Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

The cultivation of calm or tranquility and the development of concentration
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gavesako
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Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

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These are the five benefits for one who practices walking meditation. Which five?
[1] He can endure traveling by foot;
[Addhānakkhamo hoti]
[2] He can endure exertion;
[Padhānakkhamo hoti]
[3] He has little disease;
[Appābādho hoti].
[4] Whatever he has eaten & drunk, chewed & savored, becomes well-digested;
[Asitapītakhāyitasāyitaṃ sammā parināmaṃ gacchati].
[5] The concentration he wins while doing walking meditation lasts for a long time.
[Caṅkamādhigato samādhi ciraṭṭhitiko hoti].
These are the five rewards for one who practices walking meditation.
[Ime pañca caṅkame ānisaṃsāti.]
AN 5:29


สมาธิจากการเดิน (จงกรม) ย่อมตั้งอยู่นาน
ภิกษุ ท. ! อานิสงส์ในการเดิน (จงฺกม) ๕ อย่าง เหล่านี้ มีอยู่. ห้าอย่าง
อย่างไรเล่า ? ห้าอย่าง คือ เป็นผู้อดทนต่อการเดินทางไกล ๑, เป็นผู้อดทนต่อ
การกระทำความเพียร ๑, เป็นผู้มีอาพาธน้อย ๑, สิ่งที่กินแล้ว ดื่มแล้ว ลิ้มแล้ว
ย่อมถึงการย่อยด้วยดี ๑, สมาธิที่ได้ในขณะแห่งการเดิน ย่อมตั้งอยู่ได้นาน ๑.
ภิกษุ ท. ! อานิสงส์ในการเดิน ห้าอย่างเหล่านี้ แล.
- ปญฺจก. อํ. ๒๒/๓๑/๒๙.


"Are you nodding, Moggallana? / โมคคัลลานะ เธอง่วงหรือ ?
"But if by doing this you don't shake off your drowsiness, then — percipient of what lies in front & behind — set a distance to meditate walking back & forth, your senses inwardly immersed, your mind not straying outwards. It's possible that by doing this you will shake off your drowsiness.
ถ้ายังละไม่ได้ แต่นั้นเธอพึงอธิษฐานจงกรม กำหนดหมาย เดินกลับไปกลับมา สำรวมอินทรีย์ มีใจไม่คิดไปในภายนอก ข้อนี้จะเป็นเหตุให้เธอละความง่วงนั้นได้
โมคคัลลานะเธอพึงศึกษาอย่างนี้แล ฯ
Capalāyasi no tvaṃ moggallāna
No ce te evaṃ viharato taṃ middhaṃ pahīyetha, tato tvaṃ moggallāna, pacchāpuresaññi caṅkamaṃ adhiṭṭheyyāsi antogatehi indriyehi abahigatena mānasena. Ṭhānaṃ kho panetaṃ vijjati yaṃ te evaṃ viharato taṃ middhaṃ pahīyetha.
จปลายสิ โน ตฺวํ โมคฺคลฺลาน
ยนฺเต เอวํ วิหรโต ตํ มิทฺธํ ปหีเยถ โน เจ เต เอวํ วิหรโต ตํ มิทฺธํ ปหีเยถ ตโต ตฺวํ โมคฺคลฺลาน ปจฺฉาปุเรสญฺญี จงฺกมํ อธิฏฺฐเหยฺยาสิ อนฺโตคเตหิ อินฺทฺริเยหิ อพหิคเตน มานเสน ฐานํ โข ปเนตํ วิชฺชติ ฯ


Bhikkhu divasaṃ caṅkamena nisajjāya āvaraṇīyehi dhammehi cittaṃ parisodheti; rattiyā paṭhamaṃ yāmaṃ caṅkamena nisajjāya āvaraṇīyehi dhammehi cittaṃ parisodheti; rattiyā majjhimaṃ yāmaṃ dakkhiṇena passena sīhaseyyaṃ kappeti, pāde pādaṃ accādhāya, sato sampajāno uṭṭhāna·saññaṃ manasi karitvā; rattiyā pacchimaṃ yāmaṃ paccuṭṭhāya caṅkamena nisajjāya āvaraṇīyehi dhammehi cittaṃ parisodheti.

