When you walk mindfully, every step puts you in touch with many wonders of life. And the Pure Land of Amitābha Buddha is available to you right here and right now. Many people believe that the Pure Land is not here, it is in the direction of the West, together with Amitābha Buddha. That is only the teaching given to beginners in the practice.

If you have practiced Pure Land Buddhism long enough, you realize that Amitābha Buddha is your own true nature. And the Pure Land is in your heart. And walking meditation makes the Pure Land available at every step. If you breathe in mindfully and make a step mindfully, you can already enter the Pure Land of Amitābha Buddha.

You don't have to die in order to go there. It may be too late. So this practice allows us to enjoy the Pure Land in the here and the now. Every day we shall have a session of walking meditation together. And if you can arrive in the here and the now with every step, together we will generate a very powerful energy of mindfulness and peace and joy.

That powerful energy that is healing and nourishing can only be generated by the practice. It cannot be bought in the supermarket. When you walk with the Sangha, you allow yourself to be embraced by the community of practice and transported by it, so you don't have to make any effort at all. You don't suffer while practicing walking meditation. In fact, you enjoy every step you make.

I remember a young Catholic journalist who came from Paris to visit our nuns in Plum Village. She wanted to write an article on the practice of mindfulness. The Bhikshunis invited her to stay for a week. She liked it so much, so she stayed two weeks.

And when she went back to Paris, she wrote a very beautiful article on the practice of mindfulness. And she called Plum Village “The country of the present moment.” She said in the article that the first walking meditation session, she did not succeed in the first fifteen minutes. The abbess of Plum Village had given her, in French, instructions as how to enjoy mindful walking.

[long pause.]

She said in the article that she understood perfectly the teaching, but when she began the practice, her mind refused and did not want to join her feet. And she observed the nuns, and fifteen minutes later, her mind agreed to join her feet. And she was able to enjoy already the practice of walking meditation even in the first session of practice.

So dear friends, in the first few minutes, you might feel it a little bit strange walking like that. But if you allow the community of practice to transport you, and then in a few minutes, you'll be able to join in and enjoy every step you make. It's very nourishing; it's very healing.