Buddhist Monks March For Peace From Texas to Washington DC
Buddhist Monk determined on their walk for Peace with their loyal dog Aloka. Source: Walk for Peace Facebook Page.
On October 26th 2025, a group of Buddhist monks started their walk for peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to their final destination to Washington DC. The walk is estimated to take 120 days and 2,300 miles in total. The group is determined to brave harsh conditions and continue to march for their final destination to Washington DC, despite injuries, harsh weather, and logistical challenges on their way.
The aim of the walk is to promote peace through non-violence and meditation; key principles of the Buddhist religion, which has a long tradition of activism for peace.
The Monks are accompanied by their loyal dog Aloka, which has become a social media sensation for the selfless act of determination to march on, despite injuries, which has touched many hearts. Aloka, the dog, who is named after a Sanskrit word meaning enlightenment, has its own hashtag #AlokathePeaceDog.
In the coming days, the Monks will pass through the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Richmond, Virginia, on their way to the nation’s capital city. You can track their live walk here.
The overwhelming response from the members of the public who line the roads and provide them with water bottles, flowers, and take selfies have gone viral on many social media platforms.
The Peace for Walk Facebook page now has more than 600,000 followers, which provides regular updates and route changes on the walk, inspirational quotes, and poetry, gaining tens of thousands of likes and comments by members of the public.
The group has recently said, “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 walk has its own challenges. Last month, outside Houston near Dayton, Texas, the group’s escort vehicle was hit by a truck and subsequently hit two Monks, one with serious injuries who was flown by helicopter to a hospital, and another monk with less serious injuries was taken by an ambulance. Both monks are now currently recovering.
Buddhism originates from the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a prince-turned-teacher who is believed to have lived in Northern India and gained enlightenment between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. The Buddha taught that the path to end human suffering and liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation demands the practice of non-violence, mental disciplines through mediation, and being caring and compassionate to all human beings.
The famous Buddhist monks, such as the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, who applied the main tenets of Buddhism, such as compassion and nonviolence, to political, social, and environmental justice as well as to peacebuilding initiatives around the world.