A bhikkhu, during the day, while walking up and down and while sitting, purifies his mind (citta) from obstructive mental states; during the first part of the night, while walking up and down and while sitting, he purifies his mind from obstructive mental states; during the middle part of the night, he lies down on the right side in the pose of the lion, having put one foot on the other foot, mindful (sato) and clearly aware (sampajāno), having fixed his mind on the perception of getting up; during the last part of the night, after having got up, while walking up and down and while sitting, he purifies his mind from obstructive mental states.

http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-con ... 9-piya.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Ajahn Chah on Walking Meditation

Question: When the mind isn't thinking much, but is in a sort of dark and dull state, is there something we should do to brighten it? Or should we just sit with it?

Ajahn Chah: Is this all the time or when you are sitting in meditation? What exactly is this darkness like? Is it a lack of wisdom?

Question: When I sit to meditate, I don't get drowsy, but my mind feels dark, sort of dense or opaque.

Ajahn Chah: So you would like to make your mind wise, right? Change your posture, and do a lot of walking meditation. That's one thing to do. You can walk for three hours at a time, until you're really tired.

Question: I do walking meditation a couple of hours a day, and I usually have a lot of thinking when I do it. But what really concerns me is this dark state when I sit. Should I just try to be aware of it and let go, or is there some means I should use to counter it?

Ajahn Chah: I think maybe your postures aren't balanced. When you walk, you have a lot of thinking. So you should do a lot of discursive contemplation; then the mind can retreat from thinking. It won't stick there. But never mind. For now, increase the time you spend on walking meditation. Focus on that. Then if the mind is wandering, pull it out and do some contemplation, such as, for example, investigation of the body. Have you ever done that continuously rather than as an occasional reflection? When you experience this dark state, do you suffer over it?

Question: I feel frustrated because of my state of mind. I'm not developing samādhi or wisdom.

Ajahn Chah: When you have this condition of mind the suffering comes about because of not knowing. There is doubt as to why the mind is like this. The important principle in meditation is that whatever occurs, don't be in doubt over it. Doubt only adds to the suffering. If the mind is bright and awake, don't doubt that. It's a condition of mind. If it's dark and dull, don't doubt about that. Just continue to practice diligently without getting caught up in reactions to that state. Taking note and being aware of your state of mind, don't have doubts about it. It is just what it is. When you entertain doubts and start grasping at it and giving it meaning, then it is dark.

As you practice, these states are things you encounter as you progress along. You needn't have doubts about them. Notice them with awareness and keep letting go. How about sleepiness? Is your sitting more sleepy or awake?

(No reply)

Maybe it's hard to recall if you've been sleepy! If this happens meditate with your eyes open. Don't close them. Instead, you can focus your gaze on one point, such as the light of a candle. Don't close your eyes! This is one way to remove the hindrance of drowsiness.

When you're sitting you can close your eyes from time to time and if the mind is clear, without drowsiness, you can then continue to sit with your eyes closed. If it's dull and sleepy, open your eyes and focus on the one point. It's similar to kasina meditation. Doing this, you can make the mind awake and tranquil. The sleepy mind isn't tranquil; it's obscured by hindrance and it's in darkness.

We should talk about sleep also. You can't simply go without sleep. That's the nature of the body. If you're meditating and you get unbearably, utterly sleepy, then let yourself sleep. This is one way to quell the hindrance when it's overwhelming you. Otherwise you practice along, keeping the eyes open if you have this tendency to get drowsy. Close your eyes after a while and check your state of mind. If it's clear, you can practice with eyes closed. Then after some time you take a rest. Some people are always fighting against sleep. They force themselves not to sleep, and the result is that when they sit they are always drifting off to sleep and falling over themselves, sitting in an unaware state.

http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Monastery_Confusion1.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When you're practising walking meditation (cankama), have a walking path, say from one tree to another, about 50 feet in length. Walking cankama is the same as sitting meditation. Focus your awareness: ''Now, I am going to put forth effort. With strong recollection and self-awareness I am going to pacify my mind.'' The object of concentration depends on the person. Find what suits you. Some people spread mettā to all sentient beings and then leading with their right foot, walk at a normal pace, using the mantra 'Buddho' in conjunction with the walking. Continually being aware of that object. If the mind becomes agitated then stop, calm the mind and then resume walking. Constantly self-aware. Aware at the beginning of the path, aware at every stage of the path, the beginning, the middle and the end. Make this knowing continuous.

