Walking Practices – precious keys to life
by Pir Shabda Kahn
Beloved Dance Leaders, Mentors in Training and Mentors and Mentees,
As one of a few people left who received training directly from Murshid Sam in all the variety of Walking Practices I am feeling guidance to emphasize the transmission of these precious keys to Life.
It is my sincere wish that the extraordinary wisdom that was communicated to us through the Walking Practices stay alive in our lineage transmission stream, in your experience and in your teaching.
I know that most of you have experienced these teachings, but how much do you communicate them and keep them alive? Further, for the most part these have been lessons given to adults, but certainly with a little attunement they could easily be taught to children.
The major categories of the Walking Practices we received from Murshid Sam are the Center Walks, the Wazifa Walks, the Planetary Walks, the Element Walks and the Tassawuri Walks. Naturally it will take lifetimes to master these practices but teaching the methods of practicing them can be developed as you gradually get a grasp of their significance.
At first glance of the Planetary Walks as Murshid Sam offered them to us, it appears we are being trained in Astrology. It should be known Murshid Sam was an extraordinary astrologer.
But if we step back, it is clear that these practices really teach us about the current of the breath; Inhalation and Exhalation – Urouj and Nassoul, and Jelal and Jemal – right nostril, left nostril. This is basic knowledge that will help all understand life better, whether or not we have any connection or understanding of astrology.
By the time we arrive at the Saturn Walk we have learned about the effect of the current of breath in and out the right nostril, Sun and Mars, the current of breath in and out the left nostril, Venus and Moon, in both nostrils, Jupiter and out both nostrils, Saturn. What an ocean of understanding to learn about ourselves…as the precious saying goes, “Know thyself and thou shalt know God”.
We can learn confidence through the Sun walk, receptivity through the Moon, efficiency through Mercury, expression of beauty through Venus, strength with service through Mars, expansive charisma through Jupiter and patience through Saturn.
Moving on, we can find precious guidance in the teaching text by Murshid Samuel Lewis called The Ten Lessons on Walks. My efforts here are really just to remind you of these great teachings, assuming that you've studied and practiced them before.
An example, from the fifth lesson called Inhalation and Exhalation, Murshid says,
“The subject of inhalation and exhalation looks very simple, but it is actually very complicated and important. It sometimes takes years to understand all those activities which benefit when one is inhaling and all those activities which benefit when one is exhaling. This is an important part of mysticism but much of it will be appreciated by athletes. Thus in throwing or tossing it is important to work with exhalation and in receiving or catching with inhalation. It is also beneficial to learn this from life and not to memorize a series of activities which benefit from inhaling or exhaling. Strange as it may seem, there are also those activities which benefit the inhalations and benefit the exhalations. That is to say, there are actions which benefit breaths and there are breaths which benefit actions.”
I often have the class line up in two lines, each person facing another and throw an imaginary ball with each side coordinated, throw with the exhale, catch with the inhale. With a small enough group we would actually use oranges and throw them back and forth coordinated with the breath.
The same text also emphasizes one of the foundations of our spiritual practice, what Murshid Sam calls Darood, that is, breathing in and out,
reciting Toward the One, four steps breathing in and four steps breathing out.
When I get to the lessons on walk connected to breathing the Darood through the different centers, starting with the belly, I make the humorous suggestion that people remove their nostrils and re-attach them to the belly.
As a way of teaching, rather than describe all the benefits of breathing Darood through the belly coordinated with our steps beforehand, I have people do the practice for a few minutes without making any suggestions of what they might experience, then ask them to stop and feel.
Then I ask them what was their experience. It is only after that I describe the likely benefits of the practice, which almost always lines up perfectly with what their direct experience was. My favorite line from Murshid Sam’s text on belly centered walking is “it is the perfect way to rid the mind of useless luggage”.
One by one, I go through the centers, belly, heart, third eye. First letting each person have their own experience and sharing it with the group before giving the teachings. I follow that with combining all three centers, belly, heart and third eye in the walk with Darood on the breath. This most often leads to a deep meditative state.
Lastly, following the text, I have people breathe the Darood in and out the feet as they walk. As Murshid suggests, this will help one breathe with the whole body!
It feels important here to also speak a little about the Tassawuri walks. These allow use to attune – to get in the rhythm - of our exemplars, our teachers, the Masters, Saints and Prophets and Deities.
When we were with Murshid Sam he would often start with the Hazrat Inayat Khan walk. There were several different walks emphasizing different aspects of his being. We would do the walk of Inayat as Musician, listening to the world and expressing the music of the Heart while hold the Vina. Or the walk of Inayat in a deep inner state, and, and…..
Murshid would lead us in the walk of his teacher Papa Ramdas. He would lead us in the walk of Quan Yin, often by holding the world as you would a baby while making aspirations and prayers for the relief of suffering of all sentient beings.
Naturally, after Murshid Sam’s passing we would often culminate with the walk of Murshid Sam.
This short text is in no way a complete telling of the many forms of walking practices which are central in our lineage stream. My hope is that it inspires you to emphasize these practices in your daily lives and in your transmission to your mentees and students.
Much love and gratitude,
Shabda.
Editor’s note: videos of Pir Shabda leading Walks can be found on our website under Articles and Papers here (see the bottom of that page); videos of Wali Ali leading walks are in the resource library (search under [walk]).
