American citizens are being shot and killed by agents of the federal government, images closer to that of a war zone than a typical American city fill screens throughout the world, and growing tension and rancor across an ever-widening partisan divide threaten to consume the nation in spasms of violence.
What a contrast, then, to see a group of almost 20 monks — and Aloka, a dog — from a Buddhist monastery in Fort Worth in the midst of a nearly 2,300-mile journey, on foot and through snow and extreme cold, in the service of raising awareness of peace, lovingkindness, and compassion across America and the world.
The monks, who are to arrive at the United States Capitol next month, are walking from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center, also called the Huong Dao Buddhist Temple. “In the future, this center will become a place of study and practice for all who sincerely aspire to cultivate and realize the Buddha’s teachings,” according to its website.
The temple was founded in 1996, Chien Le, its secretary, told The Star. Some 326,000 Vietnamese live in Texas, second in the United States only to California. Many began arriving in 1975, in the wake of what is known in Vietnam as the American War.
The monks are updating the world as to their progress toward Washington via a Facebook page. “This morning on Day 92, we began our walk in challenging conditions — the temperature was 21 degrees F, with snow and sleet falling and the road frozen with ice,” they wrote on Sunday.
“Yet the journey continues. With determination and mindfulness, we take each step with care, not stopping even in the face of these challenges. We will continue when we safely can, trusting in the journey and in the warmth of all the loving support that surrounds us.” Another post on Sunday included the monks’ place of overnight rest, New Life Church in Wake Forest, N.C. The public was invited to visit them in the evening.
They plan to conclude their walk by sharing a message of healing and unity, and asking Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth as a federal holiday.
But “our message,” Mr. Le said of the monks’ walk to the nation’s capital, “is not to promote Buddhism. It is not to promote religion or any political preference. It is to promote peace.”
The message has been heard on the South Fork, and on Sunday, those interested in learning about the Buddhist path to world peace have been invited to a free class from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Kadampa Meditation Center the Hamptons in Water Mill.
“Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible,” said Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, founder of the New Kadampa Tradition, a Mahayana Buddhist movement that offers a modern adaptation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, focusing on making the teachings accessible to Westerners. “We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we first establish peace within our own minds.”
The world is the result of the karma, or actions, of the beings who inhabit it, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, who died in 2022, wrote in “How to Solve Our Human Problems: The Four Noble Truths,” one of more than 20 books he authored. “A pure world is the result of pure actions, and an impure world is the result of impure actions. Since all actions are created by mind, ultimately everything, including the world itself, is created by mind. There is no creator other than the mind.”
In Sunday’s class at Kadampa Meditation Center the Hamptons, one of more than 1,300 such centers and branches operating in more than 40 countries, Kelsang Nyema, the center’s resident teacher, will explore through talks and guided meditations the path to world peace. Prayers for World Peace, a practice developed by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, will be introduced to the gathering.
The monks from Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center represent a different, if broadly similar, tradition from the New Kadampa Tradition, said Ms. Nyema, “but a beautiful tradition. We’re in awe of these monks doing this.”
Sunday’s class, she said, will stress that “our problems don’t come from outside of our minds. We create our world moment by moment in our mind.”
The monks’ walk “is bringing so much more attention to dharma,” or the teachings of Buddha, the truth of reality, and the path to enlightenment. “Everybody needs dharma, no matter what path they’re on, or even if they’re not,” she said. “I was raised Catholic, but before I found these teachings, I had the same problems again and again.”
Ms. Nyema will incorporate Prayers for World Peace in the class. “I’m going to go over that, then give a teaching from Buddha on world peace and how to develop peace in our own heart,” she said. The monks’ walk across nearly 2,300 miles creates “a great opportunity,” she said, “and I hope as many people could come to hear the dharma. People need to be aware that right in our own backyard, we have a methodology for having inner peace, and in turn helping us create world peace.”
“Imagine if this happened all over the world,” she said. “We would have world peace.”
