Navigation bar
  Print Start Previous page
 65 of 71 
Next page End 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70  

65
Kinhin
While sitting many hours during a retreat, it can perhaps be tempting to view kinhin (slow
walking) as a temporary reprieve from zazen. Kinhin is not a break from sitting in zazen. It is a
continuation of mindfulness practice in which we make use of the step. All aspects of our
practice, zazen, samu, all of the forms, taking care of our zafu and zabuton, and how we walk in
kinhin, are designed to help us to see how our attention is arranged in each moment. 
It is important to make the transition from sitting to standing mindfully. Although we
may be sitting alone, our use of the forms should be as clear and precise as they would be if there
were 20 people in the room. 
While walking in kinhin, feel the breath, feel the area of the tanden, open attention to the
rest of the sensations of the body, the seeing and hearing and continue to practise basic
mindfulness. The tip of the tongue rests against the hard palate behind your upper front teeth, just
as it does when you are sitting in zazen. Your eye gaze can be slightly lowered in a soft gaze, and
your peripheral vision open. Open your attention to the sounds of your own breathing, the sounds
within and beyond the room. Feel the step, the air moving across the sole of your foot as you lift
it. Pay attention to the details of your experiencing. As you take each step, notice how you move
through the room and the room moves past you. 
When thoughts or feelings come up, let them come up. But open around them by opening
your attention to what you are actually experiencing to give them context. You are in a room,
walking, noticing many details and the thoughts and feelings make up the smallest part of what
you are experiencing. If you begin to get lost in thought, you will likely speed up or slow down.
Sometimes people almost lose their balance while walking in kinhin because they start thinking
about how they are walking instead of simply feeling the step. If you notice that your pace has
slowed or quickened, or that you are ‘thinking’ about what you are doing instead of just paying
attention to what you are already experiencing, come back to the simplicity of the practice and
allow it to disengage the complexity you are bringing to it. 
Holding the Kaishaku
After ending a sitting round and taking care of the zafu and zabuton, pick up the kaishaku
(wooden blocks) from the cushion they rest on next to your seat, using the closest hand. The
rounded sides are struck together, not the flat sides. So as you lift them and position them
between your two hands, take a moment to check that the rounded sides are facing each other and
hold them so that they are touching and evenly aligned. As you rise to a standing position, hold
the kaishaku as though they were your hands in Gassho monjin (palm to palm). The top of the
kaishaku should be approximately one fist-distance from the end of the nose and level with the tip
of the nose, elbows, held somewhat out from the sides of the body to achieve a dignified and alert
posture. Throughout the kinhin round you should maintain the position of the kaishaku and your
elbows. If you notice that the kaishaku have dropped, or that your elbows have dropped, realign
your posture and release the accompanying state that gave rise to the slumping. 
Beginning a Kinhin Round
We walk kinhin clockwise around the room, and so you may need to turn around to face the
opposite direction before beginning. Following that, wait until everyone is positioned if you are
sitting a retreat with other students. Sometimes students will leave at the beginning of kinhin to
use the washroom, so wait until they have left and the door is closed, everyone else in position.
Then bring the kaishaku apart and clap them together. It should not be an ear-splitting crack. If it
is, you are probably not allowing the kaishaku to bounce off of one another at all, but rather
driving the force of the blow into the wood. This is not good for the ears or the kaishaku, so use a
lighter touch.