Certain members of the San Francisco Zen Center find that their Buddhist worldview binds them to social and environmental activism. For Zen activist Wendy Johnson, the Buddhist philosophy is the inspirational force behind her work leading walks, practicing organic gardening and teaching. Walking, says Johnson, is about awareness. Moving to the beat of a Japanese drum, the participants walk in silence while Johnson has them contemplate the destruction to the world s environment. A designated person both at the front and back rings a brass bell, a reminder of what the walk is for.
Concerns range from nuclear weapons to beached whales, global warming and urbanization.
Zoketsu Norman Fischer first began organizing the walks after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. We took that very seriously. The first walk was conducted the following summer. Since then, a number of people have participated in the walks, which are free to the public and draw on average about 30 people. Most of them are newcomers.