This is a method, focussing on walking cankama. Walking cankama means walking to and fro. It's not easy. Some people see us walking up and down and think we're crazy. They don't realize that walking cankama gives rise to great wisdom. Walk to and fro. If you're tired then stand and still your mind. Focus on making the breathing comfortable. When it is reasonably comfortable then switch the attention to walking again.

https://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Just_Do_It_1_2.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"การเดินจงกรมนั้น คือการฝึกสมาธิในอิริยาบถเดินนั่นเอง เป็นอิริยาบถที่เหมาะเมื่อนั่งสมาธิพอสมควรแล้ว แต่ต้องการภาวนาต่อ ส่วนมากนักปฏิบัติมักจะสลับการนั่งสมาธิกับการเดินจงกรม อนึ่ง การเดินเป็นอุบายแก้ความง่วงเหงาหาวนอนที่ดี และเหมาะในเวลาฉันอาหารเสร็จใหม่ๆ หรือยามดึกดื่น พระพุทธองค์ทรงแสดงอานิสงค์ของการเดินจงกรมว่ามี ๕ อย่าง คือ ๑. อดทนต่อการเดินทางไกล ๒. อดทนต่อความเพียร ๓. มีอาพาธน้อย ๔. อาหารที่ฉัน ดื่ม เคี้ยว ลิ้มรสแล้ว ย่อมย่อยไปด้วยดี ๕ สมาธิที่ได้ในขณะเดินจงกรมย่อมตั้งอยู่ได้นา"....หลวงปู่ชา สุภทฺโท


Ajahn Jayasaro:

What is the purpose of walking meditation and how is it practiced?

Walking meditation provides both a supplement and an alternative to sitting meditation. Some meditators prefer it to sitting and may make it their main practice. Walking meditation is a particularly useful option when illness, tiredness or a full stomach make sitting meditation too difficult. Whereas in sitting meditation mindfulness is developed in stillness, in walking meditation it is developed in movement. Practicing walking meditation in combination with sitting thus helps the meditator to develop a flexible all-round awareness that can be more easily integrated into daily life than that which is developed by sitting meditation alone. As an added bonus, walking meditation is good exercise.

To practice walking meditation, a path of some 20-30 paces long is determined, with a mark placed at the mid-point. Meditators begin by standing at one end of the path with hands clasped in front of them. Then they begin walking along the path to its other end, where they stop briefly, before turning around and walking back to where they started. After another brief halt, they repeat this, walking back and forth along the path in this way for the duration of the walking meditation session. Meditators use the beginning, the end and the mid-point of the path as check-points to ensure that they have not become distracted. The speed at which meditators walk varies according to the style of meditation being practiced and to individual preference.

In the initial effort to transcend the five hindrances to meditation a variety of methods may be employed. One popular method, similar to that mentioned in the discussion of sitting meditation, is to use a two-syllable meditation word (mantra): right foot touching the ground mentally reciting the first syllable; left foot touching the ground, the second. Alternatively, awareness may be placed on the sensations in the soles of the feet as they touch the ground. As in sitting meditation, the intention is to use a meditation object as a means to foster enough mindfulness, alertness and effort to take the mind beyond the reach of the hindrances, in order to create the optimum conditions for the contemplation of the nature of body and mind.



Ajahn Anan:

Mindfulness can also be developed through walking meditation. We should walk with composure, the hands clasped lightly in front, right over left. The head should be neither raised too high nor hung too low. The eyes should be focused forward to an even distance and stray neither left nor right, neither behind nor too far ahead. While walking back and forth, we coordinate the movement of our feet with the mantra, 'Buddho'. As we step forward, leading with the right foot, we internally recite 'Bud -' and with the left foot, '- dho'.

