MACON, Ga. — Mercer University’s Office of the University Minister will host a Community Peace Walk on Sunday, Oct. 18, beginning at 2 p.m. at Washington Square Park. The walk will be led by Buddhist monk Phra Ajarn Maha Dam Phommasan, who visited Mercer’s Macon campus in March to be fitted with a prosthetic leg by a Mercer On Mission team.
“At that time, I asked him if he would be willing to come back to Mercer and lead a conference on the practice of meditation, a discipline common in Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and non-religious practitioners of mindfulness,” said University Minister Craig McMahan, Ph.D. “He eagerly agreed.”
The Community Peace Walk will serve as the concluding event of A Weekend of Meditation and Mindful Living which begins with a two-day conference focused on meditation. The walk is free and open to the public.
The walk will begin with a meditation at Washington Square Park before participants continue to Tattnall Square Park for a second meditation. The group will then walk to the Mercer campus, where the walk will conclude with a final meditation on Cruz Plaza.
“This weekend represents the kind of connection we hope to foster at Mercer — bringing people of various traditions — religious and non-religious — together around a shared commitment to peace, reflection and care for one another and the world,” McMahan said.
The Weekend of Meditation and Mindful Living and Community Peace Walk are hosted by Mercer University Minister’s Office and are part of the Countdown to 19 series of events celebrating the Oct. 29 inauguration of President Penny L. Elkins, Ph.D.
About Phra Ajarn Maha Dam
Phra Ajarn Maha Dam Phommasan is the abbot of Wat Lao Buddha Khanti in Snellville, Georgia, and a Buddhist monk who gained national attention during the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to promote hope and mindfulness. He was severely injured in November 2025 in Dayton, Texas, when a passing vehicle struck the group’s escort car, pushing it into the monks. Maha Dam was hospitalized and eventually had his leg amputated just below the knee.
“After his leg was amputated, he surprisingly found out about our Mercer On Mission prosthetics program,” McMahan said. “He was pleased that they did charity work and asked if they would fit him with one of their prosthetic legs. We, of course, happily agreed.”
Each summer since 2009, a Mercer On Mission team has traveled to Vietnam to fit amputees with prosthetic legs and hands developed by Ha Van Vo, Ph.D., D.P.M., Eminent Scholar and Distinguished University Professor of biomedical engineering. The program has changed the lives of more than 24,000 amputees.
