[pct-l] Walk like a Buddha

[Scott Williams]

Thanks for the link Fireweed.  That's a lot of what I do when it's quiet on
trail, that is unless one of those songs from childhood starts going round
and round in my head, or I'm having too much fun with the folks I'm walking
with.  Walking the ridge behind my house in the still of the morning is a
good time for walking meditation for me.

Yoshihiro, the YouTube is marvelous.  I am not a monk by any stretch of the
imagination, but walking 25 to 35 miles a day, day after day for months,
does have much in common with these monks, whose marathons of course are
much, much, more difficult than a mere 2,600 miles, but there are many
similarities, when you push to those extremes.  I studied with a Son
Buddhist Abbot in Korea many years ago when I was a soldier, and he took me
hiking into the mtns behind Seoul to a retreat center he had.  He was in his
late 60's but hiked my soldier ass into the ground.  He would chant Sutras
all afternoon, and all night long and then hike down just as fast as we had
gone up the day before.  He did this ever 2 weeks or so and told me it
"charged his batteries."  He slept very little normally, and not at all when
we hiked, and never stopped joking.  Wonderful sense of humor and
appreciation for everything around him.  He was a great calligrapher and
painter, and his paintings were always spotted about with funny little
creatures.  Wonderful balance.

Great YouTube for anyone who has not heard of these monks.

Thanks for the link.

Shroomer

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Mary Kwart <mkwart at gci.net> wrote:

> For those hikers who are so inclined, there is an interesting article on
> the Tricycle magazine website about walking meditation:
> www.tricycle.com/practice/walk-buddha. Not so far fetched--after all, the
> PCT is one of the premier spiritual pilgrimages available on the planet.
>
> "Your foot touches the earth mindfully, and you arrive firmly in the here
> and the now. And suddenly you are free—free from all projects, all worries,
> all expectations. You are fully present, fully alive, and you are touching
> the earth."
>
> Sound familiar??
>
> --Fireweed
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