Walk As If You Are Kissing The Earth

Walking Meditation

"Walking meditation can be very enjoyable. We walk slowly, alone or with friends, if possible in some beautiful place. Walking meditation is really to enjoy the walking - walking not in order to arrive, but just to walk. The purpose is to be in the present moment and, aware of our breathing and our walking, to enjoy each step. Therefore we have to shake off all worries and anxieties, not thinking of the future, not thinking of the past, just enjoying the present moment. We can take the hand of a child as we do it. We walk, we make steps as if we are the happiest person on Earth.

Although we walk all the time, our walking is usually more like running. When we walk like that, we print anxiety and sorrow on the Earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the Earth. We can all do this, provided that we want it very much. Any child can do it. If we can take one step like this, we can take two, three, four, and five. When we are able to take one step peacefully and happily, we are working for the cause of peace and happiness for the whole of humankind. Walking meditation is a wonderful practice.

When we do walking meditation outside, we walk a little slower than our normal pace, and we coordinate our breathing with our steps. For example, we take three steps with each in-breath and three steps with each out-breath. So we can say, "In, in, in. Out, out, out." "In" is to help us identify the in-breath. Every time we call something by its name, we make it more real, like saying the name of a friend.

If your lungs want four steps instead of three, please give them four steps. If they want only two steps, give them two. The lengths of your in-breath and out-breath do not have to be the same. For example, you can take three steps with each inhalation and four with each exhalation. If you feel happy, peaceful, and joyful while you are walking, you are practicing correctly.

Be aware of the contact between your feet and the Earth. Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. We have caused a lot of damage to the Earth. Now it is time for us to take good care of her. We bring peace and calm to the surface of the Earth and share the lesson of love. We walk in that spirit. From time to time, when we see something beautiful, we may want to stop and look at it - a tree, a flower, some children playing. As we look, we continue to follow our breathing, lest we lose the beautiful flower and get caught up in our thoughts. When we want to resume walking, we just start again. Each step we take will create a cool breeze, refreshing our body and mind. Every step makes a flower bloom under our feet. We can do it only if we do not think of the future or the past, if we know that life can only be found in the present moment."

Thich Nhat Hanh, from Peace Is Every Step

Presence

April 15th

There is nothing wrong in the present, and that is where we should live. The present may not be pretty, with things that make us hurt or experience anguish, but if we stay present with it, we can learn to depend more fully on Love, or God. The hurt of the present is not as bad as the hurt of the past and of the future, which are often illusions that our mind comes up with. We often have an unrealistic view of the past, or hold onto the hurt too long, and our worries of the future are often unfounded; really there is no way to tell as we haven't experienced the future yet. It's just our job to be here now, where we can see and hear and touch afresh, and rely on Love to get us through. Love is gentle, love is kind. As we are present, so we can be present to people around us, patiently listening to them as we sit with them, rather than daydreaming about what we will have for dinner or what movie we'll watch later that night. The greatest gift we can give to another is our presence, so said Thich Nhat Hanh. Learning to be present may mean weaning ourselves off of things that distract us, whether it be alcohol, iPods, cellphones, or maybe not. The goal though, is to be present, right here, right now.

Stream of Consciousness

Decaf coffee can be really good; this is quite shocking to me. I'm enjoying one at the Huether at the moment, after having breakfast and a Javanilla (caffeinated) coffee. It is one of those days outside where you're not sure whether to put up your umbrella or not. Barely spitting out. So do you allow yourself to be spat upon slightly, or do you look like a wuss and put up the umbrella? Not that it really matters what other people think, does it?

I just had a stretch of 5 days off and had a good time. Last Friday I sang 2 jazz standards at my church (I've Got Rhythm and Embraceable You.) That went very well, and I had 4 friends come to hear me, which was very nice, it meant a lot to me. Then we hung out at McDonalds afterward. I was completely overdressed, decked out in my black suit. At least I didn't have a tie on.

Saturday I went home to Tillsonburg and had a good time with my Mom and brother Dave and Lauretta and Rachael and Joshua. We went to my Aunt Donna's 60th birthday party. It was good to spend time with some cousins that I don't see very often (that would be you Keala and Andi.)

