Long range kinhin

 "Intimate with the essence and intimate with the path, one embraces the territory and embraces the road." -- Jewel Mirror Samadhi 

We mentioned earlier that kora in Tibetan means both circumambulation and pilgrimage. Kinhin offers relief to bodies that have been practicing zazen. Our Soto kinhin, as practiced inside zendos, is generally a short circumambulation and may be regarded as a very short pilgrimage. 

Some Tendai monks engage in a practice of performing a nineteen-mile circumambulation of Mount Hiei, visiting 260 sites, for, in the extreme instance, up to one thousand days, to be completed within seven years. "Part of Tendai Buddhism's teaching is that enlightenment can be attained in the current life. It is through the process of selfless service and devotion that this can be achieved, and the kaihōgyō is seen as the ultimate expression of this desire." -- Wikipedia

Famously, some pilgrims walk clockwise around the entire island of Shikoku, a circumambulation of some twelve hundred kilometers. "The Shikoku Pilgrimage or Shikoku Junrei (四国巡礼) is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai on the island of Shikoku, Japan." -- Wikipedia

 These can be explicitly secular, even if one chants sutras and wears the clothing: "Five young men from around Japan, once withdrawn from society - a phenomenon known as hikikomori - embark on a 1,200-kilometer pilgrimage around the island of Shikoku, on a journey of self-discovery." -- NHK 

And yet the effects are often similar to what one might expect from religious pilgrimage. Many travelers, tourists and long distance hikers talk about how the journey changed their lives. The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) is noted for this: "Pilgrims follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hikers, cyclists, and organized tour groups."

I have noticed the effects of secular long-distance hiking along trails or roads not associated with religious observances can be at least self-revelatory and uplifting. The psychological effects are similar to those sometimes reported by those who have crossed oceans, or circled the world, on small boats, or those who have climbed mountains. I sometimes think there is little difference between such experiences and spiritual awakenings. To move is to seek dharmas; on a sliding scale, this segues into seeking Dharma.

It is on the strength of such findings that shinrin-yoku has become an accepted form of therapy. "Not only is "forest bathing" a magical way to explore nature, decades of research has shown that it's good for your health. It can boost your immune system, lower blood pressure and help with depression. It can also reduce the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline and turn down the dial on your body's fight-or-flight response." -- NPR

My doctor has told me to resume long walks, within my current constraints, as not walking much is a risk factor. At the same time, I'm involved in a sangha's Ango, or 90 day retreat, during which my long walks can be regarded as a form of meditation -- in effect, a kora pilgrimage. The two can be combined by means of intentionality.

From one end of my street to the other is 0.3 mile. If I cross at each end and come back to the house, it is 0.6 mile. This is a circumambulation. Namu Shakyamuni Butsu.

It's a start. Loooong range kinhin!

-- shonin

Pretty good stuff

Ling Xingpo visited Master Fubei Heshang to pay her respects. They sat together and drank tea, and she asked him, “If a true word can’t be spoken no matter how hard you try, how will you teach?”
Fubei said, “Fubei has nothing to say.”
Ling was not satisfied. She placed her hands inside the opposite sleeves of her robe and cried out: “There is grievous suffering even within a blue sky!”
Again Fubei had nothing to say.
Ling said, “To be a human being is to live in calamity.” -- Hidden Lamp, page 260 

The assertion that true Dharma cannot be conveyed by words goes way back. 

"After old man Shakyamuni had attained the Path in the land of Magadha, he spent three weeks contemplating this matter: "The nature of all things being quiescent extinc­tion cannot be conveyed by words; I would rather not preach the Dharma, but quickly enter nirvana." When he got to this point, even Shakyamuni couldn't find any way to open his mouth. But by virtue of his power of skill in technique, after he had preached to the five mendicants, he went to three hundred and sixty assemblies and expounded the teachings for his age. All these were just expedients. For this reason he had taken off his bejewelled regal garments and put on rough dirty clothing. He could not but turn towards the shallows within the gate of the secondary meaning in order to lead in his various disciples. If we had him face upwards and bring it all up at once, there would hardly be anyone in the whole world (who could under­stand)." -- The Blue Cliff Record, tr. T. Cleary and J. C. Cleary

