Thousands gathered in freezing weather at the State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina. They were there to witness what peace looks like. North Carolina Governor, Josh Stein, was also there to present to 19 Theravada Buddhist monks a proclamation declaring the day, January 24, Walk for Peace Day.
The monks are on a pilgrimage from their base, the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington DC. Their mission is to ask Congress to officially recognize Vesak as a national holiday. Vesak celebrates Buddha’s birth and enlightenment.
Theravada Buddhism teaches that to end suffering one must practice non-violence, mental discipline, and compassion towards all beings. That does not mean talking about peace or signing peace treaties in front of news cameras. It means developing mindfulness, tolerance, compassion so as to think peacefully. There can be no peace within ourselves, our family, our world unless we develop peaceful mindfulness. Some today call this doctrine the Non-Aggression Principle.
Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, usually the Walk for Peace main speaker, delivered a straight forward and down to earth talk, as the thousands present listened appreciatively. One of his admonitions was,
“Look [around] now. We have different backgrounds, different faiths and beliefs, different skin colors, different languages. But we are able to come here together in this weather in front of this Capitol, just to support the mission of peace. It means there’s no difference between all of us.”
We could certainly use some peaceful mindfulness these days, instead of the mindless violence at present happening daily.
Picture: The Daily Tarheel, 01/25/2026, Buddhist monks visit state Capitol during ‘Walk for Peace.’ This article has a gallery of beautiful pictures of the event.
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Nice thoughts on a dreadful day
Thanks. Yes, we need a lot more peace and a lot less violence.