Walk for Peace - historic milestone !

The Walk for Peace is a 120-day, 2,300-mile journey led by Buddhist monks and their loyal dog, Aloka as they walk through 10 states promoting peace, unity and compassion.

Peace in difficult times doesn’t mean nothing bothers us. It means we stop making everything worse by losing ourselves in our thoughts. It means we stay grounded enough to see what we can actually do, then do it with a calm heart.

Together We Walk for Peace

From the dawn of Texas skies

Robes of saffron start to rise

Walking softly mile by mile

Carrying peace in every smile.

Wind is whispering on the road

Spread your love across the world

Silent prayers in every stride

Hope becomes their gentle guide

Step by step we carry peace

Let the suffering slowly cease

Hearts awake, fears release

Together we walk for peace

Step by step in harmony

Boundless love for all to see

Let compassion never cease

Together we walk for peace. 

Through the towns and open plains

Under sun and under rain

Every step a sacred vow

Healing lives in here and now. 

Faithful Aloka by their side

Guardian of this holy stride

Love that moves like gentle streams

Turning miles into noble dreams. 

Step by step we carry peace

Let the suffering slowly cease

Hearts awake, fears release

Together we walk for peace

 Step by step in harmony

Boundless love for all to see

Let compassion never cease

Together we walk for peace.

No borders no walls, 

No limits at all

Only Kindness calling home

Hand in hand we rise under open skies

Lifting hearts wherever we roll.

Step by step we carry peace

Let division slowly cease

From Fort Worth to DC streets

Together We Walk for Peace

Step by step, humanity

Walk in loving unity

May the world find clarity

Together We Walk for Peace

May all beings live in ease

And all hearts be stilled and freed

May this journey never end

Peace in every breath we send

        https://youtu.be/HGQFC709qLs?is=Aeq1ilfPdBlYVXiu                                                                                             

May everyone who meets us—standing by the road as we pass, offering flowers and quiet smiles—find a sense of peace growing softly within them.

May those who see us from a distance—through a car window or across a crowded street—feel a moment of kindness and warmth in their hearts.

May those who follow our journey online—reading these words and seeing these photos—feel that peace is closer than they thought, right there beside them.

May those who simply hear about this walk—from a friend, a family member, or a kind stranger—receive this message like a seed carried on a gentle breeze.

To everyone whose life touches ours—whether we meet in person or stay connected through our hearts across the miles—may this walk for peace find a home in you.

May this peace bring you quiet joy. May it help you feel more connected to your own heart and bring out a natural kindness that flows easily to others.

And may the peace that grows inside you shine outward. May it touch your family, your neighbours, and everyone you meet, spreading warmth into the world we all share.

We offer this prayer with humble hearts, hoping that peace might bloom a little more brightly for everyone.

A Moment That Touched Many Hearts

During this morning’s walk, a deeply moving moment unfolded when a baby was gently carried alongside the monks. The sight sparked curiosity and emotion among many who witnessed it. This was not simply about the walk—it was a living expression of compassion, trust, and shared humanity. Carrying the baby symbolized that this journey is open to all, embracing even the most delicate life with care and kindness. Such moments remind us that peace is not just spoken about; it is practiced through mindful actions. In these quiet gestures of love and protection, the true meaning of peace becomes visible.

Children sleep peacefully because they are free from fear. By reconnecting with this inner innocence and purifying our thoughts, we can experience serenity in everyday life. There is beauty in every moment—we only need to notice it. 

May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.

 

"Walk for Peace"- nearly there !

 Only now, as the journey nears its end, has national media begun to notice. Some ask why it took so long for attention to arrive. But the monks never walked for attention. They walked so their message could arrive when hearts were ready to receive it.

A story from the walk

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A little girl walked up to Bhikkhu Pannakara with the purest request in the world —

“Can I have a hug?”

The monk smiled… and gently said no.

Not because he didn’t care.

