How a 2,300-mile Walk for Peace thrust a Texas monk and his rescue dog into the spotlight

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chien Le first met the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara in 2005, a few years before Pannakara became a novice monk at the Texas Buddhist temple where he is now the deputy abbot.

What struck Le then, and amazes him still, is Pannakara’s iron-clad determination.

“When he decides to do something, he goes all the way,” said Le, secretary of the temple — the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth. “He’s never been afraid of obstacles. He always finds a way through them.”

That indomitable will was in full display during the meditative Walk for Peace that Pannakara led earlier this year with an international group of monks and his rescue dog, Aloka, who has become a mascot for the movement. The 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) journey started in Fort Worth on Oct. 26 and ended in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14.

Pannakara’s discourses on mindfulness and kindness in churchyards, town squares and in front of the Lincoln Memorial drew large, diverse crowds. Millions worldwide followed along online.

Within weeks, the Walk for Peace had propelled this obscure monk into the spotlight as a leading voice for inner peace and unity in an increasingly divided nation. His popularity continues to soar, with some drawing comparisons with the Dalai Lama, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Thich Nhat Hanh, a revered Zen master and peace activist who shared Pannakara’s Vietnamese roots.

Pannakara, who traveled to Southern California last weekend with Aloka for several speaking engagements, said he doesn’t care for all the attention.

“There is no fame for monks,” he said. “I made a vow to walk to raise awareness of peace, loving kindness and compassion. That’s what it’s about.”

As part of his Theravada Buddhist practice, he follows “Vinaya” — a strict code of monastic rules. That means no social media accounts, personal possessions or handling money, and the practice of celibacy and modesty.

He doesn't eat after noon and, according to Le, sleeps sitting up, which is not mandatory for Theravada monks, but adopted by some as an ascetic practice to deepen mindfulness.

Pannakara was born in Dak Lak, Vietnam, in 1981, the youngest of 10 children. He says his family was Buddhist in “name only.” He immigrated to the U.S. in 1997 and graduated with a degree in information technology from the University of Texas at Arlington. He said his first exposure to Buddhism was in the U.S. through temple summer camps and youth leadership.

Pannakara stepped away from his engineering career to become a novice monk and became fully ordained in 2010 by his teacher, the Most Venerable Ratanaguna, who he has often cited as his source of inspiration. There was not one life-changing event that prompted his decision, he said, but the cumulative effect of seeing his loved ones suffer and people trying to step on each other to move up.

“To me everything just seemed fake,” he said.

Le recalls that Pannakara’s parents were inconsolable.

“Even on the day he was ordained, his mother came, and she cried a lot,” he said, adding that they eventually accepted it.

Le said Pannakara was a quick learner, completing several projects on their campus including landscaping, a new kitchen, homes for the monastics and a memorial hall for deceased members.

At his teacher’s direction, Pannakara traveled to Myanmar between 2018 and 2020 to study and practice Vipassana meditation, an ancient technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. When COVID hit, he returned to Fort Worth and organized food drives, said Amanda Phan, a temple member.

“(Pannakara) is a rare human being,” she said. “He is an embodiment of kindness, compassion, wisdom — a bodhisattva — a being whose purpose is to relieve others from their suffering.”

In late 2022, Pannakara joined about 100 monks in a 2,100-mile (3,380-kilometer), 112-day pilgrimage tracing the footsteps of the Buddha — from his birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal, to Bodh Gaya where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, the site of the first sermon; and Kushinagar, where he died. The monks emulated Buddha's journey — walking barefoot, eating one meal a day, and sleeping under the stars.

“I had learned the Buddha’s teachings from the Tipitaka (Buddhist canon),” Pannakara said. “But with this walk, I experienced it.”

He also learned about himself — about his strength to bear adversity and pain.

“I learned that we can do much more than we think we’re capable of,” he said.

That journey also brought Aloka into his life. Aloka means light in Pali.

“Even when he faced challenges and almost died he walked with us,” Pannakara said of his dog.

It was on a previous trip to Bodh Gaya — under the Bodhi tree where the Buddha attained enlightenment — that Pannakara said he had a vision to build stone stupas to preserve the sacred teachings for generations to come. Seven years later, he told Ratanaguna about his desire. With his teacher’s blessing, the plan for the $200-million Dhammacetiya project was born — 840 stupas bearing Buddha’s teachings in 10 languages, built to last 4,000 years.

Pannakara knelt before an assembly of monastics and visitors during the temple’s 2022 International Vesak Ceremony and vowed that if he is unable to complete the project in this lifetime, he would “be reborn to continue this project until its completion.” This project and the peace walks — which he plans to do more of — together uphold his vow to promote peace and preserve the Buddha’s teachings, he said.

Ajahn Nisabho, a Seattle-based Theravada Buddhist monk, said he was moved by Pannakara's authenticity and commitment.

“The story of his quilted robe that he stitched it together from pieces of cloth he picked up during the walk in India — he was honoring that past and that ethos,” Nisabho said. “As a fellow monk, it was inspiring for me to see floods of people walking behind him during the peace walk.”

The Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, a senior Theravada monk who spoke at the conclusion of the Walk for Peace in Washington, said Pannakara was wise to remain silent on politics during his walk. But Bodhi, 81, hopes he does speak up on critical social issues like poverty, hunger, housing and the climate.

“I just hope that as (Pannakara) becomes more established and gets accustomed to publicity, he’ll consider taking a stand on these issues that have deep moral and spiritual significance,” he said.

Nisabho believes Pannakara made the right decision to steer clear of politics and activism. He said there are not many spaces today that are able to welcome the kind of diversity the peace walk attracted — with the exception of Dolly Parton “who brings truckers and drag queens together.”

“The vision of a monastic is the one chance someone has, to be inspired toward awakening and find an escape from suffering,” Nisabho said. “If you bring politics into that, you cause damage by alienating half the country.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., pets his dog, Aloka, while waiting for an event to start in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, walk to Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, are greeted by well-wishers during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., receives flowers from well-wishers during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., poses for a portrait in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

An attendee holds a framed painting depicting Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A woman bows as she greets Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, at an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., pets his dog, Aloka, while waiting for an event to start in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, walk to Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Buddhist monks take pictures of Aloka before an event with Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, bottom center, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., hands out postcards and signs autographs for attendees at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., sits with his dog, Aloka, before an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, third from right, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., poses for a group photo as his dog, Aloka, rests nearby in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Attendees hold flowers while waiting to greet Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and fellow monks take group pictures at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, foreground right, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., carries flowers as he pays his respects at a monument during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces staged one of their biggest drone attacks on Russia since Moscow’s invasion more than four years ago, firing almost 800 drones just two days after launching a similar salvo, officials said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike on a village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed at least 10 people and wounded eight others as the barrage demolished homes, officials said Tuesday.

The warring countries are locked in an escalating duel of long-range aerial strikes. Fighting on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine is restricted by large numbers of drones and ground robots threatening troop movements, and neither side is making significant battlefield progress, analysts say.

Over the past year Ukraine has devised and deployed domestically produced long-range drones for strikes deep inside Russia. Its drone technology has impressed governments and defense manufacturers around the world.

Kyiv officials aim to make the Russian public feel the war’s consequences and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiating a peace settlement. Putin has so far shown no sign he intends to stop the invasion.

“Putin continues to drag out the war instead of accepting Ukraine’s realistic ceasefire proposals and ending the bloodshed,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.

Russian air defenses overnight intercepted 791 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the Black and the Azov seas, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said, in what was the second-largest drone attack since January 2025, according to an Associated Press tally.

More than 600 Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow region, where 180 were shot down, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. He didn’t provide further details.

Officials reported no deaths or major damage. Ukraine has increasingly launched swarms of hundreds of drones in an attempt to overwhelm Russian air defenses.

In the Moscow region that surrounds but doesn’t include the Russian capital, three people were wounded, Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said.

Three people were also wounded in the Ryazan region adjacent to the Moscow region where three private houses were damaged by the attack, Gov. Pavel Malkov said.

The overnight attack started a fire at a warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, in an industrial zone. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the company’s depots, which it says help supply the Russian military.

Wildberries said its facility sustained “insignificant damage.”

Coverage of the attack in state and Kremlin-backed Russian media was mostly muted, as is often the case.

Russia’s main television channels — state-run Russia 1 and Channel One — did not mention the attack at all in their morning news bulletins.

But Russian state news agency RIA Novosti featured it among the main news on its website’s homepage, describing it as “one of the most large-scale attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the summer.”

State newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on its website prominently featured a roundup of what Moscow region Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported about the attack on the area, describing it as “massive” in the headline. Pro-Kremlin tabloid MK featured a news brief about the attack on its home page.

A Russian missile strike on the village of Pechenihy in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed 10 civilians, according to preliminary information, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

Another 17 people were wounded, he said. Zelenskyy called it “a brutal attack” that damaged 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store and at least seven vehicles, according to Syniehubov.

“We will definitely respond to this Russian strike,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

Also, three people were killed and three others were wounded over the past day in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy region, including drone strikes and an explosive device blast, Ukraine’s National Police said.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office last month, said the U.K. will continue to stand by Ukraine after Russia said that Ukraine’s reported use of British drones for attacks on Russian soil would bring unidentified consequences for London.

“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers," Burnham said. “It remains the case with me.”

British newspaper The Sunday Times reported that two U.K. companies made drones used by Ukraine to hit Russia.

Following the report, the Russian embassy in the U.K. said in a statement that “London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences.”

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Brian Melley in London contributed.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers carry a body that they removed from under the rubble of a private house following a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

A street cleaner observes a daily nationwide minute of silence in memory of soldiers killed in the war with Russia, in Kyiv, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, fire is seen on the site of a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers carry a body that they removed from under the rubble of a private house following a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov's official telegram channel, flame and smoke rise from a construction site after a Ukrainian drone attack in an undisclosed area in the Moscow region, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov's office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, fire is seen on the site of a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)