Day 20
March 5, 2008
A proper visit to my Sit Spot when the conditions are fine takes one hour. Twenty minutes to get there. Twenty minutes of meditation. Twenty minutes to get home. Today, with only the one hour to spare, the meditation will be consumed by the walk.
A quarter inch of ice covers everything. Each step must be made with utmost caution. My back starts to ache from the stress of taking such care with each footstep.
It occurs to me as I pick my way slowly that each walk may be a metaphor for some aspect of my life. I remember a Zen saying: “True Zen meditation is not thinking of god while you mow the lawn. It is mowing the lawn while you mow the lawn.” Today, I can only walk. I can think of no other thing… or I will fall flat on my…
Today’s walk teaches me that I must attend to the task at hand with 100% of my attention. What? No more multi-tasking???
Jennifer: I just explored your 30 day sitspot blog about 1 hour ago, and was inspired to do two things. 1. Get out, with my dog, and take a walk in the gathering dusk. 2. Start posting on my blog which I have woefully neglected. So I did both, cracking through ice as my dog scampered, and blogging to my sisters of how I was inspired by you. And now here is your new post about your walk through the icy conditions we both experienced today. Very cool.