On the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 2 at City Hall, thousands of people flooded the plaza at 9th and Marshall Streets. They were standing on pavement and on snow and ice, many with eyes closed, hands folded over their chests, listening to their heartbeats.

Melting ice slowly slid down the glass walls of the Children’s Hospital, glinting in the sharp sunlight. The flagpole clinked, and from across 9th Street the recordings of upset starlings were as shrill as always from the courts building, to keep the real starlings away. A green-haired man perched in one of the oak trees. The crowd remained still as a Buddhist monk spoke quietly into a microphone, guiding them inward to heartbeat and breath.

This was Richmond’s peaceful day.

The Walk for Peace was organized by a group of monks who hail from around the world following the Vietnamese Theravada Buddhist tradition, with a goal to raise “awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.” They set out on Oct. 26 from Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas to walk approximately 2,300 miles across 10 states to Washington, D.C. As they passed through towns and cities throughout the Southeast, more and more people came out to greet them, offering flowers and gifts, and to receive blessings as they walked by.

Aloka the Peace Dog — a stray dog the group adopted on a former pilgrimage in India — walked with them and has garnered his own devoted global following via social media (he even has a heart-shaped mark on his forehead). In South Carolina, Aloka paused for surgery for a nagging leg injury; he later rejoined the walk but now mostly rides in the Walk for Peace support vehicles while his leg continues to heal. Richmonders were treated to a glimpse of Aloka on Monday as Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards personally carried him through the crowd to the RV as the monks departed City Hall.

The monks have endured considerable hardship on their journey. In November, two monks were injured when a truck hit one of their support vehicles, knocking it into the walkers. Thirty-year-old Bhante Maha Ajarn Dam Phommasan, of the Wat Buddha Khanti temple in Atlanta, was injured so severely that his leg was later amputated. He is recovering well and in good spirits; and was reunited with the Walk for Peace in Georgia earlier this month amidst an outpouring of support on social media.

In watching and supporting this effort, America appears to be finding, with a sense of wonder, relief and often with tears, its own better nature. Like many other towns and cities along the route, Richmond provided an inspiring example at scale – out of love, excitement and a profound and tangible need.

On this special Day 100 of this extraordinary pilgrimage, crowds began to gather at Fire Station #17 on Semmes Avenue in the early afternoon. Children scuffled in icy snow piles. Traffic slowly came to a halt as the crowd swelled, but no horns honked except a passing garbage truck with a cheerful greeting.

While the monks usually ask that people not walk along with them, they marked this epoch in their journey by inviting all visitors to accompany them from the fire station to City Hall, where Richmond Mayor Danny Avula and Virginia’s new Governor Abigail Spanberger waited to greet them and to issue a proclamation in their honor, standing alongside many other elected officials and police officers.

According to an estimate from the mayor’s office, 10,000 people joined the monks on this walk, spanning the Manchester Bridge, and gently flooding downtown streets. As a father walking along explained to his two young children, “Sometimes people gather together and do stuff like this when things really matter.”

Sandra Dent, whose daughter, Tanya Waddy, drove her down from Newburgh, Md., remembered the power of how people came together to help each other after the tragedy of Sept. 11. For her, she says the Walk For Peace “means there is hope in the world, because everybody needs peace, right? And I think just seeing [the monks] and just being involved with this just gives us — gives me, anyway — a new sense of hope that the world will get better.”

Others echoed that sense of hope. Richmonder Sarah Cannon was partly inspired to join the walk by her experience on the Camino de Santiago, a famous pilgrimage in Spain.

“I just think that it is a really powerful thing to come out and be together, and especially in a time like this,” she said. “There’s so much negativity out there, but to just show up and see your neighbors … to see the humanity in each other. I hope every city [that the walk] touches has that experience, and I definitely feel that today.”

Marshall Pugh drove up to Richmond Monday morning from Kitty Hawk, N.C. through the recent snow there. He had already greeted the monks at the Virginia-North Carolina border by setting up a hot tea stand on their route, but he wanted to see them again.

“It just filled you with hope, goodness, peace, all of the things that are good, that we need now,” he said “I’m hoping that it’ll spread.”

The gentleness of the monks’ message balanced with the rigors and difficulties of their walk demonstrate that peace is an active practice.

Kevin Lamarr Jones, who visited several points along their route as they moved up through Chester and into Richmond, noted their dedication: “Having them on my streets, the streets that I pass by every day, was very powerful… They’re so dedicated. That’s what moves me. They’re so dedicated and so focused to complete this journey.

“I’m just imagining having to walk and be so cold. It’s such a powerful testament,” he continued. “But it shows you that peace is possible. That’s what I’m carrying forward, that peace is possible, and it starts within.”

This sense of innate possibility felt tangible among the crowd all day.

“I do think this is a pivotal point for us, and so I wanted to be here in this moment,” said Mechelle Esparza-Harris. “Because I feel like this quiet strength represents so much of who we can be.”

As the crowd arrived at City Hall and settled in, hawkers selling T-shirts with Walk For Peace imagery appeared but did not see much business (the Walk For Peace does not sell or condone merchandise). Others shouted, “Ice cold beer!” and, oddly, “Ice cold hot chocolate!” while some people chuckled quietly.

Then attention and enthusiasm were fixed on the stage as first Mayor Danny Avula spoke, followed by Governor Spanberger [who made her first proclamation that Feb. 2 would be known as Walk for Peace day]. Dr. Neeraj Bajracharya, the Walk for Peace’s government liaison and press coordinator, then introduced Venerable Bikkhu Paññākāra, the monk who has been leading the walk, and whose gentle humor and simple teaching offer the possibility of peace to everyone he encounters.

Many of us have tried to practice some version of mindfulness — it’s a word we often hear but don’t see in practice. There came a moment, early in the venerable monk’s talk, when someone in the crowd called for a medic. Paññākāra noted the need, and that a medic was coming, and he then guided the crowd to close their eyes, tune in to their breath, and listen to their heartbeat for several minutes.

“The medic will take care of the person in need, and the rest of us can do this,” he said, wisely steering his audience away from worry and helplessness, and bringing them back to a sense of their own power over themselves. This is a power we always have, he added, and it can change ourselves and the world.

Instead of hate and anger, if we throw loving kindness, compassion and peace out to the universe, “it will shower back down with love, kindness, compassion, so that this world will be a better place for all our future generations, and all beings,” he explained.

“That’s why I ask all of us to walk together with the monks every single day by practicing mindfulness for yourself … I know that this journey is difficult, but I truly believe every single one of us can do this.”

The Walk for Peace continues through Virginia to Washington, D.C. and the monks invite people to join them in the nation’s capital on Feb 10 and 11. Schedule updates are posted regularly on the Walk For Peace Facebook page. 

 Confirmed schedule as of Day 100 (Feb. 2, 2026):
– Feb. 10: They will visit the Washington National Cathedral.
– Feb. 11: They will host a meditation retreat in the afternoon and evening.
– Feb. 12: They  will depart Washington, DC, to return to Fort Worth, TX by bus.

They will have more events throughout Feb. 10 and 11, from morning to evening, check their social media for more information.