Luang Pu Chah taught that while walking in meditation, we must be aware of the beginning, middle and end of the path. While reciting 'Bud -' with the right foot and '- dho' with the left, we should also fix our mindfulness on knowing our movements in relation to these three points along the path, that is, as we begin, as we pass the middle and a we reach the end. Upon reaching the end of the path, we stop and establish mindfulness anew before turning around and walking back reciting, 'Bud - dho', 'Bud - dho', 'Bud - dho' as before.

Focusing upon the activity of walking while pacing to-and-fro is called 'cankama' ([Thai] jong-grom) or 'walking meditation'. We can adjust our practice of walking meditation according to time and place. If space allows, we can establish a walking path twenty-five paces long. If there is less room than this, we can reduce the number of paces and walk more slowly. While practising walking meditation however, we should walk neither too fast nor too slow.

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books5/Ajahn ... amadhi.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Walking Meditation in the Thai Forest Tradition
By Ajahn Ñanadhammo

http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh464-p.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Luangta Maha Boowa:

The Method of Walking Cankama


The Venerable Acharn Mun who experienced Dhamma quite clearly in his heart practised in a consistent, even and elegant manner which can and should most certainly and wholeheartedly be called the “Middle Way of Practice” (Majjhima Patipada) of a Bhikkhu in this present age. But I did not describe the method of walking cankama which he used when I wrote his Biography. For I forgot to explain how he did it, whether he walked in any special direction or not, how long the path should be for walking cankama, and before starting to walk cankama, were there any preliminary practices which he used? Therefore we shall now make good this omission and explain all these things in this book so that those readers who are interested enough may take them as the basis of their practice in the future.
Truly speaking, Dhamma and Vinaya are the basic pattern of the “Middle Way of practice” for those who are interested enough to follow and practise them rightly and fully, and these are already available. Because of this, Venerable Acharn Mun used to set them up as the guiding pattern for what he did in a faultless manner, both in his ordinary activities and in the various forms of meditation practice which he used. But we will explain his method of walking cankama before any others. Firstly, the direction by the compass in which the cankama path is made and its length are as follows. Venerable Acharn Mun determined that the direction of the cankama path should be east–west, but it may vary from this between Northeast–southwest to Southeast–northwest, although it should be made within these limits and he always maintained this practice. The length of the path will depend on what is suitable. He did not give any fixed ruling on this and one must consider for oneself what is reasonable. Normally it should be about twenty paces long, although there is no fixed limit. He also said that it should not be less than ten paces long for those occasions when one cannot find any place longer and more suitable. Though generally speaking, a path of between twenty and thirty paces is most suitable. He made a special point of keeping to the limits of direction as mentioned above and always maintained this without deviating from it unless he had no other alternative, and he taught the Bhikkhus and Novices to practise in this way also.
Occasionally he would see a Bhikkhu walking cankama in the wrong direction and he would tell him off and teach him saying: “When I teach my followers, whether in the way of Dhamma or Vinaya, I always teach according to a regular pattern without deviating from it. Even in walking cankama, which is an aspect of Dhamma, there is a regular pattern of how it should be done which accords with Dhamma. When they walked cankama in the time of the Lord Buddha, did they specify in what direction they should walk, or not? I have found out that they specified three directions as I have often explained to you, and nobody should think that this is an insignificant thing, which you have no interest in practising and accepting. For this would show that you are only determined to train yourself in whatever interests you and everything else you will see as being insignificant — which is how it has been with you in the past — seeing nothing as significant! Being like this is a clear indication of the insignificance of yourself. For you came here originally with a full commitment to train yourself in the whole teaching. But when you leave this place you will be bound to take this view and habit of seeing everything as insignificant, along with you and to put it into practice. This will lead you to believe that there is nothing of any real significance within all those who practise the way of Dhamma — for even having come to stay with a Teacher, an Acariya who you respect with faith, you still don’t see any significance in his teaching and admonishment. This means that at some time you will be creating things that will lead on more and more to your own ruin.”
“It is just this thing, in those who come to follow my teaching, which makes me lack confidence in them and feel doubtful whether they will attain anything of ultimate truth (sara) to act as a firm foundation for their further practice in the future. All I can see is ‘insignificance’ everywhere in them! For the truth of the matter is that I have already investigated every aspect of the Dhamma which I give out to teach my followers. I have examined it and checked it over and over again until I am quite sure about it and I don’t teach things which occur to me on the spur of the moment without having considered them properly beforehand as though they just, so to speak, slip out of my mouth. But everything I teach has been thoroughly investigated right through from its gross and obvious, right up to its most subtle aspects.”
“In determining the directions which are appropriate for walking cankama, I have explained them many times to my followers until it has become tiresome both to the teacher and to those who listen. But why instead of accepting it as something to investigate and try out and prove by training yourself, do you stubbornly oppose it and then develop an attitude in which you are shameless in the face of your teacher and of the others who are living together here.”
“In regard to doing research into the various compass directions and their suitability for striving in Dhamma in various ways, I have done this for a long time and have known about it for a long time, so I feel competent to teach my followers with complete certainty. So, when I see them going against what I have taught I can’t help feeling disheartened and sorry and fearful that in the future I shall see nothing but falsehood everywhere in the monasteries and the Sasana throughout, including the Bhikkhus, Novices, Elders, Nuns and Buddhists generally, because self-will and doing these things the easy way will lead them into falsehood. It is not careful investigation and looking to see the ways of cause and effect that lead people into falsehood — for these things are what make the Sasana true and blameless. But those people who practise in ways that turn the Sasana into a tool of the kilesas which fill their hearts, is what brings blame on the Sasana. It is just this that makes me afraid, because I can see it with my own eyes — such as in this case here and in this sort of thing.”
I actually watched Venerable Acharn call this Bhikkhu to tell him off and teach him in this forceful manner, and I can never forget it. So when the situation is right I bring it out and tell others about it. It is in this way that Venerable Acharn Mun had his own particular way of walking cankama, a valid way based on his own researches as mentioned above.

