Biography of Peace Pilgrim
Peace Pilgrim was an extraordinary woman who spent several
decades of her life walking across North America with her simple
message of peace.
Her simple message she always carried with her was
"This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good, and
falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."
Peace Pilgrim was born in around 1908 on a New Jersey farm.
Friends say she was a popular and bright young girl but there
was no indication she would make the transition to be a saintly
pilgrim.
When questioned, Peace Pilgrim briefly mentioned her early life
without going into too much detail. She felt these early details
unimportant and wanted people to concentrate on the important
messages she was spreading. She would often say she wanted to
promoted the "message and not the messenger. It appears she had
a reasonably successful job "I found making money was easy"
however she felt that this life was not giving her any
fulfilment and she wished to do something more productive. As
she said in her own words She began to "live to give instead of
living to get" (p.7) Thus from around this turning point of 1938
she began a process of spiritual practices which led to her
simplifying her inner life and becoming less self centred. After
15 years of spiritual practice Peace Pilgrim decided to set out
on a pilgrimage of peace. Walking 25,000 miles spreading her
message of peace.
She set out in 1952 at the height of the Korean war and the
suspicious period of McCarthyism. Peace Pilgrim herself came
under suspicion. Because of his she decided to drop her old name
to prevent her sister being hassled.
On the undertaking of her walking pilgrimage she vowed to
"remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace,
walking until given shelter and fasting until given food."
Peace Pilgrim would walk throughout the day only stopping for
food when this was offered. Often she did not get proper shelter
but she kept maintained a calm and serene approach to even the
most difficult of situations. She touched the lives of many,
inspiring others to consider what they could do to find inner
peace within side themselves.
During the 1960s and the Vietnam war she came more to prominence
and towards the end of her life she became well known. Often she
would speak to packed audiences and led retreats for people
interested in following a similar approach to life. Throughout
her life Peace Pilgrim had remarkably good health. A feature she
attributed to a plain and simple vegetarian diet and living in
harmony with the world.
Peace Pilgrim died in July 1981 when she was killed
instantaneously in a car collision. Peace Pilgrim called death
"A glorious transition to a freer life."