Walk Like a Mountain

Book excerpt: WALK LIKE A MOUNTAIN is the definitive guide to walking as Buddhist practice, not just for the serious practitioner but for anyone who wants to bring more contemplative depth to their everyday walks. From kinhin during zazen sessions to pilgrimage and beyond, this handbook offers the "how-to" with clarity and insight. Posture, hand positions and foot mechanics are merely the beginning. Other topics that are addressed in this comprehensive book include: Preparations and aids Prayer walking Purification and dedication Kaihogyo (marathon contemplative walking) Leading a walking practice Walking for change Walking as daily life Walking the symbolic landscape Alms rounds Mandalas Circumambulation Labyrinths Walking Nembutsu Alternatives in contemplative walking. Innen Ray Parchelo has studied, taught and practiced Buddhism for more than 40 years and acts as both the Priest to the Red Maple Sangha and Director of Tendai Canada. He began his formal dharma practice in 1974 and has been a member of several Buddhist centres, first taking refuge in 1994. In 2008, he renewed his refuge- vows as a student of Ven. Monshin Paul Naamon, and, in 2010, was ordained a Tendai priest. Innen is has lived and worked as a clinical social worker in the Ottawa Valley since 1975. He regularly uses walking and mindfulness techniques in a social work setting. He has degrees in Comparative Religion and Social Work and has published general and scholarly articles on dharma and social work topics and is a popular conference speaker. He is the regular Buddhist contributor to the Ottawa Citizen's "Ask the Religion Experts" column. He and his wife, Judy, live with their three dogs in a old log schoolhouse, near Renfrew, Ontario.