Not because he was distant.

But because he was faithful to his path.

In the monastic life, there are clear vows. Monks do not touch women or girls — ever. It’s not personal, it’s discipline. It’s how they protect their practice, their clarity, and their commitment to a life of renunciation.

Seeing the little girl’s confusion, the monk softly asked,

“Who did you come with?”

She pointed proudly to her mother.

He laughed and said,

“Oh… you’re a female too!”

Then he noticed the father standing nearby. The monk lightly touched the dad’s arm — and just like that, the whole family leaned in together. A rule-respecting, heart-warming group hug happened anyway.

That’s the beauty of wisdom — it finds compassion within boundaries, not by breaking them.

This is something many people don’t realize:

Monks can’t always accept gifts

They can’t pose for one-on-one photos

They may say “no” even when their hearts say “yes”

And that “no” is not rejection.

It’s reverence — for their vows.

This is also why the Walk for Peace touches people so deeply.

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When monks walk silently through streets, they aren’t protesting, performing, or preaching. They’re reminding us — without words — that peace begins with restraint, humility, and presence. Their stillness unsettles something inside us… and then heals it.

People pause.

Hearts soften.

Egos quiet down.

And then there’s Aloka — walking alongside, doing what animals do best: loving without conditions, without rules, without ego. A rescued soul reminding humans how simple compassion really is.

Together — monks, the walk, and Aloka — create something rare: A moving lesson in humanity.

So if a monk ever refuses a hug, a photo, or a request — don’t take it personally.

Take it wisely.

Respect the journey.

Receive the lesson.

And let the peace walk with you long after they’ve passed.

 

"The Streets of Minneapolis"

 

"Streets of Minneapolis"

A true American writer( Bruce Springsteen) , poet, activist, and a genuine hero standing up for the truth and the American people. Standing up against Fascism !.

Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDaPdpwA4Iw

This incredible song, penned by a true Legend, should become an anthem against this injustice and a rallying cry to all good people - not just in the United States - to stand and raise their voices. Evil prevails when good people do nothing. The United States of America is an incredible country and has always stood as a beacon of hope to all. What is happening right now makes people fearful of their day to day, not just in America, but around the world.

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Meanwhile to contrast what is happening in Minneapolis a group of Buddhist monks continue with their amazing "Walk for Peace" and are now in the state of Virginia. 

Peace coming Alive

 

Walk for Peace ~ Snehashis Priya Barua, author

Step by step beneath the sky, we walk with hope, you and I.

Let the anger fade away. Let compassion lead our way.

Every heart can learn to heal. Every wound can slowly seal.

In this world of joy and grief, we rise again and walk for peace.

Walk for peace, walk for light, walk through day and walk through night.

Hand in hand the world will see, peace begins with you and me.

Walk for truth, walk for love, guided by the stars above.

Let all hatred finally cease.

Come with me...let's walk for peace.

Across the land from sea to sea, a message carried peacefully.

A 120-day walk so wide, two thousand three hundred miles they stride.

Buddhist monks with hearts so pure, Aloka walking strong and sure

Step by step their prayers increase, calling all to walk for peace.

Walk for peace, walk for light, walk through day and walk through night.

Hand in hand the world will see, peace begins with you and me.

Walk for truth, walk for love, guided by the stars above.

Let all hatred finally cease.

Come with me...let's walk for peace.

May all beings live in freedom. May all suffering gently cease.

May our footsteps write the story of a world that walks in peace..

Through the valleys, over mountains, let our gentle courage rise.

Peace is born in every moment when compassion fills our eyes.

Walk for peace, walk for light, walk with courage shining bright

Every breath a prayer release for a world that walks in peace

Walk for hope, walk for love, blessed by wisdom from above

Let all sorrow find release. Come with me...let's walk for peace.

