Walking 850km for world peace
By S. Ista Kyra
ista@nst.com.my
It is in this manner, a Buddhist monk and two of his disciples will be reaching Johor Baru; a journey on foot covering a distance of 850km over a period of six months.
"The Journey of Awakening", as the walk is called, is initiated by Pure Karma Buddhist Centre's abbot Bema Dechian Doche Rinpoche who began his peace and prayer mission from Georgetown, Penang, on May 22.
"We may never be able to change the world in which we live in drastically, but we can certainly effect changes within ourselves with prayers and positive thinking.
"Each of us through prayers has the ability to make a difference -- inwardly and outwardly.
"It starts inwardly and slowly, the positivism manifests itself outwardly, thereby changing the world we live in bit by bit and collectively, making our journey on earth a pleasant one," said the 54-year-old spiritual leader on reaching Jalan Kota in Lake Gardens here at 8am here yesterday.
He and his disciples -- William Tan and Leong Wei Jie -- will continue to walk 5km daily until they reach their final destination at Pure Karma Buddhist Centre in Johor Baru.
"We start our walk everyday at 4am and finish the 5km distance in about four hours and we hope to complete the journey in six months' time," said 28-year-old Tan, who acts as an interpreter for the Rinpoche.
The trio hope to complete their mission by Dec 31.
He said they would be covering the entire 850km journey via trunk roads through Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and finally, Johor.
"We encourage people of all backgrounds to join us during the walk. Of course, they are not required to prostrate.
"If they wish they can say some prayers according to their own beliefs when the abbot prostrates on the ground."
According to Tan, more than 500 people had joined them along their walk since they left Penang.
The Rinpoche's mission of peace has also received support from the Malaysian Interfaith Network, Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement and Sri Sathya Sai Central Council of Malaysia.
Details on the walk can be obtained on journeyawakening.wordpress.com or The Journey of Awakening on Facebook.
Read more: Walking 850km for world peace http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/6inpoc/Article#ixzz1P8a5OiUL
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