Walk for Peace LA

Hello, dear sangha,

Let’s start with the practicals.

Walk for Peace LA is tomorrow! We look forward to walking with solidarity, peacefully, silently, and with much joy this Saturday, February 14th. Please see the event page for the details.

Also, we are still looking for volunteers the day of the event. If you can help, please fill out our volunteer form or join our WhatsApp Group.

On to a short reflection — in the midst of the whirlwind.

“Walk for Peace LA”

Over the last several weeks, I’ve heard this phrase many times and over time I’ve meditated on it in different intonations. At first, it was a question: “Walk for Peace, LA?” As my housemate Chris likes to say about intentional community, “Are we doing this, friends?” Are we making that commitment? Are we going to do the work to make good on that commitment? We’re still asking that question, and finding out what it means. In the present case, it means: are we planning a walk? Are we taking this on? We decided, yes. Even if we walk with a group of 20 people, we are doing a walk. We are committed to walking for peace here, where we live, on the West Coast, in honor of the amazing, inspiring, skillful pilgrimage these monks have made. We scheduled an organizing meeting. We called on our mentors and friends. We wrote to strangers. We put out feelers to see if there was interest and support. And there was.

“Walk for Peace LA”

Then, it became “Walk for Peace LA.” As we reached out to temples and sanghas around Los Angeles, we found that we needed to take care to communicate that we are inspired by the Theravada monks walking from Fort Worth to DC, not affiliated with them. This walk is a separate, independently organized walk—a grassroots effort in honor of those monastics and the spirit that moves through them. They are “Walk for Peace USA”, we are “Walk for Peace LA”. We want to take up what we hear as their call, while acknowledging that we are something different. We are “LA.” The walk we are co-organizing is different, and indubitably reflects some of our West coast idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. This, we have found, is a good thing.

We reached out to some sanghas, and immediately got connected with some powerhouses of local organizing, with decades of experience and relationships. This has been the great joy and consistent reward of this organizing effort so far: connecting with the organizer community in Plum Village, and connecting with the broader sangha in LA. Many of you have found out about us through this walk. We are pleased to meet you. We are an intentional community in Echo Park, and a sangha, and we want to be part of something larger than ourselves. We aspire to be a part of a community of communities, to play our role in a movement of movements for The Great Turning, or whatever you want to call the awakening and healing of our species and planet. So we are delighted to be connected, to build our sangha, to join with you in practicing the realization of interbeing, the cultivation of peace and compassion, and spiritually based social action.

As the energy around the Walk for Peace has grown, so has our appreciation for this special city we live in. Where else in the US could such a walk be organized? We’ve thought a bit about that question, as organizers from Portland and Phoenix have reached out wondering if there would be sister walks in their cities. With its size, history, and culture, LA is in a unique position to support a large, spontaneous, walk for peace. And it has.

“Walk for Peace, LA!”

Now, the imperative. Come join us, LA! Many already have said they will. Come more! It’s time to walk. The table is set. As Thich Nhat Hanh taught us to say, “this is — a happy moment.”

Looking forward to joining many of you for a special contemplative walk for peace in the streets of LA tomorrow.

With a bow,

Garrett