San Francisco Bay Area Tibetan Monks and Community Members Have Urban Walk for Peace

On Saturday, May 9th. 2026 the Venerable Tibetan Monks from the Sera Jey Foundation Dharma Center in El Cerrito, California along with many people from the San Francisco Bay Area made a five-mile urban trek to the Tibetan Gyuto Foundation Inc., being called a 'Walk for Peace.'

Since its founding in 2000, by Venerable Thupten Donyo, the Gyuto Foundation has been dedicated to preserving and promoting Tibet's living cultural and spiritual heritage. 

The “Walk for Peace” was led by the Venerable Monks and San Francisco East Bay Area participants on a five-mile urban trek from the Sera Jey Foundation Dharma Center located at 6712 Portola Drive in El Cerrito, CA. to the Gyuto Foundation located at 6401 Bernhard Avenue in Richmond, CA. 

Event organizer the Venerable Tenzin Trinlay said that the round-trip journey began at 10 a.m. that Saturday morning and served as an early Mother’s Day celebration for the community and he said: "That everyone had been encouraged to join the walk to promote tranquility, global peace, compassion, non-violence, inner peace and mindfulness." The Walk for Peace started at the Sera Jey Foundation at 10 a.m. 

According to Sera Jey Executive Director Tenzin Sherab: " The Foundation Dharma Center provides Tibetan Buddhist teachings and offers free meals at the services for the Tibetan community and visitors. The Venerable Monks conduct daily prayer sessions to help promote spiritual harmony and a peaceful environment to people and families in need. The Dharma Center teaches both meditation and spiritual contemplation.

The Venerable Geshe Lobsang Tengye, who is a Spiritual Teacher at Sera Jey Dharma Center states: " The Peace Walk is an effort to contribute world peace as enunciated regularly by His Holiness the Dalal Lama. That World peace can be contributed through an individual effort in a collective action. This Peace Walk also lends support to Mother's Day which falls on May 10, 2026."

From there, the hike led into the high hills of where the three and half acre Gyuto Foundation Tibetan Buddhist monastery campus sits on the edge of the rugged Wildcat Canyon. At the entrance of the Gyuto monastery, sits a beautiful Peace Garden that the Peace Walkers would pass through as they entered Gyuto. It was symbolic of what the Walk for Peace represented that day.