Theravada

I know that feeling.

Why? Because I started the ordination for women as Theravada bhikkhunis.

And I got kicked out of the group in which I had most of my friends.

And it's, I know my stuff.

You know, of all the things to believe in the world, I would like to believe in something that's nice and, you know, Connects me to other people.

There's a tradition of Theravadan monks whose talks I listen to often.

One's name is Ajahn Sumedho.

He's quite well known.

No, I th- you know, from what I see at, at the border, uh, certainly, uh, that's, that's very strong.

Uh, you know, what is it? Ei-eighty-eight percent Theravada Buddhist.

Um, s- but, uh, in those communities, um- ... bordering Thailand, uh, mostly Christian.

And I think that's a very important, um, part of psychological resilience and also growth, and there's a very big empirical literature on that which, which shows that, that that's correlated, um, to, to being able to grow-

No, from what I see at the border, certainly that's very strong.

88% Theravada Buddhist, but in those communities bordering Thailand, mostly Christian.

And I think that's a very important part of psychological resilience and also growth.

And there's a very big empirical literature on that, which shows that that's correlated to being able to grow from difficulty.

I repeat this over and over just to stimulate this kind of interest.

Why are you here? Why do you come to Amrabadi? Why do you ordain as monks or nuns? What's the point of it? Just to follow some belief system and be conditioned as a Theravadan Buddhist? Is that good enough? Or is that generating more delusions about which is the best form of Buddhism? Is Mahayana Buddhism better than Hinayana Buddhism? And I don't like that.

As long as we're Buddhists, you know, we form opinions according to the way we've been conditioned.

We've been told Mahayana is a greater form of, more elaborate form, more wise form of Buddhism.

and he also appears in Buddhist texts as a demon who seizes the sun.

For example, the Sutra of the Sun is a short Tibetan translation of a Theravada Sutra describing the sun asking the Buddha for help after being seized by Rahu, the Buddha obliged.

Since Buddhas have compassion for the world, Surya took refuge in the worthy one.

Therefore, Rahu, set the sun free.

What do Buddhists think of Fort Worth's Walk for Peace Monks? Teachers respond to the viral cross-country trek.

On October 26th, 2025, a group of 19 monks from the Vietnamese Theravada Buddhist tradition, affiliated with the Huang Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center, began a historic pilgrimage from the temple center in Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, DC, in an effort to promote peace, compassion, and nonviolence.

To put these noble monks and their historic journey into context, Tricycle asked a selection of Buddhist teachers and authors, "What is it about Fort Worth's Walk for Peace Monks that so captures the public's imagination?" When it feels like everything's sliding into authoritarianism and nothing we do makes the slightest difference, the worst part isn't fear.

It's the feeling of being totally powerless.