200 in Spokane celebrate Walk for Peace

 

About 200 people gathered Feb. 12 in Spokane and walked a 10-block route from Riverfront Park through downtown in solidarity with 19 Buddhist monks as they completed their 2,300-mile, months-long Walk for Peacefrom Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., by 19 Buddhist monks.

Denise Attwood and Kim Harmson, who are active in fair trade, organized the local event. They wanted to carry forward the message of the Monk's Walk for Peace in a physical way by bringing together people in Spokane who wanted to physically take a step together for peace.

 "They made it an intentional walk together into the heartfelt, compassionate place where we all want to live," said Denise.

Venerable Thubten Chonyi was one of two nuns who came from Sravasti Abbey near Newport.

Kim, Chonyi and Denise spoke at the beginning of the walk, inviting everyone to Walk for Peace and carry in their hearts the words and actions of the monks who walked.

Kim spoke of how inspirational the monks' walk was.

Denise led a meditation of gratitude and read from the 10 vows of Venerable Bhikkhu Pañnakara, a Theravada Buddhist monk from the Hmong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center of Fort Worth, who led the Walk for Peace.

• May every nation live in safety, stability and dignity, free from fear, chaos and unnecessary suffering.

• May every person be heard, respected and protected, regardless of their race, their background, their faith or language.

• May fear be replaced with understanding and may misunderstanding never again become a reason for violence.

• May hatred be transformed into compassion, so pain is met with care instead of blame.

• May peace exist, not only in words and speeches, but also in laws, policies, communities and daily life.

• May true strength be measured, not by control, force or weapons, but by how we protect one another, especially our children and the vulnerable.

• May progress always walk together with morality and may growth never be built on human suffering.

• May dialogue be chosen over confrontation and listening over judgment in families, societies, and nations.

• May people find peace within their own hearts, so that the world no longer needs violence to survive.

• May the path to peace require no enemies, only human beings, returning to morality, to responsibility and to one another.

Chonyi set the intention for the walk.

Denise, Kim and Chonyi asked people to bring a flower as they walked so they could place the flower, along with their intentions for walking forward in peace, into an offering that they made in the form of a heart in front of Spokane City Hall.

"That was just beautiful to witness. People came as they ended the walk with tears in their eyes, saying thank you for this, I really needed this, how amazing to feel us all together holding hearts and a vision of peace," said Denise. "The offering grew and grew. We could feel the presence of a community that wanted to bring compassion and hope to the world."

The offering sat in front of city hall for 24 hours, where it gathered more flowers and a balloon. Then Kim and Denise took the flowers and offered them to nature so that the energy of love collected in them could be spread throughout the world.

For information, email denise@ganeshimaltrading.com.