Lech Lecha / Walk to yourself

Rabbi Rami Shapiro [writes]

If you are a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or Baha’i who sees Abraham as the founding father of your faith, walking is in your spiritual DNA. The first commandment given by God to Abraham was to walk: lech lecha (Genesis 12:1). The Hebrew carries a dual meaning. Not only is Abraham, and by extension all of us who claim Abraham and Sarah or Abraham and Hagar as our spiritual godparents, commanded to walk toward an unnamed land God will reveal to [them], but [they are] to walk inward (the literal meaning of lech/walk lecha/toward yourself) to find an unnamable Place God-realization (HaMakom/The Place is another name for God in Hebrew).

God’s first command to Abraham and Sarah wasn’t to keep kosher, or make Shabbat, or even to pray; God commanded them to walk. And as Judaism expands over the centuries to include 613 commandments, we link them all in a catch-all term: halacha, the way we walk (halacha, like lech, comes from the verb halach which means walk). And, lest you imagine the Jewish link to walking is mere metaphor, the Musar School of Judaism promotes a literal walking practice where one paces back and forth reciting verses of holy text.

https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/a-contemplative-walking-practice

Let's come back to the Walking Away dimension of this command.

To walk away from one’s past.

From one’s land - one's physical surroundings, the flora, the fauna, the food, the weather, the climate, the change of its seasons, the large physical environment that shapes one's experience, one's life, one's language, one's frame of what normal looks, smells, tastes, sounds like).

From one’s birthplace - one's intimate surroundings, the people, the culture, the values, the society, all of the human made aspects of where one is born and grows up, which also shape one's experience of the world.

From one’s parental home - the most intimate of surroundings. Our parents, grandparents, family, clan, tribe, people, the micro-culture that takes places away from the public eye, the way that a family functions when no one else is around. The primal way one begins to understand relationships, emotions, how needs and wants are met, how one begins to orient one's self in the world.

All of that is left behind. And is listed in increasingly order of difficulty.

And to towards an unknown place. Even though, Avram's father Terach himself left Ur and began to walk towards Canaan, the family stopped in Haran, we do not know for how long. We do not know if their original destination was still in mind, or if it was long forgotten. We do not know for certain why they left or why they were going there. Terach had his reasons. In the Written Torah, it is not for a divine purpose, or for any overt purpose.

But in the out-of-the-blue moment, God suddenly enters into Avram's life and issues a command: Get going. Leave it all behind. And go forward. Where? You will know when you get there. Canaan? Maybe? If it is Canaan, will it be for the same reason as Terach? We don't know, but certainly now the journey is spiritual and not solely physical.

Avram and Sarai uproot themselves and leave behind certainty, family, culture, familiarity - and also infertility, death, aimless wandering.

When they leave behind infertility and death, they are also moving towards the potential for new growth, new life and becoming rooted again when they arrive at their destination.

To move from a place of no growth to a place of potential and growth.

To move from a place that is certain, static and unchanging into a unknown that contains the potential for change and dynamism.

To walk from east to west.

To walk away from a Bavel / Babylon, a culture that only values what can be seen towards the Land God Will Show Them, a culture that also values that which cannot be seen.

To walk away from idolatry towards the One.

What I come away from this close reading of this verse is that:

Walking is a both a physical and spiritual act that suggests forward movement or progression, which suggests that Walking as a form of Meditation is deeply rooted in our cultural DNA.

Halacha, or the Code of Jewish Law, is the collected body of Jewish religious laws from the Torah. The word, halacha, stems from the same root as walking. So we can connect walking and meditation.

When one begins walking, one knows where one has been, maybe, and more certain is that one does not really know where the journey will lead.

When we use walking as a meditation, we can use it as a way to let go of something that is holding us back and/or to approach the answer to an question that is as of yet unanswered, towards to unknown.

Not only do Avram and Sarai do their share of walking, but the entire book of Genesis is marked by almost everyone struggling to progress spiritually.

Rabbi Jeff Roth, Jewish Meditation Practices for Everyday Life

Walking is another daily activity that lends itself to meditation practice in our lives. If you can, spend some time each day paying attention as you walk. I don't necessarily mean a formal walk in a park, but simply when you are moving from place to place. For example, walking from the parking lot into a store or from the subway station to a job are time when you can practice walking meditation.

Walking meditation can become another opportunity to leave behind the rush of a planning or judging mind and simply return to the present moment of experience in your body. There are a number of ways you might do this kind of practice. It might be for a specific minute or two on the spur of the moment, or it might be based on your daily routine - for example, each morning on your way to work.

[This sections continues for a couple more paragraphs.]

Inspired by Parshat Lech Lecha, I propose that we have a once a month Walking Meditation, ideally timed soon after Rosh Chodesh, very likely on the next Sunday morning that is suitable. I am still working on the details, and if you are interested in doing this, or have any suggestions, I would love to hear from you.

But for this morning, we are going to doing a kind of walking mediation using a labyrinth, which for our purposes today is printed, but there are at least two meditation labyrinths in town that are open for public use.

