Most of us know what it feels like to take off our shoes and socks and step onto grass or sand or pebbles.
The simple experience of direct contact with where we're standing.
We suddenly feel everything.
It's like waking up into a new clarity of awareness.
In the book of Exodus,
There is a famous teaching on the need to return to the present moment,
To know where we're standing and recognize that all creation is the radiance of the divine.
As Moses stands before the burning bush that is not consumed by the fire,
God says to him,
Take off your sandals,
For the place where you stand is holy ground.
Teachers of the early church understood this as a contemplative teaching.
That these sandals,
Made from the skins of dead animals,
Represent distractedness,
Inattentiveness,
And all that causes us to be mentally somewhere else.
Take off your sandals is a call to be liberated,
To come home to the present moment,
To each other,
To encounter the gift of our being.
The context of meditation is the fundamental relationship of our lives.
Our relationship with the God who ceaselessly sustains us and all creation in being.
Most of us have to take a crucial first step before we can begin to appreciate the full wonder of this fundamental relationship,
Or any relationship.
We have to come into a fuller relationship of peace and harmony with ourselves.
Walking meditation is a simple way to do this.
To enter the ever present ground of peace and harmony that restores us to ourselves and to each other.
A couple of days ago,
I took an early morning walk in a nearby park,
Practicing the walking meditation I'll describe in a few minutes.
Towards the end of the walk,
The path took me past a horse chestnut tree in full blossom.
It was so beautiful that I stopped to look at the light streaming through the leaves and illuminating the flowers.
Suddenly,
The flowers glowing in the early morning light appeared as if lit from within.
The teaching of the burning bush sounded in my mind and opened.
The burning bush wasn't consumed by the fire because the fire was the radiance of the divine life which shines within all of creation and each of us suddenly experienced.
It is the illusion that we are separate that is consumed in the silent fire of awakening.
In walking meditation,
We encounter the extraordinary gift of our being with each step.
First,
Spend a few minutes following your in breath and out breath to bring your attention back to the present moment.
When you're ready,
Begin to walk slowly,
Noticing each step.
Be aware of your feet touching the ground.
In walking meditation,
We want to know we're walking.
Bring your breathing into harmony with your steps,
Taking two or three steps with each in breath and two or three steps with each out breath.
Whatever is comfortable for you.
Allow yourself to become free of any regrets about the past,
From fears and anxieties about the future,
From concerns about the present.
If such thoughts arise,
Just let them pass through without engaging with them.
In meditation,
We lay down our life as it presents itself in our thoughts,
Confident that in doing so,
We will discover our life.
That little by little,
The deepest aspect of ourselves will disclose itself,
Like a spring gently pushing its way into our life,
Permeating it,
Soaking it.
As you continue walking,
Relax and open your awareness to allow sounds and sense and sensations to flow through you.
Let yourself embrace the total sensation of walking.
Whether you walk or move in this way for half an hour or just a few minutes,
Practice being fully present to what is here.
Enjoy the movement of the sky,
The sight of a beautiful tree,
The presence of whoever is near you.
Feel what a miracle it is to simply be walking on earth.
And when you've ended,
Spend some moments feeling grateful for your life.
Each step,
Each moment is a gateway to peace,
To harmony,
To union.
