A Hindu monk named Bhaktimarga Swami is walking across America over 3 years to promote a simpler lifestyle. He was recently in Buchanan, Michigan walking west toward Lake Michigan. Swami walks about 20 miles per day along rural roads, hoping to reach Nebraska by August and complete his cross-country journey to San Francisco by next summer. Through walking, Swami aims to encourage people to slow down, reconnect with family and community, and return to traditional values. He sees walking as a way to meditate and appreciate nature. Swami has previously walked across Canada and other countries.

1. BERRIEN COUNTY RECORD, BUCHANAN, MICHIGAN JUNE 16, 2016 3
COMMUNITY
By Debra Haight
BUCHANAN - He’s on
a walk across America,
and last Friday Bhak-
timarga Swami was in
downtown Buchanan
on his way west to-
ward Lake Michigan.
Clothed in his orange
robes, Swami made
his way through town
as well as west along
Elm Valley Rd.
Swami is in the mid-
dle of a three-year
trek across the coun-
try. He began his walk
last spring and walked
through the fall.
Swami has been
walking for nearly a
month this year, start-
ing out from Pennsyl-
vania in mid-May, and
he’s hoping to link up
with the historic Lincoln
Road so he can end
this year’s walk in Ne-
braska in August. He
plans to resume his walk
next spring in hopes of
reaching San Francisco
next summer or fall.
He was in Southwest
Michigan last weekend
almost by chance as
he searched for quieter
roads after spending
a week or so in north-
ern Indiana with stops
in Bristol and South
nect with what’s most
important, whether
that is one’s inner faith,
physical body, other
people or the world
around us.
“When you’re walk-
ing, you can’t help but
go back in time,” he
said. “The simple act of
walking helps people
have time to be medi-
tative and take a little
downtime for them-
selves.”
Swami said it’s often
the simple things that
are most memorable
to him from his months
and years of walking,
things like berries and
Bend, including travels
through Amish country
and a stop at the Uni-
versity of Notre Dame.
While he has many
reasons for walking, he
said his main message
is to urge people to get
back to the basics.
“I’m walking for Amer-
ica,” he said Saturday.
“Let’s get back to ba-
sics and more simple
ways. People need to
slow down and return
to the good old values
of morality, family and
community. We’ve
gone off track.”
He sees walking as
a good way to recon-
other wild fruit and
seeing farmland like
where he grew up in
southern Ontario.
There are also other
things that he sees
along the highways
and byways that most
people don’t see as
they drive by.
“The road kill I see
is astronomical,” he
said. “When you’re in
a car, you can’t help
but be insensitive. I’m
not a great supporter
of automobiles. I love
horses and buggies.”
His schedule has him
walking around 20
miles every day, start-
ing at around 4:30
a.m. and ending
around noon.
“God made our
bodies to walk,” he
said.
He and his two com-
panions do take time
to visit sites of interest
along the way, stop-
ping, for example, last
week to visit the ba-
silica at the University
of Notre Dame.
He’s not one to turn
entirely away from
all technology. While
the purpose of this
trek is to walk across
America, he and his
two companions also
drive as they did on
Friday evening to To-
ledo where he had
a speaking engage-
ment. They also had
plans to go into Chica-
go for another speech
over the weekend.
“We do make use
of modern technol-
ogy. We use it with
purpose to promote
a simpler lifestyle,” he
said. “I tell people to
use it but not let it
consume their lives ...
Gandhi spoke of the
value of simple living
and high thinking.”
When he’s not walk-
ing, he’s pursuing his
other passion which
is writing and produc-
ing morality theater
plays that retell tra-
ditional Indian epic
stories to audiences
across the globe.
Swami is no strang-
er to long distance
walks. He has com-
pleted four cross-
country treks across
his native Canada
since 1996 and has
also walked across
the countries of Ire-
land, Israel, Fiji Is-
lands, Trinidad and
Guyana.
Born John Peter
Vis, he converted
to Hinduism and be-
came a Hare Krishna
disciple in the early
1970s when he was
in college. He is a dis-
ciple of Swami Prab-
hupada, a teacher
who brought Hindu
teachings to the west
including to George
Harrison and other
members of the Beat-
les.
His current trek is in
honor of the 50th an-
niversary of Prabhu-
pada’s arrival in the
United States in 1965,
and he hopes to be
in San Francisco next
year for the 50th an-
niversary of the Sum-
mer of Love.
To follow his travels
on his blog and post-
ings, go to his web-
site at www.thewalk-
ingmonk.net.
monk walks to promote a simpler way of life
By Carol Lee
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A New Record Milestone
Brother Swami “walking for America” in Niles
Sharon Doolittle lives in Rhode Island, but was in
Niles to celebrate her mother’s 85th birthday, she
recognized Swami from a recent article
While in Buchanan Swami was given a momento
of his visit, the latest edition of BCR, by owner
Jessica Hendrixson