Meditation in Motion: Textual Exegesis in the Creation of Ritual
Zen Ritual November 22, 2007 David E. Riggs
Walking meditation (kinhin) in the Sōtō school of Japanese Zen, characterized by an exceptionally slow pace coordinated with each breath cycle, is commonly attributed to the sect's founder Dōgen and his Chinese teacher. However, historical analysis reveals that this specific practice originated much later, in the eighteenth century, through the writings of Sōtō leader Menzan Zuihō. His texts, the Kinhinki and its commentary Kinhinkimonge, established the practice and linked it to traditional Buddhist sources, showing that the ritual's origins are more recent than traditionally believed.