Come with me...let's walk for peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB7EafjjXVg

Walking Meditation — Thich Nhat Hanh
Take my hand.
We will walk.
We will only walk.
We will enjoy our walk without thinking of arriving anywhere.
Walk peacefully.
Walk happily.
Our walk is a peace walk.
Our walk is a happiness walk.
Then we learn that there is no peace walk; that peace is the walk; that there is no happiness walk; that happiness is the walk.
We walk for ourselves.
We walk for everyone always hand in hand.
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.
Earth will be safe when we feel in us enough safety.

How to be a good person

How to Be a Good Person:

- Try to look at the bright side of things. It is better to light a single candle than it is to curse the darkness." Be that light.
- Accept everyone around you as your brothers and sisters no matter what race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or culture they are.
- Don't try to correct people when they're angry by saying something irrational, just look with compassion and remain quiet.
- Stop comparing others with yourself. Try to understand that some have it better than you in life, but at the same time, many have it much worse.
- Every day, try to do an act of charity for someone else, even if it's something small.
- Be respectful of elderly people. Realize that you will be old some day and may need a helping hand.
- Be compassionate towards mentally challenged people for they are people with feelings too, and they are brothers and sisters as well. 
- Compliment friends whom you might be jealous of, and people you don't know as well as you would like to.
- Be a better listener than talker. Follow what the person is saying.
- Don't try to get attention by hiding or being rude when you are in an argument with a friend, talk to them and work it out.
- Celebrate others' victories and good qualities, even when you do not feel as blessed as they do.
- Share your life and good philosophies with others. Give the young good moral values to live by, and the importance of them.
- Don't be in a hurry in life, slow down and enjoy the fine and simple things of life.
- Only use the horn in your car in an emergency, not to blow at a little old lady or man that can barely see over the wheel.
- Don't take the closest parking space at the shopping centre. Choose one further away and figure it to be the exercise that you may need. Leave the ones close for those that need them.
- Always insist on serving yourself the smaller portion of the food when dining with others.
- Even doing simple things, such as smiling at someone who seems unhappy or holding the door open for a stranger, will help you become a better person.
- Don't try to be like somebody else; just be yourself and do good things as simply as you can.
- Remember that people will be nice to you if you are nice to them.
-  Please read this list and make it a part of you.

Join the "Walk for Peace"

 

Walking 2,300 miles for peace. No slogans. No protest. Just presence.

Right now, a group of Buddhist monks are walking more than 2,300 miles across the United States on a Walk for Peace, step by step, town by town, conversation by conversation.

Many are walking without shoes

This is not a march against something.

It’s a walk for something.

In Buddhist tradition, walking itself is a form of meditation, a way of embodying compassion, mindfulness, and non-violence in action.

Monks rarely leave their monasteries unless they feel there is deep suffering that calls for visible compassion.

This walk is a reminder that peace doesn’t begin with policy or power.

It begins with awareness, presence, and how we show up for one another, even when the road is long and uncomfortable.

Along the way, they’re joined by thousands of people from all walks of life… and by their beloved dog, Aloka, whose name means “light.”

In a world that feels increasingly divided, this quiet act of devotion is powerful precisely because it is simple.

No noise.

No outrage.

Just human beings choosing peace — one step at a time.

May we all walk a little more mindfully today and always.

" Walk for Peace "

 

Danette Cogdill writes of the monks on the Peace Walk.

Across the vast tapestry of the United States, a quiet procession begins, not with drums or banners, but with the simple, unwavering step of monks who walk as if treading the heartbeat of the land itself. They move through deserts and valleys, along rivers that carve stories into the earth, under skies that shift from the pale blush of dawn to the ink of night. Their sandals write a patient script on the road, a rhythm of humility and hope.

They carry with them nothing but small bowls of compassion, a lattice of prayers, and the unspoken vow to listen more than they speak. In the hush between steps, they hear the country’s diverse lullabies, the warm laughter of small towns, the solitary hymns of the rustle of pines on a windy ridge, the whistle of trains in distant farmlands to city lights. They walk not to conquer miles, but in reverence, as they rewrite their hearts with the miles they walk.

