Walking Meditation is a lighthearted, refreshing read, full of easy-to-use practices, relatable advice, and down-to-earth observations about the challenges of living as a twenty-first century human being. Japanese Buddhist priest Shionuma Ryojun’s (b. 1968) inspiration for writing Walking Meditation was born of a grinding monastic regimen undertaken deep in an alpine wilderness, but this is actually a book that speaks directly to readers living normal lives in the modern world. To address these challenges, Walking Meditation offers a “step by step” guide to integrating walking meditation into daily life, while also offering poignant tips for cultivating practical wisdom, harmonious relationships, and abiding inner peace.
Shionuma Ryojun rose to prominence after completing the “Omine Sennichi Kaihōgyō” in 1999. The Omine Sennichi Kaihōgyō is a 1,000-day circumambulatory hike atop Mt. Omine, a mountain with an elevation of 1,719 meters in Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. Initiated in the seventh century by a Buddhist priest in the Tendai sect named En-no-Gyoja, this ascetic tradition is so grueling that Shionuma had to walk 48 kilometers and endure elevation changes of 1,200 meters during each circuit. The circumambulation’s strictures required Shionuma to stop to recite the Heart Sutra at 118 stations each day, and also stipulate that the years-long ritual cannot be interrupted even to recover from illness or injury. Those who break their commitments to the Kaihōgyō are expected to commit ritual suicide on the spot, using either the rope or knife that must be carried at all times for precisely this purpose.
While walking the Kaihōgyō, Shionuma began his daily peregrinations at 12:30am, following a routine that allowed him only four and a half hours of sleep per day. This gargantuan undertaking took him to the brink of death, as he experienced such grave malnutrition that he lost his fingernails and toenails, as well as a bout of influenza that caused him to lose consciousness on the trail and nearly abandon his goal, as well as his life. Shionuma experienced remarkable tribulations throughout his spiritual quest, including vivid hallucinations of hellish and heavenly beings, before gradually arriving at a pristine perception of reality. Upon completing the Kaihōgyō, he then undertook a nine-day, sleepless and waterless fast, called the “Four Nothings,” or Shimugyo in Japanese. These accomplishments earned him the title of Dai Ajari (a term derived from the Sanskrit acharya, meaning “senior teacher”) and made him an internationally sought-after Buddhist teacher.
Writing in a friendly, conversational tone, Shionuma introduces a form of walking meditation—or “walking Zen”—that can be easily integrated into almost anybody’s daily routine. Walking meditation’s three central pillars are “Walking with Remorse,” “Walking with Gratitude,” and “Sitting in Meditation, Facing Ourselves, Right This Moment.” The first two steps can easily be combined with one’s daily commute to and from work, or with an early morning or evening constitutional. Eschewing complicated terminology, Shionuma uses simple terms to explain how these exercises use of the rhythms of a daily stroll to calm our minds and help us recognize that we have all harmed other beings, as well as been helped by them. This observation is far from negativistic, and Shionuma teaches us how, by quietly reflecting upon our debts as we walk, we can generate life-changing feelings of positivity, gratitude, and responsibility. The final step, performed seated, does not require marathon sessions of cross-legged sitting. Rather, it is a way of concluding sessions of moving meditation with brief intervals of physical and mental stillness, in which we simply look upon who we are in the present moment.
Readers of Walking Meditation will be struck by the book’s crisp and unadorned style. It is no wonder that Shionuma Ryojun mentions “danshari,” which became an international sensation after the publication of Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing in 2014. Although Shionuma does mention the mental benefits of actual tidying, his approach to danshari comes with a Buddhist twist—he focuses on how we can use its ethos to clear the clutter from our minds, our relationships, and our lifestyles. Fully aware that no life comes without its frustrations and setbacks, Shionuma devotes much of Walking Meditation to sharing tips on how to face life challenges both big and small. The “mental exercises” he offers can all be integrated with the practice of walking meditation. They help readers to break the habit of reacting to annoyances in excessively complicated ways, when in fact simple, positive reactions (such as offering “one smile a day” to ones nemesis) are often enough to turn over a new leaf in a relationship.
Finally, Walking Meditation is not meant to be enjoyed by Buddhist readers alone. Shionuma Ryojun carefully explains that the practices contained in this book do not require any specific religious beliefs, but that they do help generate two things that all religions are based on: wisdom and compassion. Additionally, while walking meditation is something that can be done in the middle of any metropolis, Shionuma emphasizes the benefits of doing this practice in nature whenever possible. Outdoor enthusiasts will be pleased to find that this book’s teachings give them a new way to connect to the natural world, much as the author did each day that he walked the Kaihōgyō deep in the mountains of Japan.