The Direction for Walking Cankama As Defined by Venerable Acharn Mun

In deciding on the direction for setting the path for walking cankama, Venerable Acharn Mun decided to look into the way of the Aryan tradition at the time of the Lord Buddha. He found out that originally there was a standard way in which they did it, so from that time on he always followed that way. As to whether one should wear the civara (outer robe), he said that in walking cankama one may wear it, or not, depending on whatever is suitable and appropriate in the circumstances.
As for the direction in which one should site the path for walking cankama; the method of walking; wearing the civara, or not; or what one should do just before starting to walk while standing and pondering in one’s heart at the end of the cankama path; in all these things, Venerable Acharn Mun looked and found out how the Ariyan tradition was practised in all of its subtlety and he set himself to practise it in the same way from then on. Thus, in walking cankama he taught that one should walk parallel to the mean path which the sun takes throughout the day, or between the two limits from Northeast–southwest through east–west to Southeast–northwest. He said that the line of the mean path of the sun is the best way, followed by the two deviations from this line. But as far as going beyond these limits, or walking on a north–south line, he was never seen to do this, and quite apart from seeing what he himself did, I in fact heard him say that one should not walk in these directions. But I have completely forgotten why this is so.

The Method of Walking Cankama Bhavana.

The practice of walking back and forth which is called “walking cankama bhavana,” should be done, neither too fast nor too slow, but in a harmonious, seemly manner, which accords with the tradition of the Bhikkhus who were striving to attain Dhamma by the way of walking at the time of the Lord Buddha. This was one of the methods of making a change from the sitting posture, called “sitting bhavana.” A further change may be made by standing still, called “standing bhavana.” Finally, a still further change may be made lying down, called “siha seyyasana bhavana,” in which a resolve has been made to practise bhavana while lying down in the posture called “Siha Seyyasana” (The Lion–Posture).
Whichever of these methods are used, in striving to practise the way, the underlying purpose and intention is to clean out and wash away the kilesas in the same way and using the same methods in each of them without changing the “tools” — which means the Dhamma — that one has been using to do this job, and which suit one’s temperament.
Before walking cankama one should decide on how long or short a distance one will walk and from where to where. One may then have to get the path cleared and prepared, making it as long as one wants, before one can walk on it conveniently.
In walking cankama, one should, to start with, go to one end of the place, or the prepared path where one will walk, put one’s hands together and raise them to one’s forehead in puja. Then one should recollect the virtue of the Ti–Ratana — the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha — which one takes as the Sarana — the refuge which is firmly implanted in one’s heart. Then one should recollect the virtue of one’s Father and Mother, one’s Upajjhaya (Preceptor), one’s Teacher and all others who have been of value to oneself. Then one should reflect on the purpose of this practice which one is about to do, and how one should do it with determination to reach that purpose. After this one should put one’s hands down in front of one, the right hand over the left, just below the level of the navel — as in the images of the Buddha which depict him in contemplation — and then one should promote the Four Brahmaviharas. Having done this, one puts one’s eyes down in a modest manner, sets up mindfulness to be aware of the citta, and that Dhamma which one usually uses as a preparatory method (parikamma) to control the heart; or else one investigates the various Dhammas which one has been doing in other situations (such as sitting).
Then one starts walking back and forth between the points which one has decided as the end limits of the cankama path. Walking in a controlled manner and being mindful of that Dhamma or that thing which one is investigating, the whole time, and not letting one’s citta go away from this work which one is presently doing. One should not walk swinging one’s arms, nor with one’s arms behind one’s back, or folded across one’s chest, and one should not be looking about all over the place while walking — which is the way of someone who lacks self-control. In standing still while fixing one’s attention upon and pondering or investigating that Dhamma, there is no need to take up any special position on the cankama path and one may stop and stand wherever one wants to and for as long or short a time as one wishes. For it depends only upon the circumstances as to whether one should stop, or go on walking again. Because, pondering that Dhamma may be deep or shallow and gross or subtle in various different ways and one must be free to practise in whatever way is necessary until one has gained a clear understanding of it, after which one should go on walking as before. Sometimes it may be longer than one hour before one has become quite clear about it and can go on walking again.
