Walking for Peace: An Invitation to Us All
Stephanie Swann
December 29, 2025
Right now, a group of Theravāda monks are walking from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C. They are walking in the name of peace. Day after day, step after step, they place their bodies on the earth and let the journey unfold through simplicity, discipline, and care. Even their dog, Aloka, walks alongside them. There is something profoundly moving about this; something quiet, steady, and uncompromising in its gentleness.
As they walk, something is transpiring that goes far beyond miles covered. Their journey is not just geographic; it is deeply human and deeply spiritual. They are demonstrating, in the most ordinary way possible, what it looks like to live a peaceful life. Not as an idea, not as a slogan, but as a practice.
Their walk feels like an invitation to all of us.
What does it really mean to commit to a journey of opening our hearts and minds? Can we slow down enough to diligently practice mindfulness and honestly see what stands in the way of a peaceful heart? Can we look inward long enough to recognize the conditioning of greed, hatred, and ignorance, not as abstract concepts, but as lived forces shaping our thoughts, words, and actions?
This is not a journey of self shame or other blame. It is a journey of honesty, resolve, and love. When we are willing to see clearly, without turning away, the inner habits that block an open heart, something begins to change. Over time, the barriers soften. They lose their solidity. Our hearts begin to feel lighter, less defended, more available.
And we begin to see something else: that we are truly in this together.
From this place, it becomes harder to believe in “evil” as something fixed or external. What we see instead is conditioning; patterns of greed, hatred, and delusion moving through individuals and systems alike. These forces are powerful, but they are not permanent. They only change if each of us is willing to do the intimate work of tending our own mind and heart.
The monks are powerful symbols of this truth. But they cannot do this work for us. They are walking on our behalf only insofar as they remind us that we, too, must enter the journey ourselves.
Thankfully, the Buddha did not leave us without support. He offered the Triple Gem: Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. When we take refuge, we discover that we are not alone. We are held by the teachings, by practice, and by community as we learn how to care for our own minds and hearts. This, in itself, is such a radical and needed message in the world today.
What the monks demonstrate so beautifully is this: when we genuinely take care of our own mind and heart, what we offer the world is not forced or performative. The generosity that flows outward is clean. It is sincere. It is rooted in love.
May their walk remind us of our own capacity. May we be willing to begin right where we are. And may the peace we cultivate within ourselves ripple outward, touching all beings.