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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Thurs., Feb 5 [1]

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Date: 2026-02-05  

Morning y’all. While life spirals seemingly more out of control each day, a group of monks are winding up a 120 day Walk for Peace across the United States.

According to Google’s AI synopsis:

Distance: Over 2,300 miles.

Participants: Roughly 19 to 24 monks (varying reports) accompanied by a rescue dog named Aloka.

Social Media Impact: Over 1 million followers combined, with the main page over 570,000, and a dedicated page for Aloka reaching 510,000+ followers.

Crowd Turnout: Up to 20,000 people attended a single gathering in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mission: Promoting unity, healing, and compassion; seeking to have Buddha's birthday recognized as a federal holiday.

Route: Traversing 10 states, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

I’ve been following the monks journey on Facebook since the beginning of January and and am one of thousands who have fallen in love with Aloka, the peace dog. For those of you — is there really anyone? — not following this incredibly inspirational trek and its star, Aloka, I’d encourage you to tune in. A much needed centering point in a world which at times feels as if its gone mad.

Aloka tore his cruciate a few months into the walk and had surgery in January. He has since been reunited with the monks, although he cannot walk with them yet; he travels along in an RV and spends the night with them. Everywhere he shows up, crowds call out his name, try to get a chance to pet him. He wears different covering every day and has been awarded several commemorative medals, which are pinned onto his clothing.

Over these months, crowds have swelled lining the roads along their path and gathering at their ending point each day for a talk by one of the monks. The monks

The goal of the “Walk for Peace” is to promote mindfulness, healing, and compassion. For more information or to donate to their cause, click here. “Washington D.C. is not the final destination because we need world peace,” Venerable Monk Bhikku Pannakara said. “And world peace is something that we need to walk for the rest of our life. So we are not stopping there. www.12onyourside.com/…

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