When walking and keeping one’s attention on a parikamma, or investigating Dhamma, one should not count one’s steps — unless that is, one has taken up one’s walking process as the basis (arammana) of one’s practice, in which case one may count them if it helps.
Whatever form of practice one is doing, it is most important that mindfulness (sati) should be present continually with that practice. If mindfulness is lacking in whatever work one is doing, that work cannot be considered as striving in the way of Dhamma. Anyone who does the practice should have as much interest in being mindful as he does in the Dhamma which he is using as a parikamma. If mindfulness drops away, even though one may still be doing the parikamma bhavana which goes by habit, the resulting calm of heart which (one) intends to get, will not arise as one wants it to.
The length of time one spends in walking cankama one must determine for oneself and striving in the way of Dhamma may be done in any of the four postures — walking, standing, sitting or lying down — and one may find that any one of them is the most suitable for one’s own characteristics, for different people have different characteristics. Using these four postures at different times is not only for quelling the kilesas, but also to enable one to change one’s posture. Because, for the body-mind complex (dhatu–khandha) to be a useful “tool”, one must look after it. One way of doing this is to change its posture from time to time, and this keeps it fit and suitable for use in doing this work. For if one does not look after it in various ways, the body-mind complex can become an enemy to its owner — in other words it changes and alters in various ways until finally one cannot reach the intended purpose for which one is working.
The Dhutanga Bhikkhu considers the practice of walking cankama as being a duty which is truly a fundamental part of his life and generally he will walk an hour or more each time. After he has finished his meal in the morning he will start walking on his cankama path and finish about eleven or twelve o’clock, after which he will have a short rest. Between one and two o’clock in the afternoon he will again start walking cankama and go on until it is time to sweep the ground around where he is staying, and to have a wash. After this he will start walking again until seven or eight o’clock in the evening in the winter, but at other times he will go on until ten or eleven o’clock at night. Then he will return to his dwelling to practise samadhi bhavana.
This is typical, but however it may be, they are bound to walk cankama and sit in samadhi bhavana for long periods of time and to keep up this routine continually. Regardless of where they are staying, in whatever circumstances and in all seasons, they keep up their efforts to practise the way continually without letting it lapse. For to let it lapse would make them weak and let the kilesas rove about stirring up trouble and causing a lot of disturbance and vexation for their hearts; but instead, they keep on trying to chop up the kilesas in all situations. By practising in this way they see some results coming from their efforts; and as they go on, they continue to see results coming steadily all the time.
In the early stages, when the influence of the kilesas is still very strong, it is rather difficult and one is quite likely to be caught by them and made to give way and lie down and go to sleep without realising what is happening. By the time one has become conscious of oneself, the kilesas will have eaten up that which one has inside oneself until they are full. Then they are able to go on wandering all over the world through every continent before one drowsily wakes up and complains to oneself that one was carried away and dropped off to sleep for a few moments. “From now on I resolve to increase my efforts as hard as I can, but for today drowsiness and lethargy made me go wrong.” In truth it was just his kilesas that made him go wrong, and the next time, he will still not look and see what they are like, and he will be caught again. But he is not afraid of them! It is unpleasant and hurts, but he is not afraid of them! And this is how the kilesas beat him and whip him.

