Circumambulation
One more entry on word history for tonight.
A link from the see also section of the walking meditation entry in Wikipedia led to the term circumambulation. I honestly just thought it was a fancy word for walking around something.
Turns out that’s basically it, without the original religious connotation.
“Circumambulation[1] (from Latin circum around[2] and ambulātus to walk[3]) is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol.[4]Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in Sanskrit as pradakśiṇā).[5] It is also present in other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.“
“In Zen Buddhism, jundō (巡堂) can mean any ritual circuit or circumambulation.“
“Parikrama or Pradakshina refers to circumambulation of sacred places to imbibe their energy in Sikh, Hindu, Jain or Buddhist context, and the path along which this is performed. Parikrama means "the path surrounding something" in Sanskrit, and is also known as Pradakshina ("to the right"), representing circumambulation.[1] Both words are mostly used in the context of religious deities in a temple, sacred rivers, sacred hills and a close cluster of temples,”
“In Buddhism circumambulation or pradakhshina has been an important ritual since early times. Sacred structures such as stupa or images have a pradakhshina path around them. The chaitya is a distinct ancient type of building that only survives in Indian rock-cut architecture, a hall with a stupa at the far end, always built with a rounded apse-like end, to allow pradakhshina.[14] A mandapa (prayer hall), added in the front transforms the original stupa into the stupa shrine — as a sacred entity which requires a circumambulatory path around it for the purpose of worship. The whole structure is planned in such a way that it becomes the centre of the mandala and symbolically represents Mount Meru.[15]Buddhist faithful may perform pradakhshina by prostrating themselves at every step, thus greatly prolonging the process. The most extreme pradakhshina is that of the sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet, a mountain trek some 52 km (32 mi) long, at altitudes between 15,000 ft (4,600 m) and 18,200 ft (5,500 m). This may also be undertaken by Hindus and Jains, and some pilgrims progress by prostration, taking some weeks.
Now, as I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t want to mix up my walking or secular zen practice with religious devotional practice or sacred symbolism. Which does not stop me from being fascinated by the evolution of language, and the ongoing discovery of the significance walking has played in human culture throughout history.
I’m currently reading Walk Like a Mountain: The Handbook of Buddhist Walking Practice by Innen Ray Parchelo. It’s refreshing in its bid to appeal to a wider audience than traditional Buddhist practitioners, and while the companion website started by Parchelo related to this enterprise: Padakun.com, focused on contemplative walking, seems to have stalled a bit for new material during this stalemate that is COVID-19, it’s suggested reading list has me itching for a visit to the library [not that I can be trusted with more than one book at a time, but that’s never stopped me before].
http://www.padakun.com/books/
The list has a lovely mix of more spiritual and secular focused works for anyone interested in reading further on the topic of walking.
I think that, like the understanding of the term ‘circumambulate’, there needs to be allowance for both the reverent and practical recognition of the value of walking.
