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Walk for Peace: The Other Side of the Looking Glass
Walk for The Other Side of the Looking Glass
What if the peace you have been searching for has been walking beside you all along?
In the fall of 2025, a monk from the suburbs of Chicago laced up his shoes and joined a group of practitioners on a 2,300 mile journey from Fort Worth, Texas to the steps of the capital in Washington DC. This is not just a story about walking. It is a story about waking up.
Through scorching Texas highways and the relentless rain of Louisiana and the historic trails of Alabama this book takes you on a raw and unforgettable pilgrimage into the heart of what peace truly means. You will meet a dog who inspired thousands and a woman who laid flowers on the road before they arrived and a stranger who trusted a monk to carry the remains of her father all the way to the capital. Every mile holds a lesson and every lesson holds a key.
Written by Ajanh Su Ron, the Walk for Peace Peacemaker, this memoir goes beyond the road to offer you practical tools for your own journey. Through guided meditations and mindfulness practices and honest reflections you will discover how to step out of the noise of daily life and find the sanctuary that already lives inside you.
Peace is not a destination. It is the very next breath you take.
If you are ready to walk toward a lighter and more compassionate life then scroll up and begin your journey today.
What if the peace you have been searching for has been walking beside you all along?
In the fall of 2025, a monk from the suburbs of Chicago laced up his shoes and joined a group of practitioners on a 2,300 mile journey from Fort Worth, Texas to the steps of the capital in Washington DC. This is not just a story about walking. It is a story about waking up.
Through scorching Texas highways and the relentless rain of Louisiana and the historic trails of Alabama this book takes you on a raw and unforgettable pilgrimage into the heart of what peace truly means. You will meet a dog who inspired thousands and a woman who laid flowers on the road before they arrived and a stranger who trusted a monk to carry the remains of her father all the way to the capital. Every mile holds a lesson and every lesson holds a key.
Written by Ajanh Su Ron, the Walk for Peace Peacemaker, this memoir goes beyond the road to offer you practical tools for your own journey. Through guided meditations and mindfulness practices and honest reflections you will discover how to step out of the noise of daily life and find the sanctuary that already lives inside you.
Peace is not a destination. It is the very next breath you take.
If you are ready to walk toward a lighter and more compassionate life then scroll up and begin your journey today.
222 pages, Paperback
Published April 18, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 8, 2026
I wanted this book to be good. I kept reading, past the point where my doubts set in, because I hoped it would find its footing. It didn't — and it's worth saying why: what's missing from this book is remarkable, given the story that could have been written.
Structurally, the timeline jumps back and forth. There is no natural flow from one event to the next. The phrase "2,300 miles" is repeated so often it loses all weight. Readers don't feel a distance through repetition of a number — they feel it through human detail, suffering transformed, connection forged. There is very little of that here.
Although this is his personal account, it's astounding that there were major omissions — events he apparently didn't consider worth acknowledging.
One of the Venerables lost his leg on the Walk. Another lost his toenails to sub-zero temperatures in boots too small, with no replacements available. Venerable Pannakara himself was too ill near the end to carry out his duties as Leader for several days — and when asked about their suffering, the monks' answer was the same: if that's what it takes to bring this message of peace, it's a small price to pay. That is the story — where peace stops being a concept and becomes something lived and costly. These moments are largely absent or treated as afterthoughts. It’s sad that the author appears to have formed few real bonds with most of the group - citing only a couple of instances. Most of the Venerables have spoken of the incredible bonds forged by 108 days of shared hardship, and the lives touched along the way. Without these, the book reads strangely lonely for a book about community.
What is here, with a frequency that becomes hard to ignore, are the author's personal grievances. He resents not receiving flowers when other monks did. He is relieved when yellow gloves make him more visible and "noticed." He mourns a lost pair of shoes worn only once. He notes, with apparent resentment, going unrecognized during Q&A sessions. He describes discomfort with walking at the back of the line — a placement determined by monastic seniority — without ever being transparent about why. He calls it "bad luck" that he had to request his missing second bag. He recounts a laundry mix-up as a "major mishap" that left him "terrified" — the kind of language you'd expect from someone who'd never faced real hardship, not a monastic teacher. A genuine one would likely have forgotten the incident by the next day, let alone recounted it in a book months later. Instead, because his English let him coordinate with volunteers, he arranged to have his own laundry washed regularly and separately, without ever using that same English to help other monks, who went days in unwashed robes. Even his account of crowd interactions is self-centered: he describes giving flowers to people who radiated "good energy," rather than seeking out those who seemed to be suffering and might have needed compassion most. These are not the responses of someone with a deep understanding of the teachings Venerable Pannakara and the other Venerables tried to share.
He also describes leadership tightening rules around public image, and states that partway through the Walk, he decided to be 'stealthy' — by his own account, a way to gather photos and video around the new restrictions. In plain terms: he decided to circumvent the rules, framing it as "clever" rather than the blatant disrespect his action showed to Venerable Pannakara, who bore tremendous responsibility on his own shoulders for the entire team.
