Walk for Peace
This reflection comes from our teammate Ashley, who witnessed this walk for peace firsthand.
We watched peace walk past us.
Not as an idea—but as a practice.
Not alone—but together.
From breath to body to community, peace grows when we choose it daily and when we carry one another along the way.
Today, may this be our peaceful day.
19 Buddhist monks are walking 2,300 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C. As they walk, they spread a message of peace, loving-kindness, mindfulness, and hope.
People of all faiths and no faith are coming to meet them, waiting alongside the road with hands together and head slightly bowed. Some offer flowers.
Despite the crowds of people gathered, it’s quiet. There is a silent reverence to watching the monks walk by. I think it’s the peace they carry, and the way the crowd can feel it in their presence. They embody what they practice.
We’re invited to join the monks in their walk for peace, and thousands walk with them to the capitol. Along the way I see a flower dropped on the street, getting stepped on as people walk by. I pick it up. It feels important that this flower makes it to the capitol with us.
Maybe this flower is like you, full of beauty and hope, but needing the support of community to be carried to peace.
At a peace gathering at the capitol, the venerable monk who leads their pilgrimage gives a short teaching. Peace begins with us, within ourselves. It begins with our breath. It begins with setting a mindful intention for each day:
I’m reminded of the song
“Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.”
And I think, even though we belong to different faiths, we have so much in common.
“Peace is not just an idea—it is something we create together, step by step, heart by heart.” - Bhikkhu Pannakara
See the original post on Instagram here.
