Meditation in Motion: Textual Exegesis in the Creation of Ritual

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 8 seeks to uncover the historical origins of kinhin, the ritual of walking meditation as it has been practiced in the Sōtō school of Japanese Zen. Practiced today between periods of zazen, the Sōtō style of kinhin entails an exceptionally slow pace of walking in order to coordinate each step with a full cycle of respiration. Although Sōtō monks typically attribute this practice to the founding figure, Dōgen and his teacher in China, Riggs finds the origins of the practice considerably later than this in the eighteenth century Sōtō leader Menzan Zuihō's writings, the Kinhinki, a brief text describing the practice of kinhin, and the Kinhinkimonge, a commentary connecting this practice to traditional Buddhist texts.