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Buddhist monks who are participating in the, “Walk for Peace,” arrive at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Thousands came out to see them. (Sarah L. Voisin for Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\nWASHINGTON (RNS) \u2014 Thousands of onlookers gathered at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday (Feb. 10) to see and hear from the venerable Buddhist monks who have completed a 108-day, 2,300-mile walking journey from Texas to the nation\u2019s capital. Surrounded by leaders from several faith traditions, including Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, who began the gathering with a peace prayer from St. Francis, the monks talked about how the practice of compassion can transcend religious differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn front of you all, you can see all religions\u2019 leaders here together for the same mission: peace,\u201d said Venerable Bhikkhu Pa\u00f1\u00f1\u0101k\u0101ra, the monks\u2019 leader, who spoke for a half-hour on a sunny day. \u201cThis is the first time to me, that we are working together. We are walking together on this path to find peace for ourself, to share that to our nation and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the event, called \u201cA Sacred Stop on the Walk for Peace,\u201d the 19 monks from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth were welcomed by a cheering crowd of people young and old, some of whom had waited for hours to secure a spot close to the monks. Many held flowers or signs, while others sported homemade \u201cWalk for Peace\u201d garments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The monks are part of a Vietnamese Theravada Buddhist tradition and practice Vipassana meditation \u2014 a technique taught by the Buddha in ancient India to focus on mind-body connection.<\/p>\n
The walk, which began on Oct. 26, 2025, was \u201cnot to bring you any peace,\u201d said Pa\u00f1\u00f1\u0101k\u0101ra, \u201cbut to raise the awareness of peace so that you can unlock that box and free it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While calling mindfulness the \u201ckey to peace,\u201d the monk said that it is \u201cnot about Buddhism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll you need to do is just practice mindfulness to unlock that box where you have kept peace and happiness inside and locked it up and then left it somewhere,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it\u2019s your job. It\u2019s your duty, to find it and unlock it. You\u2019re the only one who can do this, not the venerable monks, not the reverends, nor anybody else, but you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, “Walk for Peace,” arrive at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Thousands came out to see them. (Sarah L. Voisin for Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n
Pa\u00f1\u00f1\u0101k\u0101ra offered both humor and practical tips to incorporate mindfulness in a world where distractions abound. (\u201cPlease don\u2019t touch your phone when you wake up in the morning\u201d was one.) He led the crowd in a short mindfulness practice, asking the gathering to take three deep breaths with their hands over their hearts in unison. In a booming echo, the crowd shouted the mantra that was given to them by Pa\u00f1\u00f1\u0101k\u0101ra to recite each morning: \u201cToday is going to be my peaceful day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might take seven days, seven months, or seven years to find inner peace,\u201d said Pa\u00f1\u00f1\u0101k\u0101ra, but \u201ceach and every single one of us, we have our own path, and please remember, don\u2019t expect our path to be smooth and flat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over their more-than-three-month journey, the monks have faced treacherous winter weather, roadblocks and even a serious accident that caused one monk to permanently lose his leg. But they also received food, flowers, prayers and hospitality from well-wishers along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/voisinmonk22-1024x683.jpg\")
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, “Walk for Peace,” arrive at the Washington National Cathedral on Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Thousands came out to see them. (Sarah L. Voisin for Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n
Kimberly Bassett, secretary of state for the District of Columbia, presented the monks with an official proclamation. \u201cToday may mark the end of a 2,300-mile walk, but it\u2019s not the end of our journey for peace,\u201d she said. \u201cYour pilgrimage has brought people together across cities, states and communities, all faiths, all backgrounds, all of us together, united in the shared belief that we can choose healing over harm, understanding over division and peace over conflict. Your every step carried a message, and that message now lives here with all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the monks filed into the cathedral for a meeting with a small group of interfaith leaders, a pianist played the song \u201cPrayer for Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Budde greeted the monks, saying, \u201cI want to especially greet all of you, our interfaith friends and siblings of one human family, and it is such a privilege for us to gather in a spirit of humility and the opportunity to learn from one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
The monks fielded questions from a handful of faith leaders, who asked about how to help the next generations, how to think about Christian nationalism and how to reconcile stillness with a duty to fight for justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the situation we are facing in this country and around the world, inner peace is certainly an essential requirement,\u201d said one 81-year-old monk, who pointed to various wars and to civil rights injustices that he himself had seen take place. \u201cIt\u2019s almost a reign of terror where people are being terrified. Schoolchildren afraid to go to school from fear that they\u2019re going to be grabbed off the streets and sent to a prison or detention camp. Workers afraid to go to work, families being torn apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it seems that we have to balance this inner peace with what I call a strong commitment to conscientious compassion, that is compassion inspired by a sense of conscience, a responsibility for the welfare of all our fellow citizens, all the residents of this country, and indeed, a universal compassion for all human beings around this world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about religious extremism, one monk answered, \u201cAll religion(s) teach people how to live, how to be a better person in this society, how to support society, and how to support this country, our country where we live in. Now that we are in this church and so much faith leaders joining us, this world should be like this. For me, it should be like this. There\u2019s no need to be separate or any division at all whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many who came to see the monks had been following their journey online. Susan Dorr and two friends drove 11 hours from Camden, Maine, to follow the monks as they walked from nearby American University, where they met students and professors, to the cathedral and on to their next stop, George Washington University.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieving in things, belief systems are divisive and just put up walls between people,\u201d said Dorr, who said she doesn\u2019t identify with any faith. \u201cBut there\u2019s no belief system attached to mindfulness. The simplicity of it and the indisputable truth of it, I love that they make it so like, \u2018This is the thing that we can do, that anybody could do at any time,\u2019 is what is really compelling about it. We don\u2019t have to believe in anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominga Hobbs, who lives in Colombia and lost her husband in the past year, said: \u201cI\u2019m here for me, for my family, and to honor the monks for this extraordinary effort. My husband believed in peace, and I feel that he\u2019s here with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danny Latifzadeh, a 27-year-old from Bethesda, Maryland, said he believes mindfulness is an antidote to the world\u2019s constant distraction, and perhaps to the generation\u2019s turn away from organized religion. \u201cI\u2019m not particularly religious, but this experience seems like one that could hopefully cross a lot of boundaries between people that are of different cultures and religions, because especially with their messages, it transcends Scripture, it transcends generations, ages, messages, and no matter what time period in history,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The monks continued on to George Washington University and will head to the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha\u2019s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday.<\/p>\n