Jewish Walking Meditation

For a walking meditation, set the intention, along with the physical path. Chart a route to complete or walk for a pre-determined period of time. We can clear our heads and return to tasks with fresh eyes. Chant the words, “clear, clear, clear,” while walking or “peace,” or “calm,” or whatever word you’d like to substitute instead.

Breathing also becomes rhythmic.

Alternatively, choose to ponder a specific issue and allow the swirl of thoughts to move you past a block. Empty mind is not required for this kind of meditation. It is different, however, from thinking in which you are actively engaged in problem solving or retrieving information. During meditation we become an empty vessel to receive whatever inspiration occurs.

[Modified]

Walking a labyrinth is a meditative practice used by many traditions and cultures to rediscover our renewal and rebirth. This makes it a powerful practice to do on your own. There is no one right way to walk the labyrinth. [Below is a guide that is designed to start your new year well and to support your teshuvahpractice. Find a labyrinth near you: https://labyrinthlocator.com/]

There are so many sacred moments during the Jewish year that remind us of the importance of our lives. Bringing awareness to the quality of our lives, we can begin to listen for our sacred purpose and realign to what we most value. For example, after Rosh Chodesh, the New Month, we begin anew with the birth of another month. As we engage in heshbon hanefesh, a soul accounting, like a mini Yom Kippur, to start the month, we face larger existential questions.

Any one or a combination of these questions is a suggestion of what you could bring into the labyrinth.

How might I re-envision my purpose?
What might I release, repair, or change to sense a greater attunement with my purpose?
What kind of teshuvah is needed to give me a fresh start?
Who do I need to seek forgiveness from and whom might I forgive?
What obstacles can I remove from my path for the sake of my spiritual growth?

Or it could just be a questions that has been nagging at you or eluding you or evading an answer.

[Pass out the sheets with the labyrinth. We are going to trace this path with a finger, rather than walk it for today.]

Finger Labyrinth

Not everyone can access a labyrinth, thus many people have used the finger labyrinth as a tool. Finger labyrinths are convenient and accessible. People use them as meditative practices or to support reflective journal writing.

Use a finger from your non-dominant hand at the entrance to the labyrinth. Begin with a question, and as you “walk” the path with your finger, remain open to whatever presents itself. Some use a mantra, like “shalom” or “hineni” as they slowly trace their way. Pause when you need to be with a memory, an image, or a feeling.

As you begin the labyrinth, let your mind and vision soften. Even though it looks like a maze, there is no way to get lost; there is only one path. This invites a sense of trust. At the "entrance," stop to take a deep breath, release. Call to mind what you rely upon in your life. What are the foundations that you can trust?

As you trace your ways towards the center, take your time; find your natural pace. Your pace may change during different stages of the labyrinth. Going in one direction, the focus is on releasing the past. What can you shed? What grudges might you let go? Which attitudes or beliefs no longer serve you?

When you get to the center, sit prayerfully with your question. Bring your question to mind and listen. Listen for that still small voice to respond. Be patient and take as much time as you need. Let the heart of the labyrinth illuminate what there is to receive. You might offer up a prayer when you reach the center.

As you depart the center and trace back towards the entrance, do so with a sense of wholeness. Bring focus on what healing and growth looks like. Notice if there is a sense of accompaniment, even a sense of Divine companionship. Pause when you reach the exit and breathe. Allow yourself to become fully conscious of stepping back in to the normal flow of the world. Avoid over-analyzing the process.

https://ritualwell.org/ritual/guide-walking-labyrinth-jewish-new-year/

Conclude:

1. Walking as spiritual practice is deep in our cultural DNA.

2. Walking is always a two-faced experience, the walking towards and the walking from.

3. There is beneficial goodness that come from a mindful walking practice.

4. Rosh Chodes as a time of monthly renewal could provide a good framework for a monthly community Walking Meditation.

5. So let's begin next month (weather).

For Reference / Do Not Include in Teaching

Thich Nhat Hanh believed that the Earth is sacred, so wherever someone walks, they can be reminded of this spiritual connection while also uniting their mind with their body. He taught that people’s true homes are located in the present moment, through awareness of their steps on the Earth, their bodies, and their minds. Walking meditation brings practitioners back to this solid grounding.

Here are the steps of walking meditation as it is done in the Plum Village tradition:

1) Take a moment to breathe and center your body in the space you are about to walk. At Plum Village practice centers, monks and nuns lead participants in singing a few mindfulness songsbefore starting. In “We’re All Moving,” for example, the group sings, “We’re all moving on a journey to nowhere, taking it easy, taking it slow. No more worries, no need to hurry, nothing to carry, let it all go.”

2) While walking, be mindful of your breath and your footsteps. Walk in a slow, relaxed way, preferably with a light smile. Think about the miracle of being alive and being able to step on Mother Earth, repeating these phrases: “Breathing in, I know Mother Earth is in me. Breathing out, I know I am in Mother Earth.”

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3) Take one breath per step, focusing on your foot touching the Earth. You can also notice how many steps you take while breathing in and then breathing out, naturally. The point is to find a connection between your breathing and your steps.

https://theconversation.com/what-is-walking-meditation-175989