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Buddhist monks walk from Texas to nation’s capital to promote peace, unity and kindness

Mississippi Today
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NATCHEZ — Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, are walking on a 2,300-mile, 110-day pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to promote peace, unity and kindness.

They left Oct. 26 from their Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center.

And on Friday — Day 41 of their sojourn — the monks and their dog, Aloka, crossed the Mississippi River on the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge from Louisiana into Mississippi, where they were greeted by a small group of locals.

“We walk not in protest, but to remind Americans that peace is not a destination. It is a practice. And that peace resides within each of us,” Bhikkhu Pannakara, spiritual leader of the Walk for Peace, said in Natchez.

“The walk is a reminder that unity and kindness begins within each of us and can radiate outward to communities, families and society as a whole,” he said.

Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, arrived in Natchez on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, on Day 41 of their 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, arrived in Natchez, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, on Day 41 of their 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
A Buddhist monk greets a mother and her child as he and other monks arrived in Natchez on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. The monks are on a 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, arrived in Natchez on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, on Day 41 of their 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, crossed the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge from Louisiana and arrived in Mississippi on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, on Day 41 of their 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
One of the Buddhist monks who arrived in Natchez on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, during their walk to Washington, promoting peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, posed at welcome signs after arriving in Natchez on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, on Day 41 of their 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Tx., with their dog Aloka arrived in Natchez, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, on Day 41 of their 2300-mile pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. to promote peace and kindness. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
On Day 41 of their pilgrimage for peace, several Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas, arrived in Natchez from Louisiana, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. The monks’ journey to Washington will cover 2,300 miles. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
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