Months after Walk for Peace Comes to GW, Focus on Mindfulness Remains

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When Amitha Khema Thero heard that a group of fellow monks in Texas were planning a months-long Walk for Peace that would end in Washington, D.C., the first thing he saw was an opportunity for connection.

Khema is the Buddhist chaplain at the George Washington University, serving on the Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life (CISL)'s interfaith council of chaplains. Like the Walk for Peace monks, he is a practitioner of the Theravada school of Buddhism, within which the peace walk is a recognized tradition. In fact, he had taken part in one years earlier at his home monastery in Sri Lanka.

Khema approached University Chaplain Kristen Glass Perez with a proposal: Could GW host a small talk or meditation event for the monks? The peace walk probably wouldn't attract a lot of notice, but surely some people would be interested, including practitioners from Khema's own community, the Mahamevnawa Buddha Meditation Center of Washington D.C. Glass Perez gladly agreed.

But over the months between idea and execution, the Walk for Peace became a nationwide and global phenomenon. Excitement built on campus as the monks got closer to D.C., and Glass Perez saw an opportunity to make this historical moment accessible to students. The originally modest plans to welcome the group to GW ballooned into two days of events, beginning with a community talk for students in GW's Betts Theatre after a massive interfaith ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral. The monks stayed the night at the Lerner Health and Wellness Center and, the next day, visited the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial before leading a public meditation for thousands at the Charles E. Smith Center.

Right up until the Walk for Peace arrived, Khema, Glass Perez and colleagues from the Division for Student Affairs, Campus Safety and many others including the D.C. interfaith community had to juggle multiple plans, backup plans and backup-to-the-backup plans. The winter weather had been severe, blanketing the city in "snowcrete" that still clogged sidewalks weeks later. Several monks were suffering from health issues, affecting the speed of the walk and the schedule. And the team had to be sure their preparations aligned with the monks' faith tradition-not offering physical gifts, for instance, and not privileging one venue or event over another. The process was "wonderful and beautiful and humbling to work through," Glass Perez recalled.

Fortunately, Khema had a powerful tool he could rely on even in the most stressful times-the same one that aided the monks on the Walk for Peace as they dealt with extreme weather, illness and the many other challenges of the journey. It's a tool available to anyone at any moment, Khema said, though many of us may find it difficult to access. That tool was mindfulness.

Mindfulness is simply nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment, Khema explained. It means feeling your own breath, noting involuntary movements in the body, observing distracting emotions or thoughts as they arise and letting them pass without getting involved in the internal dramas they may tempt you to play out. It is foundational to, but distinct from, meditation: Mindfulness is not a formal practice, Khema said, but a skill that "gives a pause" between emotion and reaction, creating time to choose our behavior instead of lashing out instinctively. "When you have that pause, that awareness, it's like having your own security guard over your thoughts."

Mindfulness practice also is the reason the growing external scale of the peace walk didn't change its essential goals, which Khema said are purely internal. A peace walk is not primarily about specific geopolitical conflicts (though awareness of these is unavoidable for the spectator). Rather, such a walk is about focusing on the body and finding peace with the internal push-pull of the "monkey mind," becoming aware of the usually unconscious movements of breath and muscle and renewing that peaceful awareness with every breath and every step.

"The primary goal is peace within ourselves: practicing mindful walking, practicing acceptance whether [other] people accept us or reject us," Khema said.

He also emphasized that a peace walk is in no way evangelical. Onlookers are part of it, not as a passive "audience" or as potential converts but as equal participants in a shared moment of awareness and compassion.

"When people gather [to witness a peace walk], they are genuinely sharing mindfulness-not Buddhism, actually, but mindfulness and loving kindness."

The energy of the Walk for Peace is still accessible to students, faculty and staff touched by it in February through Khema's regular non-religious "Meditate with a Monk" sessions, an initiative started by the Buddha Meditation Center. Upcoming meditations will be held in the CISL meditation space on the second floor of the University Student Center April 28 and May 11, during final exams and Senior Week, respectively. Anyone is welcome to join, Khema said, with no prior meditation experience required.

For those who don't feel ready for group meditation, there are also individual methods of beginner mindfulness practice, Khema said. The most basic: Simply sit still for 10 breaths, in and out. Notice the mind and body while keeping count.

At its simplest, mindfulness doesn't require sitting straighter, breathing more deeply or thinking kinder thoughts. It does not require behavior change, only attention. Just breathe, observing how it feels and how the mind reacts, for 10 cycles of inhalation and exhalation. (Those seeking a quiet space on campus for this or any other meditative exercise are welcome to use any of the several prayer and meditation spaces administered by CISL.)

Thoughts and sensations inevitably do arrive: Why is my leg twitching? Did my phone just buzz? I wish I could undrink that third coffee. This is a waste of time-I have a deadline! For 10 breaths, none of these stimuli need to be acted upon, and no problems need to be resolved. The only thing that matters is nonjudgmental awareness of the breath. The mind wanders, and that's not a problem either. Simply return to the feeling of breath entering and exiting the nostrils.

With practice, Khema said, these 10 breaths can be expanded into 10 minutes, then more. Eventually, mindfulness may become second nature.

Especially for college students, mindfulness has concrete benefits, Khema said, including reduced stress, improved ability to focus and a more honest and manageable relationship with one's emotions, including "negative" feelings like anger and grief.

"The best way it helps is to navigate through emotions," Khema said. "Feeling anger is not bad, but holding anger is dangerous."

Can 10 mindful breaths a day make a profound difference in the average person's life? Maybe not. But maybe. As Khema suggested: Why not try it and find out?

"If you want a more calm, balanced mind, you can change it within yourself," he said. "When we change ourselves, this world has peace."

Visit the CISL website to learn more about available resources.