Buddhist monks, nun, and folks from as close by as Toms River and as far away as Japan gathered together this morning at the Ocean County Library's Toms River branch to participate in The Twelfth Annual "Walk for Spring."

Participants beat drums and chant as they make their way to Oyster Creek. (Jill Bartlett)
Participants beat drums and chant as they make their way to Oyster Creek. (Jill Bartlett, Townsquare Media NJ)
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"Walking for Peace, For the People, For the Earth," a walk initiated by Nipponzan Myohoji of the New England Peace Pagoda, started out on February 15 from Leverett Massachusetts and will end in Washington D.C.  The mission of the walk is to promote community, sustainability and disarmament. It will continue on until it reaches Washington D.C.

The walkers are currently making their way down route nine to the Oyster Creek power plant, beating drums and chanting "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo." Walk participant Melinda Holm explained, "it is a distillation of the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Essentially, it is a chapter in which the Buddha explains that this is a world of peace." The Lotus Sutra is a philosophical discourse, written near the end of the first Buddha's life.

Participants beat drums and chant as they make their way to Oyster Creek. (Jill Bartlett, Townsquare Media NJ)
Participants beat drums and chant as they make their way to Oyster Creek. (Jill Bartlett, Townsquare Media NJ)
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The group left the library around 10 a.m., beating drums, chanting, and holding signs protesting the use of nuclear energy. One sign read, "Three Mile Island! Chernobyl! Fukishima! Oyster Creek?"

When the group arrives at the Oyster Creek Nuclear facility, they will offer a prayer vigil.  Afterwards, they will return to the Unitarian Universalist Church in the Holiday Mall on Route 37 West in Toms River for a potluck supper at 6:00 p.m. Speakers from Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch and Peace Walk leaders will then present a short program about the purpose of the walk.

 

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