There are a few genuinely good passages, which makes it more frustrating: the capacity may have been there. What was missing was the editorial discipline to cut what was small, and the courage to write honestly about what was large.
What's here are not confessions of ego examined and released — they're unprocessed grievances that weren't ready for publication. The Walk deserved more. So do the readers of this book.
Structurally, the timeline jumps back and forth. There is no natural flow from one event to the next. The phrase "2,300 miles" is repeated so often it loses all weight. Readers don't feel a distance through repetition of a number — they feel it through human detail, suffering transformed, connection forged. There is very little of that here.
Although this is his personal account, it's astounding that there were major omissions — events he apparently didn't consider worth acknowledging.
One of the Venerables lost his leg on the Walk. Another lost his toenails to sub-zero temperatures in boots too small, with no replacements available. Venerable Pannakara himself was too ill near the end to carry out his duties as Leader for several days — and when asked about their suffering, the monks' answer was the same: if that's what it takes to bring this message of peace, it's a small price to pay. That is the story — where peace stops being a concept and becomes something lived and costly. These moments are largely absent or treated as afterthoughts. It’s sad that the author appears to have formed few real bonds with most of the group - citing only a couple of instances. Most of the Venerables have spoken of the incredible bonds forged by 108 days of shared hardship, and the lives touched along the way. Without these, the book reads strangely lonely for a book about community.
What is here, with a frequency that becomes hard to ignore, are the author's personal grievances. He resents not receiving flowers when other monks did. He is relieved when yellow gloves make him more visible and "noticed." He mourns a lost pair of shoes worn only once. He notes, with apparent resentment, going unrecognized during Q&A sessions. He describes discomfort with walking at the back of the line — a placement determined by monastic seniority — without ever being transparent about why. He calls it "bad luck" that he had to request his missing second bag. He recounts a laundry mix-up as a "major mishap" that left him "terrified" — the kind of language you'd expect from someone who'd never faced real hardship, not a monastic teacher. A genuine one would likely have forgotten the incident by the next day, let alone recounted it in a book months later. Instead, because his English let him coordinate with volunteers, he arranged to have his own laundry washed regularly and separately, without ever using that same English to help other monks, who went days in unwashed robes. Even his account of crowd interactions is self-centered: he describes giving flowers to people who radiated "good energy," rather than seeking out those who seemed to be suffering and might have needed compassion most. These are not the responses of someone with a deep understanding of the teachings Venerable Pannakara and the other Venerables tried to share.
He also describes leadership tightening rules around public image, and states that partway through the Walk, he decided to be 'stealthy' — by his own account, a way to gather photos and video around the new restrictions. In plain terms: he decided to circumvent the rules, framing it as "clever" rather than the blatant disrespect his action showed to Venerable Pannakara, who bore tremendous responsibility on his own shoulders for the entire team.
There are a few genuinely good passages, which makes it more frustrating: the capacity may have been there. What was missing was the editorial discipline to cut what was small, and the courage to write honestly about what was large.
What's here are not confessions of ego examined and released — they're unprocessed grievances that weren't ready for publication. The Walk deserved more. So do the readers of this book.
April 29, 2026
Very well-written book about his participation in the 2025-2026 Walk for Peace from Texas to Washington DC as well as practical advice on living mindfully. He describes some of the hardships of the journey and how mindfulness helped him deal with them. After giving us a look at the journey, he gives teachings on how to find mindfulness in our own lives - both in actual meditation (breathing or walking or visualization) and in our day to day life.
April 30, 2026
This book is an easy read and beautifully written.
Venerable Su Ron is one of the Monks who walked the 2,300 miles from Texas to Washington, DC and in this book he narrates his experience on the walk and his internal transformation, as well as guidance on meditation and mindfulness.
Venerable Su Ron is one of the Monks who walked the 2,300 miles from Texas to Washington, DC and in this book he narrates his experience on the walk and his internal transformation, as well as guidance on meditation and mindfulness.
September 3, 2026
An interesting and engaging look at the monk walking at the back of the line ... Ajanh Su Ron did the 2,300 mile Walk For Peace and shares his experiences. Fascinating details. His account answered several questions I had - and I'll read it again.
May 20, 2026
I read this as part of my devotional time.
May 29, 2026
This book was amazing! I loved it
I would encourage all to read it
I would encourage all to read it
May 31, 2026
having physically witnessed the walk for peace and being touched by these men meant so much to me and this book continues my walk for peace
July 30, 2026
Loved this!
Loved that we could "walk beside him" as he writes about his lessons and his journey, even got a chapter on Aloka the Peace dog!
Loved that we could "walk beside him" as he writes about his lessons and his journey, even got a chapter on Aloka the Peace dog!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews