All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
Friedrich Nietzsche
In recent weeks I’ve noticed a slackening of intensity towards formal spiritual practices, like meditation, and satsangs. Nothing has changed in terms of waning interest or focus on self-enquiry. I’m as committed as ever towards putting into practice knowledge gained through studies yet desire to experience stillness in the form of sitting quietly and emptying the mind has fallen away considerably.
At first it was tempting to self-chastise for lack of inclination towards meditation and satsangs. Further enquiry, however, revealed that calmness experienced during meditation and the benefits of such practices were still present, in abundance. Eventually, realisation dawned that increased levels of exercise were responsible for maintaining these levels of serenity.
Benefits of exercise have been advocated by healthcare professionals for years. Exercise has a natural tendency towards relaxation, focussing mind on body and breathing, diverting attention from problems and anxieties. Exercise releases endorphins in the bloodstream, promoting sensations of well-being and happiness. Improved blood-flow to the brain brings more sugars and oxygen to support intense thought whilst evacuating toxic waste products that have a tendency to build up through intense neuron activity or heavy thinking. That’s before taking into account cardio-vascular benefits, weight-loss and muscle conditioning.
Since returning to Hampshire (UK) I’ve developed, a proclivity for walking and I've set about rediscovering my birthplace, learning about history and landscapes of this beautiful county. Coupled with severe rises in fuel prices and concerns about ecological issues linked to increased levels of pollution and carbon footprints, walking has become a primary mode of transport around town, and, increasingly, out of town.
Extended summer hours are ideal for extensive walking, so I’ve set about travelling some of the many long-distance footpaths that network Hampshire and neighbouring counties. In Britain there are at least 140,000 off-road public rights of way, so there are plenty of routes to explore. I began with a journey linking cathedral cities of Winchester and Salisbury, gradually broadening horizons as stamina and endurance increase. The last major trip travelled south from Winchester to Portchester Castle, a journey that, taking into account journeys to and from nearby rail stations, spanned about 50 miles. This was accomplished in two days, carrying camping equipment and associated paraphernalia.
Long-distance walking provides ideal conditions for contemplation and reflection and enjoys a rich cultural heritage throughout history. Take Shankara’s legendary travels for example, journeys undertaken by Gautama Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, or, as a previous Advaita blog showcased, the slightly more recent exploits of French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau documented in 'Meditations of a Solitary Walker' (http://advaita-academy.org/blogs/PaulaMarvelly/Meditations-of-a-Solitary-Walker.ashx).
Links between walking and spirituality become more pronounced as the walker encounters a proliferation of churches and chapels scattered throughout the countryside. Southern England has about 1900 villages, each of which has its own place of worship, stirring connections between walking and pilgrimage. There are walks like The Pilgrims Way in the UK, and the world-famous Way of St James or El Camino de Santiago that travels across Europe to Galicia in north-western Spain. The number of travellers embarking on this particular pilgrimage has risen exponentially in recent years, with an estimated 690 pilgrims completing the route in 1985 compared with approximate figures of 270,000 in 2010.
There are many reasons for the boom in popularity of El Camino de Santiago and no small share can be attributed to the massive impact of writer Paulo Coehlo, whose works like The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist have influenced millions around the globe. But could it also be the case that in ‘advanced’ Western society of convenience and comfort, walking offers profound conditions akin to meditation that are accessible to all, regardless of religious knowledge?
Recent experience attests this to be the case in consideration of medical professionals’ opinions detailed above and conditions that extensive walking generates in the physical body. Excessive exercise leads to levels of exhaustion that don’t leave energy available for fuelling protest, objections, cynical points of view or value judgements. Such a state of mind is similar to that achieved during meditation; frictions are dissolved leaving only sufficient resources to focus on the immediate present. Repeated practice breaks down resistance, promoting growth of inner strength..
Such experiences are conducive for generation of peace and contentment, or śānti, which is a prerequisite for happiness (sukha). In Bhagavadgita Home Study Course, Swami Dayananda notes that ‘the more you can stay with yourself, the more tranquil you are, and the more tranquil you are, the happier you are,’ conjoining happiness with tranquillity (p.364). He says this in relation to Verse 65 of the Gita, in which it’s expressed that ‘when the mind is tranquil, destruction of all pain and sorrow happens because the knowledge of one who is tranquil-minded soon becomes well established’ (p.360).
Pressing limits of endurance also helps expand frontiers of the mind, particularly in relation to overcoming difficulties that may occur whilst long-distance walking. Recently, aggravated cruciate ligaments lead to reflections upon duhkhas (pain and sorrow). Physical discomfort wasn’t so intense that walking became impossible, yet sufficient pain provided significant grounds for contemplation. Buoyed by visions of inspirations figures like Eddie Izzard, a British comedian who ran 43 marathons in 51 days (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8256589.stm) and Paralympian Anne Wafula Strike, a Kenyan/British wheelchair racer who I’ve had the pleasure of working with in recent weeks (http://annestrike.org), turning back on that day’s agenda wasn’t an option worth considering.
In a typically humorous style, Swami Dayananda has this to say about duhkha experienced without tranquillity of mind:
When anyone recognises duhkha, there is duhkha for him. But what happens afterwards? The person is shaken by pain and sorrow and then he becomes disturbed, udvigna-manāh. Any disturbance [...] can make it a reality. The headache is there, you recognise it and then worry about it until your whole head and everything else aches! You may even become a pain to everyone around you! You were the only one with a neck pain, but you talk so much about it and make such a fuss that pain also becomes everyone else’s pain in the neck.
Such teachings suggest that whilst pain is a phenomenal experience, perceptible by the senses, it needn’t result in negative frames of mind. Dealing with pain can be a matter of discerning rāga-dvesas – likes and dislikes and Swami Dayananda insists that dealing with these ‘is the whole psychology of the Gita’. Pain is generally associated with dislike and is therefore avoided whenever possible, yet when it does arise, pain can be nullified to certain extents by recognising it as a condition reported to the mind by the senses. Through a steady mind, grounded in tranquillity, impartiality is experienced in relation to signals received by the mind from the senses.
It’s necessary for the brain to acknowledge that something is awry in the physical body, but beyond that, what purpose is served by dwelling on those signals being sent from the source of injury, apart from disturbing tranquillity? The mind itself is unaffected. It doesn’t actually ‘feel’ pain. It simply acknowledges experience. Once this is understood, pain barriers are effectively overcome. Thresholds rise and a greater sense of freedom is experienced.
This is where Advaita as a practical philosophy serves well. Formal aspects like meditation and satsangs play their part in nurturing and developing seeds of growth, yet it is how such knowledge and skills get applied to the experience of existence that really counts for the beginner. Incentive for further enquiry is generated by evidence that scriptural exegesis is apparently helpful in terms of personal evolution as the examples above may suggest. Enthusiasm and motivation are enhanced when it becomes clear that these teachings really do have a positive impact on quotidian experience