Thought For The Day – Wednesday 21^st January 2026

One of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s core principles and values was Peace and Non-Violence.

Currently, a group of eighteen Buddhist monks are engaged on a walk of 2,300 miles across the United States of America.  They set off on the 26^th of October last year.

These monks are seeking to raise awareness of “Peace, Loving Kindness and Compassion”.

These are key Buddhist principles.

These are key human principles.

Such “Peace Walks” are a tradition in Buddhism dating back 2,000 years.

Significant crowds, and wonderful respect from people, is rightly greeting their journey.  They have been received emotionally and warmly. Their on-line reports of their path have attracted a million followers.

The monks are led by the Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra, who is conducting the walk barefoot, just as he did with a similar 2022 walk in India.

Two of the monks are adhering to a Buddhist practice where they only walk, stand, and sit, and never lie down, even to sleep.  These two monks sit in the meditation position through the night.

The monks have suffered very severe adversity on their journey.  Three weeks after setting off, a truck hit the group’s escort vehicle, injuring two monks, with one monk losing a leg.  This reduced the walkers to eighteen.

The monks are joined by Aloka, their dog, whose name means: “Divine Light”.

Thank you to Mrs. Haines for raising awareness of this inspirational story.