Category: Walking Meditation

Zazen, Kinhin Meditation – Being Present, Aware, Mindful

—An Interview with Genjo Marinello Osho, Part Two—
>>> Part One: Do Zazen – How to Sit Zazen – The Nature of Reality – Breath

Meditation How: Thank you for sharing that description of posture for sitting meditation practice. You say your mind at times “settles beyond or beneath this transitory phenomenal world” and I wonder what that is like. Is it the mind that settles? Is it pure awareness? Are you in the picture at all at that point?

Genjo: Yes, that’s it, the mind settles, like the ripples on a pond. On occasion when the mind settles, the water of the mind, awareness, becomes pure, clear and undisguised, clearly reflective of reality just as it is. There is a sense of union and being seamless with all creation. Up to this point, there is still a vague sense of self and other, but it doesn’t feel very substantial, almost transparent. At what can be called a deeper or broader settling of mind, self disappears along with any idea of “mind.”

This is a kind of going down the rabbit-hole experience. In this meditation experience whatever is looked at becomes “you”, the whole universe and beyond. It is as though “mind” becomes aware of the unfathomable depths of the “water” of “mind” and all so called phenomenal reality is penetrated and is realized as the vast “black/empty” void. I think an easy way to impart this sort of experience is to think of two mirrors looking into each other, there is an infinite regression into “blackness” or “emptiness.”

Meditation How: I find your response so compelling. I especially like the rabbit-hole image, along with the two mirrors facing each other, just like two people perhaps. I wonder, does this emptiness also feel absolutely full, perhaps of potential? If so, can this potential and fullness be felt?

Genjo: Yes and definitely.

Meditation How: Perfect. I have one more question. I wonder if you could share the contrast you experience if any, between time in meditation and those times when you are not in meditation. Perhaps some indication of how this may have changed over time. In short, the benefits that have carried over into other areas of your life such as relationships, work, etc.

Genjo: Slowly but surely all of life becomes the continuous mindfulness practice of being fully present to whatever activity one is engaged in. As I understand it, this is the point of more structured meditation such as zazen to be the foundation of a life of mindfulness and being present to the presence in all that we do.

Being “present to the presence” is being aware of the “absolute” or “emptiness” or “inconceivable” in everything and in all that we do. I see a progression of practice from chanting, to silence (zazen), to simple motion (kinhin) such as walking, running, Tai Chi…, to simple work (samu) such as sweeping, weeding, chopping vegetables…, to more complex behavior such as one’s work place, relationships and even politics.

Meditation How: I understand. Thank you for participating and sharing so much of your meditation practice.

Genjo: You’re welcome.

Zazen, Tai Chi, Kinhin Meditation - Being Present - Aware, MindfulAbout Genjo: Genjo Marinello Osho is the abbot of the Seattle Zen temple, Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji. He has been a Zen meditation practitioner since 1975, was ordained a monk in 1980, became a full priest (Osho) in 1990, and was named a Dharma Heir in his lineage in May of 2008. Read Genjo’s Extended Biography.

Stopping the Mind, Thoughts – Meditation, Paying Attention

—An Interview with Benjamin Dean, Part Four—
>>> Part One: First Meditation – Meditation Experience (Self, Identification)

Meditation How: What is your response to folks who may “desire” to wake up and yet, they feel that they don’t have the time or it is too late to devote 30 years to the process. Do you have a recommendation for another person who “thinks” they are ‘just beginning’ this process to awaken?

Benjamin: I have to offer another annoying quote here and that is “infinite patience produces immediate results”. There is some confusion about whose quote this is. I believe it was originally part of “A Course in Miracles”. There are also many Zen parables about the monk who is comfortable if it takes forever and the monk who is in a hurry. Of course the first monk awakens the following day. I also remember this actually coming out of someone’s mouth towards my wife and I at one point in our travels—the words (and I quote exactly) “I can’t afford to be generous”.

Before I earnestly began slowing the traffic of thoughts in my mind through meditation I believed that it was a black and white issue—that at some point in the future when I had completed the process I would experience the result. I was excited to discover that improvement occurs by degrees—the slower the traffic the greater the joy. I have a poem that I like and I believe it goes like this— “Time is for those who need something to happen”.

So people who don’t have the time to devote to meditation are basically choosing to chase after the carrot on the stick. They will never get the carrot and be miserable chasing it the entire time. My advice is to forget about the carrot. There is usually a deeper pain that has us chasing the carrot in the first place and when we drop the carrot all of the other more painful issues descend and must be dealt with and processed. Once some people see all of this they remember why they started chasing carrots and the attraction to vegetables begins again, usually spinach and cauliflower, LOL.

The advice I would give to those who believe they are just beginning is to realize deeply that there is nowhere to go. Krishnamurti insists that “self-knowledge is not cumulative” and I agree with him. Who wouldn’t? It’s not like you have a basket with a bunch of “you” in it and you are shopping for the rest of yourself. You never go anywhere. You can only be found now. You can only find yourself now— but only if you stop looking. Then the seeker and the sought can reconcile the whole problem together. Development and growth are biological only.

