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Walking Meditation: Discourse 7
On the 34th day of the autumn retreat, the monastic regulations are very strict: morning sitting meditation begins at 6 o’clock, and everyone must arrive at least 5 minutes early; once the door is closed, no one is allowed to enter, and those who are late are invited to practice walking meditation outdoors or go to the library. The orientation for newcomers, held on the afternoon of their arrival, includes the regulations, walking meditation, sitting meditation, and attending Dharma talks to help them integrate and practice correctly, avoiding incidents like this morning. The memorial ceremony for Ancestor Tang Hoi will be held on the 28th, in collaboration with the Tu Hieu and Plum Village sanghas; Tang Hoi was ordained at the age of 10, established the Luy Lau center, and then went to China to found Kien So temple, marking the beginning of Chinese Buddhism.
Walking meditation is a wonderful Dharma door that helps us “stop with each step,” not thinking about the future; each solid, leisurely step is a sign of happiness and supports our friends in the practice. Relaxing the body and calming the breath brings two main benefits: (1) ease and peace, allowing us to deeply touch the present moment; (2) creating the conditions for the body to heal itself. Currently, in the United States, more than 220 hospitals and care centers are applying this method in the spirit of Buddhism.
Regarding the teachings, the Bahuśrutīya school originated from the Mahāsāṃghika, emphasizing “hearing much – learning much,” and advocated five transcendent teachings: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, non-self, and the stillness of nirvana, opening the way to complete liberation. The most complete Three Dharma Seals are impermanence, non-self, and nirvana, in which nirvana is the ground of all phenomena (like waves relying on water). Suffering is not the nature of things, but arises from delusion and attachment; when we deeply penetrate impermanence and non-self, we touch nirvana right in the midst of birth and death.