receive your concentration and stability and you will receive her freshness and innocence…a child is a bell of mindfulness, reminding us how wonderful life is.
The Long Road to Joy, THN, p. 36
There may be times when this hand-in-hand walking is of value, as Thay recommends. I would suggest that these instances are the exception, best reserved for more casual, short walks. In general, hands need to be free and arranged to support body posture, balance and stride.
Breathing and Walking
The action of breathing is not separate from the taking of a step. The lifting, swinging and placing of the foot necessarily involves the flow of in-breath and out-breath. A synchronicity between breath and step will support a smooth stride, which, in turn, will permit deep levels of concentration while engaging in walking. Conversely, a hurried, erratic or stop-and-start pace will interfere with relaxed breathing and the attention we bring to it and the activity of mind. Later on, we will examine more closely the performance of a synchronized breath-step and using counting or recitation to harmonize walking. For now, it is important to acknowledge the relationship and need to attend to breath with the first step, and to prepare body and breath for walking.
In his Warrior Walking, Josh Halzer suggest establishing the proper breath even before we begin. He describes ‘embracing the tree’, a simple chi-kung practice. Chi-kung is a set of affiliated, mostly standing, body-breath practices which are often used to build up concentration and body strength which one can use in preparation for a satisfying walk. He recommends we first assume the standing posture known to martial arts enthusiasts as the ‘horse stance’ (because you look like a rider whose horse has disappeared). The feet are set shoulder-width apart, arms are curved in and palms are facing and slightly curled inward. We squat slightly, with spine upright, we gaze straight ahead. This can be done sitting as well. From this stance we perform a dozen relaxed and deep breaths, attending to the in and out of each breath.
Some may recognize this as somewhat similar to the first few movements in Thich Nhat Hahn’s Ten Mindful Movements. This set of very-easy-to-perform standing or sitting movements accomplishes the same pre-walk relaxation and breath awareness.
Depending on when and where and how far one plans to walk, one can turn to any sitting meditative practice, be that zazen, vipassana or mantra recitation. This is not the