Changqing once said, “I would rather say that arhats have three types of poison than say that the Tathāgata [Śākyamuni Buddha] has two kinds of expression. It’s not that the Tathāgata has no expression. It is just that he does not have two kinds of expression.”
Baofu Congzhan asked, “What is the Tathāgata’s expression?” Changqing asked, “How can a deaf person hear it?”
Baofu said, “I knew you were speaking on a secondary level.” Changqing said, “Then what is the Tathāgata’s expression?” Baofu said, “Have a cup of tea.” -- Shingi Shobogenzo

"Whenever Chao Chou saw a monk, right away he would say, "Have you ever been here?" Whether the monk said he had or he hadn't, Chou would always say, "Go drink some tea." The temple overseer asked, "The teacher always asks monks if they've been here or not, then always says, 'Go drink some tea.' What is the meaning?" Chou said, "Overseer!" When the over­ seer responded, Chou said, "Go drink some tea."" -- The Blue Cliff Record, tr. T. Cleary and J. C. Cleary

In some depictions of Manjushri, such as here from the Dunhuang Caves, he has 1000 arms and hands, each one holding a begging bowl, and he is said to be offering Buddha/Dharma to us, the Sangha, from each bowl. Us is everyone; we are all the Sangha either in the past, the present, or the future. It is said that the offer is good until we accept it, though we resist for kalpas. 

Wu Cho, a traveling monk, visits Diamond Cave on Five Peak Mountain and meets an old man there who offers him tea. The old man drinks from a crystal bowl. He shows the bowl to Wu Cho and asks, "Do they have these where you came from?" "No." "What!? How do they drink tea then?" Later, Wu Cho realizes he has been drinking tea with Manjusri. (Blue Cliff Record)

Yunyan was boiling some tea. Daowu asked who he was making it for. Yunyan answered, "nobody special."
-- Soto Zen Ancestors in China, Mitchell, 72.

Chongxin of Mount Longtan was making rice cakes for a living. When he met Tianhuang, he bowed and left his household.
Tianhuang said, “Be my attendant. From now on I will teach you the essential dharma gate.”
After one year passed Longtan said, “When I arrived, you said that you would teach me the essential dharma gate. I haven’t received any of your instruction yet.”
Tianhuang said, “I have been teaching you for a long time.”
Longtan said, “What have you been teaching me?”
Tianhuang said, “When you greet me, I join my palms. When I sit, you stand beside
me. When you bring tea, I receive it from you.”
Longtan was silent for a while.
Tianhuang said, “When you see it, you just see it. When you think about it, you miss
it.” Longtan then had great enlightenment. -- Shingi Shobogenzo

There is no getting out of the calamity. But Fubei's tea is probably pretty good stuff.

-- shonin 

Walking Meditation

"A monk, in going forward and back, applies clear comprehension; in looking straight on and looking away, he applies clear comprehension; in bending and in stretching, he applies clear comprehension; in wearing robes and carrying the bowl, he applies clear comprehension; in eating, drinking, chewing and savoring, he applies clear comprehension; in walking, in standing, in sitting, in falling asleep, in waking, in speaking and in keeping silence, he applies clear comprehension." 
-- Satipatthana Sutta

Theravada: cankama

Straight line 15 to 50 or so paces. Hands clasped in front. Turn and walk back. Awareness of feet as they reach the ground.

"The Buddha stressed developing mindfulness in the four main postures of the body: standing, sitting, lying down and walking. If you read about the lives of the monks and nuns at the time of the Buddha, you will see that many obtained the stages of Enlightenment while on the walking meditation path. In the Forest Meditation Tradition in Northeast Thailand, there is a great emphasis on walking meditation. Many monks will walk for long hours as a way of developing concentration sometimes as much as ten or fifteen hours a day.  The Buddha spoke of five benefits of walking meditation. In the order that he listed them in this Sutta, they are as follows: It develops endurance for walking long distances; it is good for striving; it is healthy; it is good for the digestion after a meal, and the concentration won from walking meditation lasts a long time." 

