Question: Is it possible to attain the first jhana, then remain in first jhana, while walking, talking, eating and performing other daily activities?

Or does one remain in first jhana only while in sitting meditation, then he has to leave the jhana and meditation, before he is able to perform daily activities such as walking, talking and eating?

Answer: 
From [AN3.63](https://suttacentral.net/an3.63/en/sujato):

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> With the giving up of pleasure and pain, and the ending of former happiness and sadness, I enter and remain in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness.
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> When I’m practicing like this, if I **walk** meditation, at that time I walk like the gods.
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> When I’m practicing like this, if I **stand**, at that time I stand like the gods.
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> When I’m practicing like this, if I **sit**, at that time I sit like the gods.
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> When I’m practicing like this, if I **lie** down, at that time I lie down like the gods.
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There are some who find the above an indication that walking meditation in jhana is possible. There are also those who find the above impossible given the depth of absorption in which senses recede and physical processes such as breathing stop.

There is also the matter of the Vinaya, which prohibits public discussion of attainments. To illustrate the difficulty of translation for those bound by the Vinaya, note that where Bhante Sujato uses "walking meditation", Bhikkhu Bodhi translates the section on walking in [AN3.63](https://suttacentral.net/an3.63/en/bodhi) with more ambiguity. Both are bound by the Vinaya:

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> Then, brahmin, when I am in such a state, if I walk back and forth, on that occasion my **walking back and forth** is celestial.
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Discussion of jhana attainments is problematic given the prohibitions of the Vinaya. In other words, the monastics who understand jhana are forbidden from discussing it. Therefore, this question can never be answered definitively in a public forum such as this.
No, it's impossible. That isn't to say that you can't practice walking meditation (or any other technique) in a way that develops the five jhana factors, however. These can be cultivated to quite a significant degree especially if they are done as a supplement to seated meditation. Unfortunately, it's simply not possible to develop one-pointedness to the degree required by full jhana when one's attention has to be split between the object of meditation and the act of walking. By definition, one-pointedness cannot coexist in the midst of multiple objects of attention.