Walk for Peace by Ven. Pannakara: Buddha’s teachings promoted by a global peace walker!

Ven. Pannakara’s visit to Sri Lanka can be seen as having a great symbolic significance, especially at a time when all the citizens in Sri Lanka have shown their interest in the need to purify themselves. Here Ven. Pannakara (in front) is seem leading the walk for peace and is accompanied by a stray dog they have named Aloka 

Gautama Buddha saw only one thing and that was ‘suffering’(dukkha) which was actually the nature of reality

The responsibility Ven. Pannakara took was always guided by exactly what Gautama Buddha had advised his followers

By Ven Kolonnave Dhammawimala  

All the “Living Beings” prove that they are living by being in ‘action’ and it proves that the ‘actions’ are prompted by initiation, which in  turn prove that they need kinds of prodding  that may be very mild at the lowest while such can be very forceful. There can be life which can be limited to reflexive action or automatic and such life is simply mechanical.

The difference is in the presence of mindfulness. Mind is the ‘centre’ where thinking starts and that is where everything starts. That was why Gautama Buddha became very clear and specific. He said that the ‘Mind’ is the beginning of all the deeds. It may be in what one says or does. When it is ‘bad’ the ‘Action’ that follows will never be good.

The ‘physiological organ’ that regulates the process is one’s brain. That is the ‘Command Centre’ and all the developed Animals have ‘Brains’, provided by the ‘Nature’ and that is the natural ‘Guage’ the nature has given.

A human being is the only animal that has the most developed brain and that in turn had caused the logical evolution of the limbs a human is gifted with, as they also have developed to suit the needs of an ‘exemplary’ human being.

So much time has passed since the world was shown the way to make use of the time we have received, but, can we be happy that we have been serving mankind as our Gautama Buddha  expected? 

This status has continued to prevail and most of us have become ‘simple ritual followers’ compared to the expectation that we Buddhists must be practicing Buddhists. 

The event or the experience, we are awaiting to go through, is going to be very special as it shall wake us from a dream of indifference, connected to all of us. I see as a Buddhist monk disciplined by the teachings of our Gautama Buddha who was the only human being who understood the way our fates had been, has been and will have been caused somewhere else, and without any escape, in this wide world we call the Home of Human Beings. It is a fact we are the most developed living beings, body-wise and mind-wise, compared to all the animals who share this home. Over two thousand five hundred years ago, our Gautama Buddha saw only one thing and that was ‘suffering’ (dukkha) which was actually the nature of reality.

Cultivating wisdom

He showed the path and emphasised cultivating wisdom, compassion, and mindfulness, while leading an ethical living and that can be summarised as “do no evil but do good, and purify the mind”, ending up with the unshakeable ‘Truth’ everything begins and ends with mindfulness. In whatever direction we may think, we will note that all of us suffer because, we have not taken it whole heartedly. In all the cases, if proper investigations are conducted, there shall be no doubt that all the negative developments had taken place due to unfair thinking. All such had brought in only misery.

It is not something special only for the modern world as the social disparities existed even then, naturally, as it was a natural feeling that prevailed. All those came up and spread out as there were no laws to prevent. As a person one has to be mindful for his or her own interests, then for the closest and for whom it was fairly common. What happened to the rest? 

Mind is something that cannot be controlled from outside. See, how natural GautamaBuddha had been.

The responsibility Ven. Pannakara took was always guided by exactly what Gautama Buddha had advised his followers to reach all the clueless people and show the right path for their own wellbeing.    Ven. Pannakara (pronounced Pagnakara) a  Vietnamese Buddhist monk known for leading the “Walk for Peace” across the USA, covering 2,300 miles to promote ‘mindfulness and compassion’ has become the Modern Day Reminder to practise ‘Vipassana meditation’. He teaches ‘Inner Peace’ that shall be the goal of any human being regardless of his or her religious identity. 

Unlike other human societies, USA can be taken as the most complex as its members can be from any Community, in this wide world. It is very important that he is known for the following, as shown below to give the readers an idea about him, about what he had done in USA. 

 He drew the attention to the Peace Walk leading a 108-day, 2,300-mile walk and ended in Washington, D.C., in February 2026, often walking barefoot.

 His main message is focused on finding peace within oneself, advising people to live mindfully and, specifically, to find peace inside themselves.

 Associated with the “Hương Đạo Vipassana Bhavana Center”, he works to promote Vipassana meditation (mind-body connection / awareness).

 He began the Dhammacetiya Project in late 2020 aimed at creating a symbolic marble stupa complex as a monument preserve the complete Tipitaka.

 The delegation he leads seeks to establish sacred symbols, including the Bodhi Tree saplings and Sacred Buddha Relics, at their US centers. 

Ven. Pannakara’s efforts are part of a broader movement bringing traditional Theravada practices to the United States through a Vietnamese community-focused approach. It is an open declaration of what he has been trying to achieve.

I thought of writing a few lines on this Venerable Visitor, as I see his visit to Sri Lanka in having a great symbolic significance, especially at a time when all the citizens in Sri Lanka have shown their interest in the need to purify themselves before seeking a world purified, a gesture to stay focused.

This is a very logical attempt to attract the attention of all the Practising Buddhists to have themselves assessed well to be able to practise real Buddhist principles, applied to the most sophisticated and complex lay-society, a real melting pot of all types of people, especially at a time, all the good trends and manners have been forgotten and the Human Society has become an “Organized Chaos”.

By the very humane and  natural attitudes Ven. Pannakara has been adhering to and had  proved by the very  ‘humility’ that become displayed for all to assess the qualities that have to be maintained as true Buddhists. This is exemplified by the story, we all have become familiar with the ‘four legged friend’’, the dog “Aloka” that is a very natural example for the exemplary ‘disciplined mindset’ of Venerable Pannakara.

It is really a very encouraging effort extended by Ven. Pannakara to the whole of Sri Lanka.

(The writer is from the Siri Wajiragnana Temple Maharagama)