{"id":169349,"date":"2026-02-18T07:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/169349\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T07:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:01:08","slug":"photos-monks-return-to-fort-worth-after-2300-mile-peace-walk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/169349\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Monks return to Fort Worth after 2,300-mile peace walk | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Buddhist monk waves his hands at the crowd during a homecoming ceremony Feb. 14 at\u00a0H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth after the Buddhist monks’ Walk for Peace. More than a dozen monks participated.<\/p>\n

Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n

Following a nearly four-month trek on foot from Texas to Washington, D.C., more than a dozen Buddhist monks returned to their temple Saturday in Fort Worth to a homecoming ceremony. <\/p>\n

The monks embarked on the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace in October to promote national healing, unity and compassion, according to a press release on the Dhammacetiya website. The monks adhered to a strict ascetic code, which included eating only one meal per day and sleeping beneath trees. <\/p>\n

Hundreds of people gathered along Ramey Avenue on Saturday morning, waiting with flowers and offerings for the monks to arrive. The crowd followed them on a roughly 13-minute walk to the H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center for a ceremony. <\/p>\n

Guests participated in a food offering, and lunch was provided for attendees.<\/p>\n

Glen Rose, Texas, resident Elyssia Rivera, 26, said she drove about an hour to welcome the monks home. Rivera said Buddhist teachings helped save her life five years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe message of love, really, is what is going to take care of us,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

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Attendees gather beneath Buddhist flags Feb. 14 during a homecoming ceremony honoring the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center monks after their 2,300-mile Walk for Peace. The homecoming ceremony featured prayers, chanting and expressions of gratitude.<\/p>\n

Photo by Sarah Wesolowski<\/a><\/p>\n

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Attendees stand outside the H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center during a homecoming ceremony Feb. 14 in Fort Worth following the Buddhist monks\u2019 Walk for Peace. The community welcomed the monks back home.<\/p>\n

Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n

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Fort Worth resident Linda Wolszon, 68, left, and Boulder, Colorado, resident Mandy Perera, 54, place flowers on Ramey Avenue while waiting for the Buddhist monks to arrive Feb. 14 in Fort Worth. Attendees provided the monks with flowers and other offerings.<\/p>\n

Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n

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Venerable monk Pannakara sits in front of the temple during the homecoming ceremony Feb. 14 at H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth after the Buddhist monks\u2019 Walk for Peace. Venerable Pannakara led the Walk to Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Monks<\/p>\n

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Buddhist monks from the H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center sit together Feb. 14 during a homecoming celebration following their Walk for Peace in Fort Worth. The walk was organized to promote mindfulness, compassion and unity, drawing support from communities across the country as the monks traveled 2,300 miles on foot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo by Sarah Wesolowski<\/a><\/p>\n

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An attendee holds a sign while walking to the H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center for a homecoming ceremony Feb. 14 in Fort Worth following the Buddhist monks\u2019 Walk for Peace. The walk started in October.<\/p>\n

Photo by Samarie Goffney<\/a><\/p>\n

@pixaperfect_\u00a0<\/p>\n

photo-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Buddhist monk waves his hands at the crowd during a homecoming ceremony Feb. 14 at\u00a0H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-169349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}