A group of Buddhist monks on a 2,300 mile Walk for Peace from Texas to Washington passed just south of Clinton on December 9. They left a monastery in Fort Worth in late October, traveling twenty to twenty-five miles a day. Some of the monks are from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and France, and they range in age from twenty-nine to seventy. Their leader is Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, who is keeping an ancient tradition alive by walking barefooted.
During a rest stop on the Natchez Trace west of Raymond, he said most of the other seventeen monks wear shoes; and, if the group encounters snow and ice, he’ll do so, too. For now, though, he prefers to go shoeless as he and his companions bring a message of hope and healing to those they meet along the way.
“We decided to take on this journey, hopefully to raise the awareness of peace, love, kindness and compassion. Hopefully, everyone will look within themselves, because peace is not something that the world can bring to us, but something that we can absolutely create.”
Pannakara said it starts at the local level…