 PEACE
IS EVERY STEP
We know that all things are impermanent, but do
we really live according to this insight? If we did, we would
surely treasure each moment, for we have no guarantees for the
next moment … One minute enjoying cycling in the
countryside, the next minute lying on the ground with the bicycle
on top of me. I hit a patch of soft sand, the front wheel ploughed
into it, causing a sudden stop, I flew off the bicycle and landed
(hard) on the road, unable to move. Luckily Maurice was with me,
and he fetched the car and helped me up. Next day I had my first
experience of being wheeled on a wheelchair for xrays at the
Knysna private hospital, feeling the sympathetic gazes of other
patients in the hospital. Luckily nothing was broken or fractured,
but I suffered from badly bruised knees, hip, shoulder, hand,
whiplash on my neck, and a sprained ligament in my groin - which
was why I couldn’t walk.
Walking is one of the
things I love most. It is one of the joys of living at the coast,
with such close proximity to the beach. My day is not the same
without a long walk on the beach, my four-legged children panting
and smiling at my side. Surrounded by the five s’s: sun, sand,
sea, sky, and space that stretches to the horizon, allows your
mind to expand beyond its small preoccupations and touch the
blueness of the sky, the white clouds, the distant mountains.
Every day I say: Thank you that I have legs and I can walk. Being
grateful for the simple things in life brings contentment, so I
try to remember them.
I realised how much I
take my body and its health and mobility for granted. But when you
are on crutches and can’t move around freely, you are reminded just
how precious this body is, and how wonderful are its mechanisms and
muscles that allow you to move so easily and effortlessly. One of my
teachers, THICH NHAT HANH always says: Be grateful for your
non-toothache! Usually we are only grateful for something when we
loose it, and then it is too late. We should practice being grateful
for and treasuring things while we have them. Every once in a while
it is good to get sick, or have an accident, for it reminds us how
blessed we are to enjoy good health. Health arises in dependence
upon the body, and happiness arises in dependence upon the mind.
During our May
Retreat: INTRODUCTION TO MEDITATION, we practiced sitting and
walking meditation. Most people love walking meditation, and find
it much easier than sitting meditation. Its positive effects are
experienced within a short period of time: enhanced concentration
and focus, a feeling of connectedness, centeredness, solidity and
groundedness. I am happy to report that I am walking again, slowly
and very mindfully, for the slightest little twist in my groin is
painful. Suffering can bring extra mindfulness! Please enjoy and
practice the below extracts from THICH NHAT HANH’s book
Touching the Earth: ‘walking in freedom’ and ‘mindful walking’:
WALKING MEDITATION
EXERCISE
Life is only possible in the present moment. In the past I have
discarded the present moment in my search for an illusory
happiness in the future. Now, thanks to the teaching of dwelling
happily in the present moment, I have begun to wake up. My mindful
breathing and walking bring me back to the present, and in this
moment I am able to experience the wonders of life, here and now.
From now on I shall practice so that every step I take will bring me
back to the present moment, to life, and to my true home. Whenever I
take a step I shall be aware of my breathing and the wonderful
contact between the sole of my foot and the surface of the Earth. I
shall not speak during walking meditation. While I am walking I
shall put all my heart into every step and nourish the happiness
that will refresh and heal my body and mind.
I want each of my steps to contain the energy of solidity and
freedom, bringing me back to the present moment. I vow that every
one of my steps will help me to be in touch deeply with life and the
wonders of life. I know that I am alive, I have two healthy feet,
and to walk as a free person on this planet Earth is a miracle. I
shall practice mindful walking everywhere I go, so that I can
express my love, respect and care for our precious Earth.
When I make steps with mindfulness, peace and joy, the Pure Land of
the Buddha manifests immediately; the Kingdom of God becomes
available right away. All the wonders of life are available in this
moment – the budding leaves, the pebbles, the streams, the sound of
the birds, the breeze, the ray of sunlight, the moon, the sparkling
stars in the midnight sky. Yet, because I have often been pushed and
pulled in many directions as I walk, I have not always been able to
touch these wonderful things of life.
I want to walk on this planet Earth as a free person. Around me are
people who do not walk as free people. They only know how to run.
They run into the future because they think that happiness cannot be
found in the present moment. They are walking on the Earth but their
minds are up in the clouds. They walk like sleepwalkers, without
awareness of where they are going. I also have the habit to lose my
peace and freedom as I walk.
In the past I had the habit of walking as if someone were chasing
me. I just wanted to arrive quickly and did not have stability and
inner freedom while walking. I shall organize my daily life so that
whenever I need to go somewhere on foot I shall walk mindfully,
whether the distance is near or far. In the forest, by the bank of a
river, or in the marketplace, I shall practice walking meditation,
so that I can produce and radiate the energy of ease, freedom,
stability, peace and joy wherever I go.
I want to walk as someone who is awake, peaceful and free. With
every step I take my feet will truly touch the Earth and I shall be
aware that I am walking on the ground of reality and not in a dream.
Walking like that, I am in touch with everything that is wonderful
and miraculous in the universe. I vow to walk in such a way that my
feet will impress on the Earth the seal of freedom and peace. I know
that steps taken like this have the capacity to heal my body and
mind as well as the planet Earth itself.
SAT CHIT ANAND namaste to you Buddha-to-be!
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