Buddhist monk who led 15-week peace stroll to D.C. tells CBS Information peace “at all times begins from inside”

The Buddhist monk who led a “Stroll for Peace” from Texas to the nation’s capital mentioned he believes peace might be achieved even in a world full of battle, citing the overwhelming shows of public assist for his stroll as a supply of hope for future change.

“Peace at all times begins from with ourself. It isn’t the world peace on the market,” the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara mentioned in an unique interview with CBS Information on Wednesday. “Nobody can change this world, however collectively, all individuals and all of the venerable monks are strolling collectively on this journey. … We are able to make a distinction.”

Pannakara, who serves as vice chairman of the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Middle in Fort Value, Texas, launched into a mission to unfold that message of mindfulness, internal peace and unity on Oct. 26, 2025, with the temple as its start line.

Joined by a gaggle of 19 Buddhist monks from the Fort Value space in addition to temples in Georgia, New York, Utah, plus others overseas from Thailand and Vietnam, the 15-week procession would in the end carry them throughout 2,300 miles of the southern United States.

The venerable  — joined by Aloka, the 5-year-old “peace canine” — sat down with CBS Information at George Washington College Wellness Middle, the place the monks spent the evening. They have been set to go on a shorter stroll on Wednesday to the Lincoln Memorial, after which the group of monks was scheduled to return to Texas by bus.

“Mindfulness is the important thing to indicate those who peace is one thing that’s potential and at all times begins from inside,” Pannakara mentioned. “So after we stroll, individuals see us, they will pause, they will cease doing all the pieces, they usually look again inside. And that is why I provide you with this ‘Stroll for Peace.'”

Their stroll culminated in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, after a trek that lasted 109 days, introduced harmful chilly climate and an accident that prompted two of the monks to undergo accidents, one in all whom required an amputation. Pannakara mentioned the toughest half was the freezing climate, and the best way they handled robust circumstances is to easily concentrate on their respiratory.

“We follow mindfulness meditation whereas we stroll,” he mentioned. “The extra you concentrate on the respiratory … it can generate power for us to stroll.”

The cohort was greeted upon arrival by a crowd of cheering supporters who had been monitoring their journey.

The scale of the crowds that popped up bodily on their route, whereas important, paled compared to the thousands and thousands who adopted the peace stroll digitally by way of livestreams and different updates shared on social media and an internet site devoted to the plight, Pannakara famous. He mentioned their responses steered the overarching message of their mission — to “increase the notice of peace” — was obtained.

When requested if peace might be achieved in a damaged world, Pannakara mentioned: “It’s potential.”

“Like as of late, from Texas to right here, I at all times say that peace has begun, has bloomed, as a result of all over the place we go now, individuals simply lining up on the road and gathering to assist this mission and to stroll with us,” he mentioned.

The monks additionally encountered critics throughout their procession, however Pannakara mentioned they didn’t deter the group’s focus.

“On our journey alone, there are haters. There are those who shout, and there are those who curse at us as nicely, and protest all the pieces now we have,” he mentioned. “However these won’t trouble us, as a result of our aim is to convey the notice of peace to all individuals. And so we simply concentrate on that…”

“Peace with a situation that isn’t peace,” Pannakara added. “It won’t final. So, in any situation, if we’re have the ability to keep calm and funky and affected person, that’s when peace begins. That may be a actual peace.”