Dhutaṅga is how monks take their disciplinary training to another level for the purpose of ridding themselves of defilements.  Dhutaṅga is about living light so that monks have more time to focus on meditation and practicing mindfulness. Dhutanga monks eat only one meal per day, take up residence outdoors, and consume only food that they receive from alms rounds. They keep personal possessions to a bare minimum and typically journey barefoot.

This year’s Dhammachai Dhutaṅga is from 2 to 30 January 2559 B.E.(2016), covering seven provinces: Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Supanburi, Ayudhya, Nakon Pathom, Samutsakorn, and Bangkok.  During a Dhutaṅga training, monks get to practice endurance, fortitude, compassion, giving, team spirit, concentration, awareness, and moment-to-moment meditation. As they journey barefoot, they meditate, share inner peace, and spread loving-kindness to all living beings.

The 1,131 monks on the Dhammachai Dhutaṅga pilgrimage come from different parts of Thailand. Yet, they are united by the mission to train themselves and to spread the message that “inner peace is prerequisite to external peace in any society and the world at large”.  Their peace journey also serves a tribute to honor the Buddha and the late Meditation Master Phramongkolthepmuni who rediscovered the Buddha’s key knowledge about the innate Body of Enlightenment (the Dhammakaya) which had been lost to the world about 500 years after His passing.

Although the annual Dhammachai Dhutaṅga pilgrimage is primarily for monks, many who had the opportunity to witness the group pilgrimage were inspired to learn and to practice the Buddha’s teachings.  It is one thing to know Dhamma from written or spoken words; it’s another to live it.  As the monks walk, they are putting their Dhamma practice to test.  It is obviously easier to meditate or to keep one’s mind still in a cool and quiet environment, and we all should find time to do that. But the fact is most of us live in an ever-expanding urban society and face many challenges – some of which are outside our control.  The only thing we ever have complete control over is our mind.  Therefore, it is important for us to train our mind to be calm and cool no matter where we are.  The Dhammachai Dhutaṅga monks are living proofs that inner peace is possible anywhere, under any condition – cold rain or scorching sun – and it begins from within.  They can do it, and so can you.