BOOK REVIEW: Walking Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh & Nguyen Anh-Huong

Posted on March 11, 2022 by B Gourley

Walking Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

This brief guide to walking meditation lays out a basic practice linking breath and stride, and then explores such topics as: how to apply the practice to varied environments, coping with emotion through [and during] walking, the social dimension of walking meditation, and a few thoughts on applying the practice to jogging. The book is nominally attributed to the beloved Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk who recently passed (i.e. January 2022,) Thich Nhat Hanh, but it seems the bulk of the book was written by the co-author (Nguyen Anh-Huong.) That said, it’s a clearer distribution of labor than usual for mega-guru books; not only does the author get a co-author credit but the words of Thich Nhat Hanh are presented as textboxes with bylines.

The book is less than a hundred pages of text, but the edition I have came with a CD and DVD (if anyone still has a player for these antiquated technologies. If you’re paying full price, I’d make sure you have some means to play the CD and DVD. I obtained a used copy at a low price, so it wasn’t a concern.) The book’s brevity has both pros and cons. On the pro side, it keeps things simple. The practice is a straightforward one of linking one’s breath to one’s stride, and there’s no tedious elaborations or variations with which to contend. On the con side, if one is looking for insight into improving alignment or biomechanics of walking, that’s not covered in this book. That is probably for the best, because it’s hard to avoid overthinking the practice if one is given extensive directions on stride and the like. This isn’t so much a criticism as an attempt to temper expectations for those who may feel they would benefit from some sort of anatomical or biomechanical insights on walking or physiological insights about the breath.

If you’re looking for a quick and straightforward guide to practicing walking meditation, give it a read.

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Deep Trail [Haiku]

Posted on March 5, 2022 by B Gourley

the early trail
is bare and well-defined; 
the deep trail hides

Walking Alone IV [Haiku]

Posted on October 11, 2021 by B Gourley

the sage's staff
swings like a pendulum
in a clockwork walk

Walking [Common Meter]

Posted on August 9, 2021 by B Gourley

The columns of the forest lift
the vaulted canopy.
I walk down below on the trail
that parts understory.

Each step through the loam brings me home
to barefoot days of yore.
When I thought nothing of placing
skin to the forest floor --

while letting the woods become me
as I grew into it;
I would yield my identity.
To nature, I'd submit.

And in a walk, I did become
everything and nothing,
falling into a peace at once
humbling and stunning.

POEM: The Walk

Posted on January 20, 2018 by B Gourley

destinationless pilgrimage
no step more sacred than the last

spiraling into midnight

sore feet = shoes abandoned
every step one slides a mile inside

DAILY PHOTO: David Scott Trail, Meghalaya

Posted on May 7, 2017 by B Gourley

Taken on April 17, 2017 on the David Scott Trail

This was the view were we came off the trail near Lad-Mawphlang

I’m back after three weeks traveling about the Indian Northeast, i.e. the states of Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur. And I’ve got a pile of pics.

The David Scott Trail is a hiking trail that was built as a carriage trail from Burma into India at the behest of the British colonial leader whose name it bears. Since it was made for traffic by animal-drawn carriages, it makes for easy hiking. It’s a scenic trail. It should be noted that (like most trails in India) it isn’t well-marked, however, the fact that it is wider than most trails and has old paving stones along much of the route makes it fairly easy to avoid getting lost.

We hiked only the section from Mawphlang to Lad-Maphlang. It’s an easy day hike.