In traditional Cambodian village life the local Buddhist Monks served as educators, healthcare providers, and – along with the village elders and chief – meditators of local conflict. When the Khmer Rouge fully took power in 1975 they forbid all religious practice. By the time the Khmer Rouge were driven out of power only around 3,000 Buddhist Monks and Nuns remained out of over 65,000. It’s estimated that two-thirds of them died under the Khmer Rouge while the rest defrocked and chose never to retake their oaths.

One of the Cambodian Monks who had survived, Maha Ghosananda, was practicing forest mediation under a Master in Thailand when the Khmer Rouge took power.

“We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to the Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will then become our temples. We have so much work to do.”

Quote by Maha Ghosananda in Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace

Maha Ghosananda soon traveled to the holding camps on the Thai border where hundreds of thousands of Cambodian refugees, or illegal immigrants as the Thai labeled them, had sought refuge from the Khmer Rouge. He was instrumental in peace and reconciliation efforts, teaching of loving kindness in the midst of the most desperate situations and convincing many Khmer Rouge soldiers to lay down arms and reintegrate into society. He was also actively involved in disarmament and de-mining. This included putting himself at risk during the Dhammayietra peace walks to highlight the dangers faced by the Cambodian people.

In 1980, Maha Ghosananda and Reverend Peter L. Pong founded the Inter-Religious Mission for Peace in Cambodia. Through this effort they located hundreds of Cambodian Buddhist Monks and Nuns who had survived the Khmer Rouge.

There’s a lovely tribute article to Maha Ghosananda titled The Likeably Unlikely Monk that offers a personal glimpse of what it was like to meet Maha Ghosananda. Notably, in his book Step by Step, Maha Ghosananda describes hugging Pope John Paul II in similar fashion to what the author mentions in the article.

In the decades since the Khmer Rouge, the Sangha – community of Monks – in Cambodia has rebounded in numbers largely due to a regular influx of ‘short term’ Monks but has yet to fully reestablish its traditional role in village life due to the tremendous loss of human capacity. There are many young Monks but, with few elders to mentor them, most choose to defrock themselves and return to secular life after a few years.

Dhammayietra

Dhammayietra, sometimes separated into Dhamma Yatra, is often translated as ‘pilgrimage of truth’. It derives from the Pāḷi word Dhamma, which is Dharma in Sanskrit, which means ‘cosmic law and order’ and the word Yatra which means proceeding or progressing. There isn’t an all encapsulating translation for Dhamma into English since it holds different meaning for different sects and religions.

We often call it a peace pilgrimage, peace walk, or peace procession because the event’s purpose in Cambodia is to witness for peace, but that’s not inherent in the name itself.

The first Dhammayietra peace walks

Following the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, Maha Ghosananda led the first Dhammayietra peace walk in 1992 in an effort to restore the spirit of the Cambodian people. This first walk covered 125 miles over 16 days through territory that was still covered with landmines planted by the Khmer Rouge. 350 Cambodian Monks and Nuns escorted 100 refugees from the camps on the Thai border back to their former villages in Cambodia.

We must remove the landmines in our hearts which prevent us from making peace. The landmines in the heart are greed, hatred and delusion. We can overcome greed with the weapon of generosity; we can overcome hatred with the weapon of loving kindness; we can overcome delusion with the weapon of wisdom. Peace-making starts with us.

Maha Ghosananda

In 1993, the second Dhammayietra peace walk took place before Cambodia’s first elections while Khmer Rouge guerilla fighters used violence to attempt to intimidate voters. The pagoda where the group gathered to start the peace walk was struck by gunfire in a battle and a grenade was throw into the group, but fortunately failed to explode.

In 1994, the Dhammayietra peace walk failed to reach its destination after being halted at Pailin province where there was heavy fighting. One to three Monks (there are conflicting reports) and a Nun were killed in the crossfire between Khmer Rouge and government forces.

In 1995, the Dhammayietra peace walk crossed the entire country from the Thai border to Vietnam, with several days spent in territory still occupied by the Khmer Rouge. 500 Cambodian Monks and Nuns took part in this walk.

1997 Coup D’état and 1998 Dhammayietra peace walk

One year before the principal leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, died quietly of heart failure in Anlong Veng, the power sharing government established by the 1993 national elections was ripped apart by a coup d’état. The Khmer Rouge were still engaged in guerilla warfare in the remote parts of the country but, for many Cambodians, life had finally begun to regain a semblance of peace and security. The return to open armed conflict was heartbreaking and terrifying. Many foreigners fled the country. Both sides in the military conflict accused the other of engaging in a coup d’état and claimed that they were leading loyalist forces to defend Cambodia’s democratic process.

In the lead up to elections the next year there was significant fear that further political violence would break out and, again, many foreigners preemptively left the country.

At 5:30 on the morning of July 19, the Venerable Maha Ghosananda took the first step on a 78km peace walk from Wat Prey Lavia in his home province of Takeo to the Royal Palace.

Behind the 76-year-old Buddhist patriarch, in rows of two, marched 26 monks, 30 laymen and 80 nuns. Bringing up the rear was a contingent of 20 ‘non-Khmer walkers’ – Quakers, Mennonites, NGO workers, academics, backpackers.”

Dhammayietra marches for a peaceful election – Phnom Penh Post, 24 July 1998

Mennonite Central Committee personnel remained in Cambodia during the coup and elections. Several foreign volunteers joined the Dhammayietra peace walk in 1998. Among them was Sherry Groff, a registered nurse, who was later the MCC Representative to Cambodia during my first term from 2006 to 2009.

Sherry later told me that there were fewer than 200 participants in the 1998 Dhammayietra when it began in rural Takeo province but that it had swelled to over 2000 participants by the time it reached Phnom Penh.

While the people yearn and ache for stability and a climate where they can once again hope for a prosperous, meaning-filled future, MCC workers continue to model the hope of their Christian faith through their lives, their presence and their work. Whereas many foreigners left the country during elections, MCC workers stayed in their communities to witness to peace, and to demonstrate that they stand by the people they serve. And when the people marched for peaceful elections, MCC workers joined in the march for peace, one step at a time, bandaging the feet of the elderly and frail as they walked.

1998 Program Reflection, written by then MCC Cambodia Representative Allen Harder

Later Dhammayietra peace walks

Maha Ghosananda passed away in 2007 but the Dhammayietra Peace Walk continued as an annual event.

In 2011 and 2012, the Dhammayietra Peace Walks focused on a contested region of the Thai-Cambodia border. In response to the escalating tension and violence, the Dhammayietra highlighted both country’s mutual desires for peace and harmony through the participation of both Thai and Khmer marches. In 2008, during my first term, armed conflict broke out between Cambodia and Thailand at an ancient temple in Preah Vihear province. By 2011, this had escalated to both sides firing rockets and shells at nearby villages. The conflict was ended later in 2011 when the International Court of Justice ruled that both sides must withdraw their militaries forces but tensions remained high.

In 2017 and 2019, the last Dhammayietra Peace Walks were focused on regional peace and environmental protection. The participants walked in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

Mennonite Central Committee volunteers continued to participate in the Dhammayietra for several years but I’m not aware if that continued after 2009 when I finished my first term in Cambodia. I was never able to join myself but I know that it was a meaningful experience to many participants. Due to COVID-19, the Dhammayietra did not take place in 2020 or 2021.