Walk for Peace across the USA
Buddhist monks on pilgrimage from Texas to Washington D. C.
Buddhist monks plan to walk 2,300 miles across the USA over a period of 120 days. On their pilgrimage, they invite people to share moments of reflection and prayer.
Monk: “Good evening to everyone. This is your first time celebrating Christmas with Buddhist monks.. This is the first time for us to celebrate Christmas at this church with you all.
Christmas Eve in Opelika, Alabama. Hundreds of people sit at the feet of a Buddhist monk in front of the church to meditate with him and his fellow monks.
The monks of the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, walk at least 30 kilometers every day on their pilgrimage, which began on October 26, 2025, and will lead them through ten US states. They eat only once a day and sleep under the open sky, even in cold weather and rain. This is how they demonstrate their humility and spiritual discipline. Some walk barefoot or in sandals, giving themselves blisters in the process.
The Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra is the spokesperson for the 19 monks. The pilgrims do not talk about peace: they practice it. In doing so, they embody a fundamental principle of Buddhist teaching. According to this principle, everything begins in one’s own mind. The three “mental poisons” – greed, hatred, and delusion – are the foundations of war and violence. And peace is not something we find in the outside world either. Once we have inner peace, we can share it with the outside world.
Before the monks set off again, they pray together. And they thank the police officers who are protecting them on their peace march. A large, burly police officer in uniform puts his arm around a petite monk in a rust-brown cloak and sandals. The monk ties a hand-woven blessing ribbon around the officer’s wrist.
After 120 days, the monks plan to reach Washington D. C. and end their journey at the Capitol. You can see where the monks are currently hiking or setting up camp for the night on a live map online. The pilgrims now have 1.6 million followers on Facebook.
Even on the conservative television station Fox News, the monks have been THE news story that viewers want to hear and see for weeks, tells the reporter as the pilgrims reach Atlanta, Georgia, in the deep south.
In Atlanta, too, thousands of people line the streets to give the monks water, food, and flowers—and Aloka, their four-legged companion, some treats. Many spontaneously join them for part of the journey. A little boy hands a monk a picture he has drawn himself.
Aloka, a former stray dog, who joined the monks years ago during a pilgrimage in India and never left their side, now has 700,000 followers on his own Facebook page. He has a light-colored heart-shaped pattern on his brown forehead, which the monks call the “heart of peace.” According to Buddhist teachings, animals can also be reincarnations of humans.
The monks do not see their peace march as a political protest, but rather as a spiritual and symbolic act. They want to inspire people to be mindful and compassionate, so that they too can live in peace.
Follow-up:
On January 12, one day before my report about him and the monks airs on Swiss radio, Aloka, the monks’ faithful companion, has to undergo surgery because he injured his leg during the long march. He came through the operation well, but can only cover the rest of the way in small stages. The reunion with the monks after the operation was of course joyful.
This story is a mixture of my report for Swiss public radio, SRF2, and the text on my German website, and was translated by me.