I recently booked a three week Buddhist meditation retreat
for my three week vacation for this year. It was a combination of one week of
teachings on Buddhist yogas and traditions, follow by one week of silent solo
meditation and finished with one week of group meditation sessions.
This would basically be the most hard-core meditation
experience for me so far. But I changed my mind and cancelled the reservation.
This post is about my recent discovery and the reason I changed my mind about
this retreat.
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| Enlightenment by immersion in nature and physical effort? |
How To Do It
On the recent weekends and also in the evenings after work,
I spend most of my time hiking. And I discovered it to be a joyful and effective practice, when combined with awareness of the senses. I tried to open
up my awareness and stay present to whatever arises. Feeling every step,
hearing every step, feeling the clothes on the body, hearing the birds,
becoming aware of what arises in sight, sound, smell and touch. All at the same
to time, as much of it as possible. This is a hardcore practice at first. In
the beginning it feels very unnatural and you will quickly lose focus. It feels
like to much to take in. And then comes a moment when your mind surrenders and
kind of cracks open. You stay aware, you let everything arise and pass away
without an afterthought. No distractions arise anymore and it becomes much easier to be present.
Somewhere in that (at first forceful) state of flowing with
the present moment lies a powerful mechanism. I do not know where this
mechanism works or how, but I seems to have to power to transform your whole
outlook on life, how you feel, your degree of appreciation and your compassion.
Sometimes you even reach moments of utter clarity and wisdom. Wisdom that everything
just is as it should be and a feeling of love penetrates your being. This might
sound already far out, but I was able to reach this state after only a few
hours of seriously practicing this.
I discovered I could remain in this state of mind for a long
time. As my body felt great from the fresh air and the natural surroundings, I
was also enjoying the practice a whole lot more than formal sitting meditation.
In a sense this practice is much harder and in another sense it becomes easier
because it is more enjoyable. It is harder because of the initially
overwhelming sensory input. This stage might last weeks and I just pushed
through it and opened up my awareness more and more. Concentrating on more
individual objects at every moment. Until it had to become an overarching
resting in awareness. You only get so far with focus. It is a delicate and
subtle difference, which is not easy to explain. But if you come to this point
you will notice how it feels.
On the other hand walking meditation is easier because it is
not so dull, boring and sometimes unpleasant. You do not fall asleep and your
body does not become this big obstacle to your practice. It does not limit you
in how deep you can go into the present moment.
Shortcut To Enlightenment
In Buddhist traditions, monks are known to practice walking
meditation. Sometimes up to 15 hours a day
of this practice are done. And different lineages of the Buddhist
teachings have different degrees of emphasis on this practice. There is even a practice
which might be translated with “the fast track to enlightenment” and it
involves hiking up and down a mountain for 1000 days. https://www.backpacker.com/skills/the-japanese-monk-who-hiked-a-mountain-1000-days-in-a-row
Those practices are certainly extreme, but enlightenment is
also the most extraordinary state a human being can attain.
My Plan
Considering that my working time is already spend mostly
sedentary in front of a computer, I was thinking that my free time is better
spent moving and again sitting for most of the day. In that way I can combine
physical exercise with my meditation practice.
I plan on hiking for one week at a time. The routes I have
chosen are mainly in quiet nature areas, away from roads and traffic. I take my
full camping equipment with me. This includes a camping hammock, an
air-mattress and a sleeping bag. My focus will be on staying in the present
moment with every action I do. Therefore I do not plan ahead the distance I
want to cover. It will basically be hiking from dawn till dusk. Only wild
camping will allow me to do this. Staying in hotels would limit the distances I
can cover in a day. I like to have the flexibility of shortening or lengthening
a hiking day.
Nutrition
There are also people who do fasted hiking. And as I am not
at my thinnest at the moment, I know I have a few extra pounds of fat I can
utilize and therefore I will not be concerned about food during the hike. I
will still buy food whenever I have chance along the trail, but I will not
intentionally take detours to buy food. I plan on eating mostly nuts (from the
store) and fruit (along the way). And my walking speed will most likely not be
super ambitious. The goal is awareness in the present moment, as mentioned. But
as I know myself, I enjoy pushing through steep inclines and exert myself
physically. And as I want to have the power to do this, I will eat according to
my energy levels.
This may sound extreme as well in the light of vacations
which are usually done with the intend of maximizing immediate pleasure. But
for me this is more pleasurable than any solo meditation retreat, which I would
do instead. And the overall goal here is not pleasure but increasing my
awareness and walking the spiritual path.
Start With A Few Sensations
In case you have not tried walking meditation, I recommend
you just try it out. Take a couple of hours where you can walk in nature exclusively
and concentrate fully on all the sensations during walking. It takes practice to
really surrender and until you can see the beauty of it. It also prepares you
for daily life, more than formal sitting meditation does. At first, adjust this practice to what feels comfortable. Pick a few sensations and concentrate on those. Add sensation after sensation and focus on them at the same time. Let this crack open your awareness until your mind fully surrenders to whatever arises.
I will post updates after my tour on how it went and what I
discovered.