Each mile is a meditation on beginnings, on seeds planted in unlikely soil, on communities. They walk through rain that blurs the world into watercolor, through sun that pours like molten honey, through snow that glitters with the quiet possibility of a new start. Every step is an invitation to look, to listen, to choose kindness.

The journey is less about reaching a destination and more about becoming a bridge, the kind that spans old wounds, the kind that carries songs between strangers, and the kind that teaches the heart to travel light yet sing loud with gratitude. In their devotion, they teach that the present moment is all we have.

So let us walk with them in our imaginations, if not in footsteps; carry a thread of their quiet courage into our own days. Let their pilgrimage across the country become a map for our minds—a reminder that ordinary steps, when taken with intention, can become extraordinary prayers, guiding us toward gentler horizons and a more generous, hopeful nation.

Peace on the Silent Road - Sometimes, the road we walk is not lined with crowds or filled with welcoming voices. Sometimes, it is just us, the silence, and the path ahead.

Yesterday, we walked on a red clay road—wet from recent rain, muddy beneath our feet, with no one watching, no one waiting to greet us. Just quiet earth and open sky. But even there, especially there, peace was still shining.

Because Peace does not depend on applause or recognition. It does not require witnesses or perfect conditions. It does not fade when the road becomes difficult or when we walk alone through the mud.

Peace walks with us in the silent moments just as much as in the celebrated ones. It is there in the steady rhythm of our steps, in the breath we take while navigating slippery ground, in the choice to keep moving forward even when no one is watching.

The world may not always see our journey. The path may not always be smooth or clear. But the work of cultivating peace continues—in the quiet, in the challenge, in the simple act of placing one foot in front of the other, again and again.

Yesterday’s muddy road told us this: peace is not about where we walk or who sees us walking. It is about what we carry inside, what we nurture within ourselves, what we choose to be regardless of circumstances.

So we keep walking. Through mud and sunshine, through crowds and solitude, through roads that are easy and roads that test us. Because peace is not conditional. It is a choice. And it shines brightest not when everything is perfect, but when we choose to carry it forward anyway.

May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.

The Hardest Person to Forgive - We can forgive others with surprising ease sometimes. A friend hurts us, and eventually we let it go. A stranger wrongs us, and we find a way to move past it. But when it comes to forgiving ourselves? That’s where we become stuck.

Regret holds us like nothing else can. We replay our mistakes endlessly—the words we shouldn’t have said, the choices we wish we could undo, the people we hurt. We carry these memories like heavy chains, dragging them everywhere, unable to walk forward, trapped in a past that cannot be changed while life continues flowing around us.

Forgiving ourselves does not erase what happened. It does not pretend our mistakes don’t matter or that we caused no harm.

What it does is release the weight so we can actually do something meaningful with what we’ve learned. It frees us to become better, to grow from our mistakes rather than being crushed by them, to walk forward with the lightness we need to bring peace to others.

How can we offer peace to the world when we are still at war with ourselves? How can we extend compassion to others when we withhold it from our own hearts?

Peace begins within—not just with calming our minds, but with learning to treat ourselves with the same gentleness, the same understanding, the same mercy we so readily offer to everyone else.

We are human. We may make mistakes. This is not a failure—this is simply what it means to be alive, to be learning, to be walking a path we’ve never walked before.

The question is not whether we will stumble. The question is: Will we allow those stumbles to define us forever, or will we learn from them, forgive ourselves, and keep walking?

Let us be gentle with our own hearts. Let us forgive ourselves—not as an ending, but as a beginning. Not as permission to repeat mistakes, but as freedom to become who we are truly capable of being.

You deserve your own compassion. You deserve to walk forward, lighter and freer, carrying wisdom instead of chains.

May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.

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