In the continuation of the last blog on How to Practice Walking Meditation in Vipassana, this blog post will give you an insight into the thinking & observation in walking meditation.
Thought Process During Walking Meditation
There are two types of “thinking or thought process running through your mind during walking meditation:”
- First, We know that we are thinking. Once we know that we are thinking, the thinking goes away. In this case, we do not have to stop walking.
- Secondly, We know that we are thinking but we are unable to stop thinking. In this case, we have to stop and say in our mind “thinking, thinking…” When we are aware of the thinking, it will go away. When the thinking goes away, we are aware again. Then we can bring our mind to the sole of the feet and start once again. Sometimes during a stretch of walking, the thinking can arise many times and you may have to stop many times.
Boredom is another thing that can happen to you. As we walk, we may start looking around. When we find ourselves looking around, we must say mentally “looking, looking.” When we find that we are not doing what we should be doing, we stand and bring the mind back to “standing, standing” and start all over.
Once we find ourselves losing mindfulness, we should stand and balance ourselves with mindfulness and start all over. At certain times, the mind tends to be very disturbed. Even when
we stop and mentally say “thinking, thinking…” the mind still thinks.
In this case, we have to resort to the fast walking “right, left, right, left…” keeping a continuous pace.
Observation in walking meditation
Once we get the feel of it and there is no more thinking, the mind follows a certain rhythm. When the mind follows a certain rhythm and pace of walking, it is easier to follow the processes. It is just like when we are dancing, we get into the rhythm of the dance.
We will find the mind following our walking at a certain pace—at a certain rhythm—comfortably, and if we keep at it, the awareness and the concentration will build up. Thus, there are three processes here:
- Arousing the awareness—we tell ourselves to relax and clear our mind; to be mindful of what is happening every time we think, whether the mind is dull, or wanders elsewhere. When we think, or when the mind is dull or wanders elsewhere, it means we are not mindful, so we need to bring back the awareness and stabilize ourselves.
- Once our mindfulness is aroused, we follow the object with awareness—the footsteps “right, left, right, left…” Unlike shooting a fixed target, this is more like shooting a moving object—like a video camera following movement.
- Once we can follow the object over a period of time, we come to the third phase of meditation—the actual phase of insight meditation—observation. If we cannot follow the object properly, the observation cannot be done very well. During this third phase of meditation, observation of the walking must be done at a much slower pace. Here, we are observing the sensations, eg, when we lift our hind foot, there is a feeling of a pulling force. How this is being experienced will depend on how clear and sharp our aim is at that process. At that point when our foot starts lifting, what is the sensation like? To give an example, if we are lifting our bag, how do we feel? When the muscles pull, we can feel the tension of lifting up. If the bag is not so heavy, we do not feel the tension; we just feel the lifting movement. We do not choose what to experience. We just direct our mind onto the object and allow our mind to pick up the experience. When we lift our leg, we mentally say “lifting, lifting” and we observe the lifting sensations. When we push, we mentally say “pushing, pushing” and we note the pushing sensation. The pushing sensation is like when we push our cart in the supermarket. How does the pushing feel like? Of course, it might feel a bit heavier after a meal, but if our mind feels light then the movement is faster and we feel only the pushing sensations.
When we step, we mentally say “stepping, stepping” and feel the stepping sensations. It is like putting our bag down again. How do we feel? There is a kind of relaxing sensation.
Therefore, as we put our foot down, touching the floor, we can feel the sensations of the sole again. We follow each step—the sequence or the series of processes of the sensations—happening from the calf to the sole. It is here that we begin to discover what is happening before the conceptualization takes place. It is the reality that is happening to us all.
