Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
Emphasizing mindfulness and personal resolve, a group of Venerable Buddhist Monks traveled through the Piedmont Triad on their 2,300-mile Walk for Peace. While in Greensboro on the 86th day of the four-month journey from Fort Worth, Tx, to Washington, D.C., the leader told more than 2,000 people who welcomed them at the Grandover Resort that their mission is to seek and raise awareness of “peace, loving kindness and compassion.”
Greensboro Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter welcomed the 18 monks, reading a resolution, honoring their presence, dedication and purpose “in the spirit of compassion, unity and interfaith harmony.” On MLK Jr. Day, Jan. 19, the ascetic monks spent the night, resting on the floor of the hotel’s ballroom, arising early the next morning to walk several miles to Greensboro’s Chua Quan Am Temple, where hundreds of people greeted them.
The monks set off on October 26 from a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Fort Worth, before passing through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. The monks stop at the capitol of each state they pass through, frequently drawing crowds of thousands of people. Their social media has attracted more than a million followers. When they arrive in Washington, D.C., they will ask Congress to recognize Vesak, the Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment, as a federal holiday.
