'We just need something positive' - Monks' peace walk across US draws large crowds
At a time of strife and political tension in the United States, the monks offer a change of tone on their 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) odyssey across eight states through freezing temperatures and along ice-covered roads.
On Tuesday, north of Virginia's capital Richmond, Louella Glessner stood on a mound of plowed snow, flowers in hand, hoping the robed monks and their mission might somehow begin to heal America's toxic divisions.
"I am a Christian, but this whole concept, I think it's great," Glessner, a 62-year trust administrator, told AFP ahead of the monks' arrival at a Buddhist temple where people gathered on the roadside and in the pagoda grounds.
"It's what the country needs. We need to have peace and we need to find commonality between all people," she said.
Since launching their ambitious trek 101 days ago from a Buddhist center in Fort Worth, Texas, the group of about 20 monks have spread a message of unity, compassion, mindfulness, healing and peace.
It has resonated in unexpectedly dramatic fashion, with thousands of people turning up to share in the experience. Last month, 20,000 well-wishers greeted them in Columbia, South Carolina.
The mission's Facebook page tops 2.5 million followers and its videos have garnered over 100 million views.
The group's peace dog Aloka, a former stray from India that has accompanied the monks on the trip, has also become a celebrity in its own right.
The monks, who often stay overnight at churches or university campuses, hail from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
On Tuesday in Glen Allen, onlookers kneeled and offered fruit, police officers shook the monks' hands, and the monks presented people with blessing threads and other gifts.
Children shyly offered flowers or waved as the group walked past.
Leading the procession has been Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Vietnamese monk whose saffron sash is adorned with sheriff badges from the many counties that have hosted them and secured the roads.
'In the moment'
Despite the bitter cold, and the fractious state of US politics during the first year of Donald Trump's presidency, the monks are accomplishing something few others have: bringing people together.
Two weeks ago in North Carolina, 10,000 people packed a baseball stadium to hear Bhikku Pannakara speak.
"It's been crowded like this for the last couple of states," he told those in attendance, urging listeners to avoid "chasing materialism" and to abandon thoughts of greed, anger and hatred.
North of Richmond, Sarah Peyton and her two young sons stood quietly contemplating the monks who walked briskly past.
"Right now I think we just need something positive," the 38-year-old Black woman and Virginia native told AFP moments later in a hushed voice.
"It doesn't matter where you're from, you can come stand here and just witness a peaceful experience.
"There's nobody dragging anybody out of cars, nobody's yelling, nobody's angry. Everybody is just here in the moment."
The walk has not been without anguish. One monk was struck by a vehicle in a November traffic accident, and his leg had to be amputated. He reportedly reunited with the group in Georgia.
"Our walking itself cannot create peace," the monks wrote in an early blog post.
"But when someone encounters us... when our message touches something deep within them, when it awakens the peace that has always lived quietly in their own heart -- something sacred begins to unfold."
The monks are expected to arrive in the capital on February 10 and visit the Washington National Cathedral before holding a meditation retreat the following day.
Will the "Walk for Peace" change much? Perhaps it could help Americans to think with more compassion and humility, Glessner suggested.
"If it takes 20 monks walking from Texas to DC," she'd be thrilled, she said. "People want to try something."