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books2/Acari ... actice.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"The walking meditation path is the way to heaven and Nibbana."
Luangta Maha Boowa Nyanasampanno

"เส้นทางเดินจงกรมนี้แหละคือทางไปสวรรค์ นิพพาน"
อาจารย์พระมหาบัว ญาณสัมปันโน

Luangta Maha Boowa walking meditation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3CgPAvMF2o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Walking meditation by Ajahn Jayasaro.jpg
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cankama wooden path.jpg
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Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)

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Thisperson
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by Thisperson »

Thanks Bhante!
:bow: :twothumbsup:
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gavesako
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by gavesako »

See also AN5.29 Caṅkamānisaṃsa : The benefits of walking meditation, by Piya Tan

https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/an ... a-tan/1831" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)

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Cormac Brown
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by Cormac Brown »

Hello Bhante,

What an inspiring photo of the Buddha's walking path.

I can't help feeling that if the direction one's path was facing were such a large issue, that there'd be some mention of it in the suttas. Perhaps that's just a sign of my obstinacy, however.

Interesting that the instructions for Anapanasati never include walking as a posture, always sitting - cross-legged and erect (note to self: must.stop.slouching), at that. I like walking, but find it a more difficult posture in which to settle my mind.
“I in the present who am a worthy one, rightly self-awakened, am a
teacher of action, a teacher of activity, a teacher of persistence. But the
worthless man Makkhali contradicts even me, (saying,) ‘There is no
action. There is no activity. There is no persistence.’ "
AN 3.138, trans. Ven. Thanissaro
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Dhammanando
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by Dhammanando »

Cormac Brown wrote:I can't help feeling that if the direction one's path was facing were such a large issue, that there'd be some mention of it in the suttas.
The instruction may have its source in Dhammapāla's ṭīkā to the Visuddhimagga. In commenting on Buddhaghosa's recommendation that a bhikkhu intent on meditation should reside in a place where the resort for almsfood is located to the north or the south, Dhammapāla explains that this is in order to avoid getting the sun in his eyes when walking to and from the village.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
Cormac Brown
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by Cormac Brown »

Dhammanando wrote: In commenting on Buddhaghosa's recommendation that a bhikkhu intent on meditation should reside in a place where the resort for almsfood is located to the north or the south, Dhammapāla explains that this is in order to avoid getting the sun in his eyes when walking to and from the village.
Thank you Bhante. But, by the same logic, wouldn't having an east-west facing cankama path then increase the likelihood of getting the sun in one's eyes? Nevertheless, the severity of the admonishment indicates the matter was of high importance to Ajaan Mun.
“I in the present who am a worthy one, rightly self-awakened, am a
teacher of action, a teacher of activity, a teacher of persistence. But the
worthless man Makkhali contradicts even me, (saying,) ‘There is no
action. There is no activity. There is no persistence.’ "
AN 3.138, trans. Ven. Thanissaro
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Dhammanando
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by Dhammanando »

Cormac Brown wrote:Thank you Bhante. But, by the same logic, wouldn't having an east-west facing cankama path then increase the likelihood of getting the sun in one's eyes? Nevertheless, the severity of the admonishment indicates the matter was of high importance to Ajaan Mun.
Yes, you're right – I didn't read the OP carefully enough.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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samseva
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by samseva »

Thank you, Bhante!

Also worth a bump. :smile:
iHappy
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by iHappy »

Thank you gavesako. It was a really good read.
DC2R
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Re: Walking meditation (cankama) in Thai forest tradition

Post by DC2R »

Great resource for walking meditation!
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