How walking leads to realization - Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein 12/1

How is the dharma learned just by "when walking, know you're walking"?
- Continuity of awareness
- Out of thoughts
- Reveals a lot about state of mine, and how mindstates shift
- Staying with it to 'overcome' difficult mindstates is important practice
- Leads to realization of three characteristics of dukkha, anicha, anatta

You don't have to be in "meditation graduate school" to be awake
Don't need special circumstances, or mind states
Can do it off retreat, just have to habituate mind to be mindful in this way

Rushing as "toppling forward" - anticipation. Not about speed.
"In-order-to" mind.
Even a slight sense of destination, even if not rational.
Can move quickly without rushing. Being settled back in body, in place of inner rest.

How do we sit, how do we stand. Impatience/alertness.
Staying in one posture gives us a tangible anchor while in fear, or other difficult state.
Use body posture to be mindful. Be with mindstates whenever and whatever.

How just sitting, walking, etc., leads to three realizations:

Impermanence: Obvious when we move, esp. if you note every move made in a single move.
What is actually going on just in moving from sit to stand? 1000s of moves

Dukkha: We almost always move to alleviate some suffering.
Moving when sitting, going to eat, lying down to sleep.
Even lying and relaxing, eventually must move.
How much of what we do is to alleviate suffering?

Selfless nature of mind-body process: Impersonal nature of postures. "Being walked"
There's no one doing anything - just play of nama and rupa (mind & body)
"Empty phenomena rolling on"

Open, empty, groundless nature of Awareness itself -- what is it?
And how can we experience it ourselves?

Frame in passive voice: "Standing is being known"
Sensations of movement arising and effortlessly being known.
It's being known, and yet no one is doing anything. "Mystery of awareness"
Known by what? "That's the kicker"
When we look, we can't find it
"This is not mine, this is not I, this is not myself."

Purification of View - When we see that in each moment, there is the knowing & the object
Purify mind of obstructive, unskillful states
All the time. Ananda got enlightened getting into bed.
Mind can relinquish grasping. When walking, just walk.