You NEVER change so stop looking for yourself in the future. The will is an interesting thing—motive—desire, etc. It is an imposed thing. When motive or desire is dropped then one becomes absolutely receptive. Motive can be dropped in any moment. Motive is synonymous with thinking. Mind and desire are one. Without these there is no longer any division and one is whole. Absolute receptivity is the same as being whole. Everything is yours. By giving up everything you become everything and so the way to get what you want is to stop wanting it. We stop wanting it by stopping the mind and its thoughts. Full unbridled awareness is what remains.

Meditation How: So, in my experience, I say: “Why meditate?” And in your experience, you say: “Why not?”

Benjamin: So, why meditate? The value in meditation in terms of sitting still is to begin where you must start… with self. Yes, you take yourself with you everywhere you go and as soon as you start walking motive kicks in almost automatically. I am interviewing a friend about walking meditation. It is really interesting to start paying attention to movement and the “why” of it. For me, sitting still allows healing to take place in my body. The clearing of chakras and the sometimes subtle bodily responses are not confused with other physical activity. Everything works. People have diverse needs. My path has had a lot of healing as part of it. This is an important benefit for me.

The clearing of chakras is the cleaning out or residual un-lived life and fears held in the energy centers. Depending on the level of fear or trauma experienced this can take some time. I want to add at the risk of making a gender-based faux pas, that walking around and being receptive is likely to feel more natural to women, whereas for men we immediately resume the hunt. Sitting still reminds us that we are not after anything… physical at least. Again, gender really is not the issue here as both sexes may be inclined to either.

Meditation How: Yes, I know this is not a gender faux pas, in the least. There is deep truth involved with the masculine/feminine energies… of which we all contain both. The collective conditioning with regards to the female form…is deep indeed… and therefore a woman will have a very different experience with this.

Stopping the Mind, Thoughts - Meditation, Paying AttentionAbout Benjamin: Benjamin lives in Northern Colorado. He has been meditating off and on for thirty years. He writes articles on meditation and natural healing as well as short form prose and poems. His blog on natural healing (from an esoteric and holistic perspective can be found at www.hownatureheals.com, and you can find his short zen poems at www.short-zen-poems.com.

Walking Meditation – Level of Awareness – Mindfulness Practice

—An Interview with Dennis Reffner, Part One—

Dennis Reffner is a good friend of mine here in Northern Colorado who practices walking meditation. Interestingly enough, he is a mail carrier here. In this two part meditation testimonial Dennis speaks about Walking Meditation, Levels of Awareness, Mindfulness, The Benefits of Meditation, and Developing Mindfulness.

Meditation How: What exactly is walking meditation?

Dennis: Usually, when we walk, we are focused on getting someplace, with very little attention to the actual walking. In walking meditation, we drop the intention to be anywhere other than where we are. Our intention is just to walk, with awareness… each step taken with mindfulness…with peace…with openness to the present moment. It is meditation combined with a simple activity, and it works very naturally.

Meditation How: It sounds as if you have some experience with it.

Dennis: I have practiced walking meditation for some time now. After college I moved to Hawaii to study and practice at the Diamond Sangha Zen Center, which is on Oahu. They used a 2 hour block of meditation, which was broken up like this: sit Zazen for 20 minutes, walking meditation for 10 minutes…repeat! The Zen center was in a big, old house up in Manoa Valley, and it often rained in the evenings…so it was just beautiful… to sit, and walk, and become quiet, the bells, and incense, and the gentle sound of rain…very peaceful.

Walking Meditation - Level of Awareness - Mindfulness - Conscious

Meditation How: It sounds peaceful. I get a clear image from your description. While you are in walking meditation, are you thinking?

Dennis: Thoughts do continue to rise up, and so you gently bring your attention back to the physical sensations of walking. The feel of your feet touching the floor— the movement of your legs, the sensation of breath moving in and out, the sound of a car going by.

Meditation How: I remember falling into this sort of thing during a daily walk I used to take. This was years ago. I did a little experiment where I tried to retrain myself to walk in the most efficient and simple manner. I believe I had read about Buddha walking very slowly and consciously. I had adopted it as a mindfulness practice. I remember the incredible visceral urge to get going faster or move out of such conscious walking– almost to avoid the level of awareness I was getting in touch with. Did you have similar experiences of “get me out of here—I’m growing conscious” or any other strong resistances?

Dennis: I have definitely felt that urge, although not so much with walking meditation. Usually when I’m late for work and the traffic won’t move! Then the anger wells up, and off we go! My walking meditation has mostly been in a structured environment. The great advantage, is when you know that for the next hour, you are not going to do anything else, well then, you can just relax and go with it. You can devote yourself!

Raising my level of awareness has almost always been an enjoyable experience, at least for me! Kind of like, Ah-ha! How wonderful! It’s when I lose my awareness, and sink back into my personal drama, that’s what feels narrow and restricted, but it’s also so familiar! It’s what delusion feels like to me. The wheels are just spinning away, and so much goes by unnoticed. And I can go on that way for quite some time!

Continue with Part Two:
Benefits of Meditation – Develop Mindfulness – Parasympathetic