Walking 3,200 miles throughout the South can wear you out.
On Thursday, the 19 monks doing so took a break for lunch before resuming their trek on U.S. Highway 64 toward downtown Pittsboro.
Onlookers parked their cars for miles along the highway, while Chatham County Sheriff's officers escorted the group.
Hundreds waited for hours in hopes of catching just a few minutes of the peaceful walk — some monks wore running shoes, others walked barefoot. They all wore saffron robes as they've received an overwhelming response across the Carolinas.
"It brings tears to your eyes," said Kristen Aldretti, who flew in from Colorado and rented a car to see the monks. "It's so moving to think about what they’re doing and the symbolism and the selflessness, and it does give you hope."
The monks hail from Dhammacetiya, a Vietnamese Buddhist organization in Fort Worth, Texas. Their walk began on Oct. 26 there, and they plan to reach Washington, D.C., before Valentine's Day.
The "Walk for Peace" amassed a viral social media following with each day of their journey, with people following the group to get a glimpse of their universal message of peace, mindfulness, and compassion.
On Friday, the monks set out toward Apex where they stopped and participated in a ceremony with the town before heading east to Raleigh.
When the monks finally passed the anxious people on the side of the highway, the crowds were mostly silent.
People held out roses for them, many putting their hands together at their chest in prayer out of reverence and gratitude.
Some had tears running down their faces, and others knelt down before them.
Monks chant, bless an ailing woman
The monks silently smiled as they walked by, stopping briefly only to pass out a bracelet, or receive a flower.
Suddenly, the monks stopped at a woman standing with a sign. She knelt before them. Then, they began to chant for nearly a minute, as people stood by and watched in awe.
Lilly-Ann Wilson, who came from Washington, D.C. sobbed loudly next to them as they chanted.
The woman with the sign was recovering from a bone marrow transplant and asked the monks for a blessing.
Wilson told WUNC that the woman with the sign was her sister, whom she had visited to be her bone marrow donor. Her sister sought a blessing from the monks in her fragile condition.
"I can’t contain myself, I just can’t," said Wilson, who sat in her car crying afterwards. "It’s a beautiful moment. An absolutely beautiful moment."
A moment "needed for the nation"
For people of Asian descent who attended the walk, it was a different experience. Chapel Hill resident Lin Oo migrated to North Carolina from Myanmar during the pandemic.
"We (are) people (who) love peace. Every (body) love peace," said Oo. "That’s why they walk? We don’t care, we don’t know. But they walk for peace. The world needs peace."
The monks' walk was important to him because Buddhist monks led a historic protest in 2007 against the military government in Myanmar, facing severe repression.
But here in America, they can march freely, he said.
"Buddhism is not a religion, it's a way of life," said Jenny Flynn, who is Nepalese-American and traveled from New Jersey. "The monks are living Buddhism. They are practicing simplicity and peace."
For Lynne Johnson, one of the many local residents who turned out, the monks' journey is a respite amid news of war and political division.
"I think it’s what our nation needs," said Johnson. "I think it’s the one thing right now that people can come together about. Everyone's so divided. We don't need to be."