--Ajahn Nyanadhammo

Mahayana in East Asia

Circumambulation, called kora and synonymous with pilgrimage in Tibetan Buddhism, is done clockwise around holy sites, or straight ahead when in transit, as seen throughout Mahayana Buddhism. 

In China and Korea this is generally faster than Japan and gets the blood flowing after a cold sit. Swing the arms. "Fast walking meditation, also known as pao-xiang (跑香) in Chinese, is a practice method unique to the Chinese Chan tradition, which is not taught in other traditions such as Theravada, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. In this method, practitioners walk quickly in clockwise direction around a circle, starting with a normal speed, and then gradually speeding up. This approach requires practitioners to remain mindful of nothing but the idea of walking fast. Doing so helps us get rid of wandering thoughts and dispel our bodily and mental attachments. During the walking sessions of a group retreat, both older practitioners and those who have difficulty walking quickly can walk in the inner circle, while others walk in the outer circle." -- Dharma Drum

  

In Korea yeonghyaeng is like in China but typically takes place outside, for example in a courtyard. 

Or, as also in China (shown below), there may be walking in a straight line; for example along the road leading to the temple.

This shades over into pindapata (takuhatsu) and pilgrimages.

In Vietnam, it is kinh hành. As in China and Korea, or, Plum Village style: just walk mindfully, a little more swing than hiking. "Walking meditation unites our body and our mind. We combine our breathing with our steps. When we breathe in, we may take two or three steps. When we breathe out, we may take three, four, or five steps. We pay attention to what is comfortable for our body." 

 

This, when undertaken less formally, can be like what is called forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku), a secular health practice originating in Japan.

Kinhin (Soto)

Dogen, Bendoho: "Do not let the feet get ahead and the body behind. Move body and feet together. Look directly ahead at the ground one fathom ahead. The measure of the pace is equal to the instep of the foot. Be as though standing in one place, as though not moving forward. It is splendid to move slowly, walking in magnificent ease and quiet. Do not make noise with your slippers and rudely distract the assembly. When you are walking, clasp both hands together, putting them inside the sleeves. Do not let the sleeves dangle down to the right and left near your feet."

Menzan adapts it thus for Kinhin in his Kinhinki: 

"Clasp both hands in front of the chest, putting them inside the sleeves, and not letting the sleeves fall down near the feet to the right and left. Look directly one fathom ahead (about six or seven feet). When walking properly, use the breath as measure: a half step is taken in the time of one breath. The measure of the pace is equal to the instep of the foot. Do not let the feet get ahead and the body behind. Move body and feet together. Do not look around right and left or gaze up and down. Do not move your chest and shoulders. Do not make noise by dragging your slippers. Be as though standing in one place, as though not moving forward. It is splendid to move slowly, walking in magnificent ease and quiet."

Shashu (sotozen.net)

"Step out with your right foot. When you do kinhin, start to do it right away. Keep an equal distance between you and the people behind and in front of you. At the end of kinhin the bell is rung once. Stop and bow in shashu. Then walk at a normal pace following the person in front of you. Walk around the hall until you return to your seat." 

I came across some discussion of hand position. Sawaki lineage and some others notably in Rinzai, use isshu, which is similar to the hand position of a gesture of fealty in Imperial China.

"Fold your left thumb into your left palm and curl your fingers over it to make a fist.  Cover your left hand with your right and hold your hands in front of you against the body, with forearms parallel to the floor."

Disability in Kinhin: do what you do as way opens. Some remain seated or lying down, in shashu. Some stand in place in shashu or do bows from the waist. If sitting, can you bend your ankles? Experiment. Everything that happens in Dharma began as experiments. Those who cannot walk have already arrived with the first step. Gratitude crosses all space and time.

   -- shonin