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.
Chapter 5 examines zazen, or seated meditation, the central ritual of Zen, from the Sōtō Zen perspective initiated by Dōgen. Rather than viewing zazen as a means to attain enlightenment, the essay presents it as 'the practice-realization of totally culminated awakening,' reversing the typical cause-and-effect logic. The author traces this approach to Vajrayana teachings influential in Japanese Shingon, Nichiren, Tendai, Jōdo, and Zen. The essay develops the 'unity of practice and realization' through Dōgen's instructions for meditation ritual, his extended essays, and direct teachings to his monks. When meditation is understood as the expression or function of buddhas rather than a technique for spiritual acquisition, meditative awareness in everyday life becomes possible.