Monks walk for peace

(Editor's note: Most of the following is reprinted from the Pennsylvania Website www.ExploreClarion.com.)

It was back in the final week of March when a group of six Buddhist monks departed from Key West, Florida — on foot — on their way to Niagara Falls with their message that advocates for world peace.

They will be at the Underground Railroad Heritage Museum Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Some residents of both Venango and Clarion counties told the newspaper that they knew nothing about the monks, their walking mission for peace or, for that matter, the news that they had passed through or were in the process of passing through their communities on Wednesday and Thursday.

During Wednesday’s hot and humid temperatures, the monks, who are from southern Thailand, arrived in Foxburg, where they stayed overnight. They then picked up with their journey during an equally steamy Thursday on their way to Dempseytown for another overnight stay.

On Thursday, with the help of Rockland Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kevin Williams, Venango County Commissioner Albert Abramovic and Cranberry Township Manager Sabrina Backer, the newspaper learned the monks were in the vicinity of both Rockland and Cranberry.

Once the newspaper caught up with them, their walk, which so far has covered more than 1,700 miles, was taking them through Cranberry and eventually Oil City, during which they carried two peace flags — one white and one blue — and many people waved or stopped to say hello.

“Everybody has been very welcoming and helping us to get there,” the group’s leader, Sutham Nateetong, said.

“Every country and every religion — Muslim, Christians, Hindus, Sikh and others — embrace us,” he said while pointing toward the flag representing major religions in unification. “We want everyone to have peace together with inner peace.”

While in South Carolina, the monks said people lined both sides of streets in one community to show their support.

The attainment of world peace, Nateetong said, is important because “peace is not only beautiful for governments, peace is beautiful for everybody and makes the world better. World peace starts with inner peace. If everybody had inner peace we would have world peace.”

By walking 30 miles each day, Nateetong said, the monks’ plan is to reach Niagara Falls on June 29. Once there, they will engage in a ceremony and meet with that community’s mayor.

It was back in 2019 when the monks began to literally walk for world peace.

Nateetong said he and the monks walked from Thailand to France last year, passing through 15 countries, and “Five years ago, almost to the day, I walked through here (Venango County),” on a trek from Santa Monica, California, to New York.

The monks said they try to do peaceful walks within countries “big or small” and “share peace when others want to fight.”