Mystical systems
Kinhin
Direct answer
Kinhin is the walking meditation of Zen, done between periods of seated meditation, in which each slow step is joined to the breath and given the same attention as sitting.
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At a glance
- Also called
- zen walking meditation
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Zazen, Zen, Mindfulness, Vipassana
Kinhin is the walking meditation of Zen, done between periods of seated meditation, in which each slow step is joined to the breath and given the same attention as sitting.
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What is kinhin?
Kinhin is the walking practice of the Zen hall. When a period of zazen ends, a bell is struck, the sitters rise and walk in a line around the room. The hands are held together at the chest, the eyes are lowered, and the attention stays with the step.
In the Soto school the pace is very slow: half a foot's length with each breath. In the Rinzai school it is brisk, sometimes close to a run. Either way it is not a rest from meditation. It carries the stillness of sitting into movement, and it lets the legs recover before the next period.
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What sets Kinhin apart
Kinhin is walking held to the discipline of the meditation hall. The hands take a set position, one fist wrapped by the other palm and held at the chest, and the walkers keep an even distance in single file, turning corners squarely. The Soto step is measured by the breath and the foot: breathe in, breathe out, advance half the length of the foot. A whole circuit of a small room can take ten minutes.
- Language: Japanese reading of a Chinese term for walking to and fro
- When: between periods of zazen, at the sound of a bell
- Hand position: shashu: left fist at the chest, covered by the right hand
- Soto pace: half a foot-length to each full breath
- Rinzai pace: brisk, at times nearly running
Often mistaken for something else: The slow walking taught on vipassana retreats names each part of the step; kinhin gives no labels and keeps the form and pace of the hall.
The story behind Kinhin
Walking is one of the four postures in which early Buddhist texts say mindfulness is to be kept, and Indian monasteries had covered paths for it. Kinhin is the Japanese reading of the Chinese term for this walking to and fro. The forms used today were fixed in the Zen monasteries of China and Japan, and came to the West with Zen teachers in the twentieth century.
Why Kinhin matters
Kinhin makes plain that meditation is not tied to sitting: the same attention is meant to hold in walking, standing and lying down.
How to read Kinhin
In a Zen schedule the word marks the short walking period between sittings. Outside the hall it is used for any slow walking practice done in that manner.
Kinhin in practice: an example
A reader who cannot sit still one evening might walk the length of a hallway for ten minutes, one small step to each breath.
Where readings of Kinhin go wrong
Very slow walking can unsettle the balance. Walk near a wall or at an ordinary pace if the body is unsteady.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- kinhin walking meditation, zen walking meditation, kinhin meaning, how to do kinhin
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is kinhin?
It is the walking meditation practised in Zen between periods of sitting. The walker moves in a line with hands held at the chest and attention on each step.
How slow is kinhin?
In Soto Zen it is very slow, about half a foot-length for each full breath. In Rinzai Zen it is fast. Both are done with the same close attention.
Is kinhin a break from meditation?
No. It rests the legs, but it is counted as meditation in motion. The sitter is asked to keep the same mind walking as sitting.
