In Pursuit of Wisdom #3: Don’t Lose a Single Step
Now I bear it in mind not only that all things are liable to death but that liability is governed by no set rules. Whatever can happen at any time can happen today. Let us reflect then, my dearest Lucilius, that we ourselves shall not be long in reaching the place we mourn his having reached.
— Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
You’re going to die.
I’m going to die.
I don’t say this to bum you out. I don’t say this in order to transition into some cliche statement like:
“Live life to the fullest.”
It is an agreeable statement, but not one that is innovative or even practically helpful. What does it mean to “live” life “fully”?
In the previous issue of this series, I explored the Buddhist concept of nonself and how it leads to greater compassion, greater confidence, and a reduction of one’s ego. This is a crucial concept in the pursuit of wisdom.
However, I don’t wish to merely pursue wisdom, but actually, obtain it. I wish to live with the awareness that because of what I have learned, I am living more wisely and more peacefully in a tangible sense.
Keeping that in mind, the last article came too soon. The most impactful and practical teaching of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s 2014 masterwork The Art of Living is simple: how to walk.
The book strikes a balance between theoretical Buddhist philosophy and guides to meditation and mindfulness in practice. Towards the conclusion of the work, Hanh introduces “walking meditation,” a far cry from popular images of the archetypal meditator being someone who sits with eyes closed, legs crossed into a pretzel.
Walking meditation is to be aware of each step as you take it. Take pleasure in each step. Observe the perfect machinery of your body: how the muscles, tendons, and bones work in concert to propel you one foot forward at a time. Going deeper, pay attention to more than just the steps:
As you breathe in, notice the number of steps you are making while breathing in. As you breathe out, notice the number of steps that you are making while breathing out. Allow your breathing to be natural, and simply pay attention to how many steps you take as you breathe in and out. After a while, you notice there is a rhythm, a coordination, between your breathing and your steps. It’s like music.
While I avidly practice classical sitting meditation, and I try my best to be mindful wherever I am, I had never put serious effort into walking meditation.
I recently got a new job downtown, in which the only parking is located in a garage that’s a ten-minute walk away from the actual workplace — I know you’re cringing as you read this.
But based on the fact that Hanh literally suggests trying walking meditation out on something as mundane as a walk to the office, I decided my first day of work would be as good a time as any to follow in the stead of a Zen master.
The results were astounding. Mostly because they weren’t “results.”
I wasn’t thinking of what I was getting out of the walking: reaching a destination. I lived in each step. The steps ceased being a means to an end, becoming an end in themselves. Everything but the act of walking melted away. And just as Hanh said, as I became aware of my breaths, I got swept away by the music.
On the in-breath: one, two, three, four steps.
On the out-breath: one, two, three, four steps.
Each step was pleasure. Each step was joy. I enjoyed the fact that I was walking, that I had the ability to walk, and that I was blessed to be alive. I was stunned. I couldn’t believe how happy I was to just be walking. I arrived at work energized for the day ahead.
So, when we again ponder the cliche “Live life to the fullest,” we understand the “how” a little deeper. It means to not lose a single step.
We have to remove the pressures that society puts on us. We have to resist. Simply our way of walking from the parking lot to our office is a way of reacting: “I refuse to run. I resist. I will not lose a single moment or a single step. I reclaim my freedom, peace, and joy with every step. This is my life, and I want to live it deeply.”
Every single moment that we are ruminating on the stresses of the work-day that hasn’t even happened yet, a bad relationship that exists only in the distant past, or daydreaming about the things that we don’t have, are moments that we are losing to the void. We are lost in thought, asleep to the beautiful reality that is right in front of us.
Each step is horribly finite. We will run out. We know this, yet we do not take the time to cherish them while we can.
It goes beyond walking and breathing. Paying closer attention to anything that appears within your five senses can awaken you. Sometimes, as I’m walking through my home, opening and closing doors, I watch myself move. I really feel the texture of the wood, I really hear the door latch shut. I don’t slow down and I don’t linger, but I make sure that I am really noticing everything that is happening in the here and now, the here and now that I know will not always be now.
Often we find presence to be easy when it comes to things we have decided are “good” or that we “like”: a roaring party, getting a massage, going down a rollercoaster. We get sucked into those moments almost effortlessly.
But the fact of impermanence makes all of life sacred. Even that which is terrible, even the worst of times should be lived not losing a single moment or a single step. Every unit of time is life to be lived. Do not let the contents of a moment convince you that it is not just as worthy of being lived as another. God, or if you are secular, the gift of life itself, is anywhere life is.
We say, “God is good; God is love,” but if God is good and God is love, does this mean God is not in those places where there is no goodness and love? This is a very big question. In the light of Buddhist teachings, we can say that the ultimate nature of reality, the true nature of God, transcends all notions, including the notions of good and evil. To say anything less is to diminish God.
I implore you to consciously remind yourself wherever you may walk: “Do not lose a single step.” Every movement can become pleasurable when you are filled with the awareness of time running out. What’s really important in our lives becomes clear when we actively and practically live with the knowledge that we are going to die, and that everything we experience is sacred as a result.
There’s nothing to “do” or to accomplish to truly feel peace. Just pay attention. Don’t take any of this for granted.
Not a single step.
If you enjoyed the article and the ideas presented, let me know how you might be applying them to your own lives and the experiences that you’ve been having. Love you all!
When we stop to breathe, we’re not wasting time. Western capitalist civilization says “Time is money” and that we should use our time to make money. We can’t afford to stop and breathe or enjoy a walk or marvel at the setting sun. We cannot afford to lose time. But time is more precious than money. Time is life. Coming back to our breathing and becoming aware that we have a wonderful body — this is life.
