Mercer University will host a three-day meditation conference on Oct. 16-18 led by Buddhist monk Phra Ajarn Maha Dam Phommasan that will culminate in a Community Peace Walk on campus Sunday afternoon to promote mindfulness, unity and peace.
The conference, organized by Mercer’s University minister Craig McMahan, will begin with an introduction to meditation and a guided meditation at 7 p.m. in Newton Chapel on Friday, Oct. 16. Two sessions will follow Saturday, Oct. 17, in the president’s dining room: “Finding Inner Peace” at 9 a.m. and “Making Outer Peace” at 2 p.m. Registration is required for the conference sessions, and interested participants can join the waitlist online.
“Peace doesn’t just happen. It has to be made. It has to be built,” McMahan said. “This is our witness, our happy protest for a peaceful way of life.”
The weekend will bring together participants from religious and secular backgrounds to explore meditation as a practice for cultivating inner peace and building understanding across communities.
“The point of meditation is to help people experience a connectedness to the world around them, to the people around them,” said Craig McMahan. “It pushes against the individualism that is such a part of our Western culture. Meditation seems to bring people into a sense of unity.”
The Community Peace Walk will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at Washington Square Park and end at Cruz Plaza on Mercer’s campus. The walk will be about a mile and will include stops for group meditation. Registration is not required, and the walk is open to the community.
Maha Dam’s connection to Mercer began in spring 2026, when a Mercer On Mission prosthetics team fitted him with a prosthetic leg. The monk, who is from Laos, was participating in a 2,300-mile national peace walk across the United States last year when he was struck by a vehicle. His injuries eventually required the amputation of his leg.
“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,” McMahan said. “He eagerly agreed.” The experience also fostered a friendship between the two.
McMahan said he hopes the weekend will encourage participants to connect with people from different backgrounds through a shared commitment to peace.
“I hope people experience a sense of kindness and warmth among a very diverse group of people, and that somehow we’ll all be united by a larger purpose of peace,” he said.
Kaylee Grace Buchanan '29 is double majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology with an minor in Religion. When not writing, she enjoys reading, baking and playing tennis. You can also catch her on the pickleball courts jamming out to some music as well.
