A group of Buddhist monks continues their cross-country walking journey across much of the U.S. to advocate for peace, even after two members were injured when a truck collided with their escort vehicle.
Having begun their trek in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 26, the roughly two dozen monks in the group have reached Georgia as they press on toward Washington, D.C.—highlighting Buddhism’s long-standing tradition of peace activism.
On Tuesday, the group planned to cover its latest stretch in Georgia, traveling from the town of Morrow to Decatur (on Atlanta’s eastern edge). Marking the 66th day of their walk, the group invited the public to a Peace Gathering in Decatur that afternoon.
The monks and their devoted dog Aloka are journeying through 10 states en route to Washington, D.C. In the coming days, they aim to pass through or very close to Athens, Georgia; Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh in North Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia—all on their way to the nation’s capital.
The group has built a massive social media following, with over 400,000 followers on Facebook. Aloka even has its own hashtag: #AlokathePeaceDog.
The group’s Facebook page is regularly updated with progress reports, inspirational notes, and poetry.
“We do not walk alone. We walk together with every person whose heart has opened to peace, whose spirit has chosen kindness, whose daily life has become a garden where understanding grows,” the group posted recently.
The trek has not been without danger. Last month outside Houston, the monks were walking along a highway near Dayton, Texas, when their escort vehicle—with hazard lights activated—was hit by a truck, Dayton Interim Police Chief Shane Burleigh said.
The truck “didn’t notice how slow the vehicle was going, tried to make an evasive maneuver to drive around the vehicle, and didn’t do it in time,” Burleigh said at the time. “It struck the escort vehicle in the rear left, pushed the escort into two of the monks.”
One of the monks had “substantial leg injuries” and was airlifted to a Houston hospital, Burleigh said. The other monk, with less serious injuries, was taken by ambulance to another hospital in suburban Houston. A group spokeswoman noted that the monk with the serious leg injuries was expected to undergo a series of surgeries to treat a broken bone, but his recovery prognosis was good.
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that evolved from the teachings of Gautama Buddha—a prince turned teacher believed to have lived in northern India and attained enlightenment between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. The religion spread to other parts of Asia after his death and arrived in the West in the 20th century. Buddha taught that the path to ending suffering and escaping the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation includes practicing non-violence, cultivating mental discipline through meditation, and showing compassion for all beings.
While Buddhism has branched into numerous sects over the centuries, its rich tradition of peace activism continues. Its social teachings were pioneered by figures like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, who have applied core principles of compassion and non-violence to political, environmental, and social justice issues, as well as global peace-building efforts.
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Associated Press Writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles contributed.