Sunday my Mom and I went to the church I grew up in, and it was kind of neat that John Brearley and family were leading worship. Then Mom and I went to Swiss chalet for lunch (chicken and shrimp - yum) and we visited my Grandma's and Aunt Darlene's gravesites as well.

Monday my Mom had a job interview in St. Thomas so we went there, and did some shopping at the huge WalMart there. Then Sharon, Ben, my Mom and I made the trip back to Kitchener. All in all a good time off.

It strikes me again that there is nothing that we have to do in order to prove ourselves worthy of love. I think that so many people base their self-worth on what they have accomplished, but what happens when those accomplishments run out or one isn't capable of doing them anymore? No, our satisfaction has to come from who we are. We are simply and wonderfully Love itself being born into the world to experience life and to love others. It isn't easy to live this way, because so many things distract us and tempt us to believe the lie that it is what we do that defines us. What is the deepest yearning of our hearts? One of mine is that simply I Am OK. There is nothing wrong. We get pulled away from this when we define ourselves by our accomplishments, and also when we lose sight of the present moment and start remembering the past or worrying about our future. But right now, right in this moment, you and I are ok. And what's more, we are wonderful creations, nothing less than God, Love being born into the world. We tap into who we really are when we love others and ourselves.

I hope your day is going well, my friends.

Mark Andrew

Competition And Compassion

"This all-pervasive competition, which reaches into the smallest corners of our relationships, prevents us from entering into full solidarity with each other, and stands in the way of our being compassionate. We prefer to keep compassion on the periphery of our competitive lives. Being compassionate would require giving up dividing lines and relinquishing differences and distinctions. And that would mean losing our identities! This makes it clear why the call to be compassionate is so frightening and evokes such deep resistance.

This fear, which is very real and influences much of our behavior, betrays our deepest illusions: that we can forge our own identities; that we are the collective impressions of our surroundings; that we are the trophies and distinctions we have won. This, indeed, is our greatest illusion. It makes us into competitive people who compulsively cling to our differences and defend them at all cost, even to the point of violence.

- Henri Nouwen, Compassion

"Becoming Human" Excerpt #1

"This process of searching for truth demands an openness; it demands an evolution of thought, for individuals and entire societies, as the whole world changes and we discover new intimations of what is. There are unchanging principles, such as the call to be people of love and not of hate, which govern our lives. We need to integrate our experiences into these principles and let these principles be enlightened by our experience. Such an evolution in thought can mean searching and grasping in the dark, sometimes in anguish, rethinking answers, formulating them in new words and new ways. Philosophy, anthropology, theology, and those sciences that tell us what it means to be human can be dangerous if they are considered ideologies that dictate reality; instead, they need to be understood as the means by which we humbly listen to and marvel at reality. We must not try to return to the past, but instead launch out into the future - to understand each other and what it means to be human, to understand what is happening in the world - in order to become more fully human and to work for peace and unity. It is only as we begin to integrate such a sense of reality more fully into our being, as we thirst for that which gives meaning to our lives, that we discover the fundamental meaning of loneliness: a cry, often a painful cry of anguish, for more respect and love of others, to be even more enfolded in truth, held in God. Such a cry could bring a new wholeness to humanity.

Jean Vanier in Becoming Human

Life

It is a climbing to and a falling in
It is a pushing into and being pulled
It is a swimming into and a wading within
It is a running into and a resting in
It is a grabbing hold of and a letting go
It is a closing up and an opening to

This is life with You, Undefinable Presence
"God" won't do, as it bears many worn images
"Mystery" won't work because it suggests a never-finding
So I will call you Love and I will call you Life, because You are gentle and ever-present, and you have my best interests at heart.

This Friday Feeling

I like this fatigued feeling, this feeling that says go back to bed, the feeling that is aided by the fact that I haven't been able to have a shower today because the hot water is off. It is the feeling that says "You are enough. You don't have to change. In fact, stop changing. Just become more you." It is a feeling aided by another gulp of the coffee I am drinking, and by the overcast sky that is visible through the big picture window here at the café. It is the feeling that says "You don't have to believe anything or interpret anything in this moment. In this moment you don't have to be anything, you can just be." Because nothing is wrong here, right now.