Walking for world peace with Metta, Muditha and Karuna

INITIATED in the United States last year, there is a unique pilgrimage undertaken by a small group of Buddhist monks around 19 to 24 Theravada Buddhist clergy members from the Huong Dao Buddhist Temple in Fort Worth, Texas, led by spiritual leader Ven. Bhikkhu Pannakara.

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The purpose is peace.On 6 January, when this writer finished the needed research and began writing this article, it was day 73 of what can be described as a deeply needed spiritual panacea for our world.

It is one of the most unique cross-country monastic Dharmic endeavours in the United States, drawing mass-scale interest and thus having a strong impact on local communities. Not because of the number of participating Buddhist clergy, but rather for the profound authenticity of what they are engaged in.

Walk for Peace is fast gathering momentum in terms of global public awareness as a result of the campaign having a very strong online presence. The team behind the online updates of the monks' routes had uploaded that they had entered South Carolina (from Georgia) in the middle of the first week of 2026 and were proceeding onward. The walk is intended to encourage peace, loving-kindness and compassion across America and the world. The walk is passing through 10 states overall, and will have covered 2,300 miles over 120 days when the mission ends in Washington, DC, around mid-February this year.

The monks have been stopping at state capitols, and those who cannot see this beautiful initiative in person can follow it using a live online map.