\n\tAccording to Lee and the monks\u2019 official social media pages \u2014 which have over five million followers between Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, and TikTok<\/a> \u2014 the purpose behind this walk is not for political messaging. \u201cThe reason we walk on that path is because we want to walk to all the state capitals to whatever state we can enter,\u201d Lee says. \u201cIt\u2019s also the shortest path to Washington, D.C. but there\u2019s no political or religious motivation.\u201d And while that may be true, for folks like Greene, it still feels like a spiritual encounter. On social media, thousands of users have offered prayers of safety for the monks in the comments, while sending information to one another regarding next locations and their personal experiences attending in their respective cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBhikkhu Pannakara, the leader of the walk, on January 15, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSean Rayford\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \n\tGreene, who grew up Christian in the South, feels aligned to the monks and their mission. Five years ago, when her sister died, she had been studying Zazen, a seated meditation practiced within Zen Buddhism. \u201cMaybe my algorithm recognized my interests and kind of pushed it up to the front of the line for me to see what was going on with them,\u201d Greene says. \u201cThis was super timely with everything going on in the country.\u201d Greene, her son, and her parents joined hundreds of others and waited two hours for the monks to pass by. No one was discussing politics, instead arriving with flowers and snacks, standing around, exchanging stories of hope and their reasons for why they were in attendance. Greene brought purple carnations. \u201cThese are strangers but you know you\u2019re all there for similar reasons,\u201d Greene says. \u201cThere was a lot of hope that was palpable in that air. Everybody had different stories for why they were there, but it all kind of streamed back to this feeling of hope.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tDespite the millions of people being invested in the monk\u2019s message, there\u2019s been pushback from more conservative groups. Over a dozen Christian protestors, both Black and white, have been trailing the monks to combat their message with signs that read \u201cJesus Saves.\u201d It\u2019s unclear whether or not they all belong to the same church or affiliation, but their message is unified in that they believe the monks\u2019 walk is a religious movement, promoting Buddhism. In Georgia and South Carolina, several Christian protestors came to the monk\u2019s location, with megaphones and signs, with some resembling MAGA flags, yelling that \u201cChrist is coming to set you free.\u201d They\u2019ve also faced other obstacles. Nearly a month and 277 miles into their journey, in Dayton, Texas, two monks were hit by a car, resulting in one having his leg amputated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n \n\tDespite the chaos, Pannakara has been responding peacefully, with a message of unity. \u201cWe are not here to convert anybody or trying to persuade anybody to come with us,\u201d he said in one TikTok posted in early January. \u201cWe are here for just one mission together: To have peace for our own, to have peace for this country and to have peace for this universe. We all believe in different faiths. We have different mindsets. But all of those religions are teaching us how to purify our minds and become a good person in our society. In the end, all these religions teach us to come back to one religion<\/a> which is peace, love and kindness and compassion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPhra Ajarnh Maha Dam Phommasan lost his leg after being hit by a car in Texas. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRaquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \n\tWeissman, who has been living in Charlotte, North Carolina for over 20 years, heard about the monk walk from a good friend who is Catholic. When Weissman and her friend arrived in Fort Mill, South Carolina, just south of Charlotte, the crowd and the monks were led inside the visitor center for shelter and so the monks could eat their lunch. \u201cWhen we first arrived there were maybe 150 people,\u201d Weissman tells Rolling Stone. \u201cAs time went on, there were at least a couple thousand people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThings weren\u2019t entirely smooth, though. When a protestor showed up talking about Christianity and genocide in Sudan, Weisman had enough. \u201cI started to hear what he had to say and was like, \u2018Nope,\u2019\u201d says Weissman. \u201cI am a reformed Jew and I\u2019m a product of an interfaith marriage because my father was Catholic. I was raised Jewish, I was exposed to both and I was taught to respect both. I have no tolerance [for] people\u2019s hypocrisy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n \n\tAlthough the monks\u2019 walk is not a direct commentary on politics, it coincides with a sense of unease spreading across the country. The day before Greene went to see the monks, Renee Good<\/a> was shot and killed by an ICE Agent. Ten days after Weissman and her friend visited South Carolina, Alex Pretti was killed<\/a>. If millions of people, all with different political affiliations and backgrounds, can agree there is a need for peace, how do we actually get there as a nation in a practical sense? \u201cWe believe that if our message goes to the capital of each state, along with the capital of the nation, that that message will propagate at a larger scale,\u201d says Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tLee tells Rolling Stone that upon their arrival to D.C., the monks do not have any confirmed meetings with politicians although there are talks of a meet and greet at the Capitol. In the meantime, viewers like Greene and Weissman have been in a space of reflection regarding their time with the monks and their individual inner work moving forward. \u201cIt\u2019s eye-opening for me because I have been trying to learn more mindfulness, how to practice it and be more aware,\u201d says Weissman. \u201cI feel I can practice that in my everyday. We all need a little more of that in this world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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