In an industry obsessed with being “always on,” Molly McKinley writes, these monastics are demonstrating something agents desperately need to relearn.
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On Friday afternoon, I stood on Highway 64 in Apex, North Carolina, watching 19 Buddhist monks walk past my home. They were on day 91 of a 2,300-mile journey from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C.
Several monks, including their leader Bhikkhu Pannakara, walked with stockings to feel the ground and stay present in each step. In November, a distracted driver struck their escort vehicle. One monk lost his leg. They kept walking.
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During a peace talk, one monk described our relationship with our phones as that of a lover — the first thing we reach for each morning, the last thing we touch before sleep.
For agents, that intimacy runs even deeper: Your phone holds your leads, your CRM, your transaction files. Every year at Inman Connect, I hear agents closing deals from bathroom stalls. Being “always on” feels like a competitive advantage.
The monks are walking 2,300 miles to suggest otherwise.
They practice Vipassana meditation, which is an ancient technique meaning “to see things as they really are.” The practice cultivates non-reactive awareness: observing sensations and breath without clinging to pleasant experiences or resisting difficult ones. The central insight is that all phenomena are temporary, reducing automatic, habitual reactions to life’s stresses.
The walking itself is the practice: step by step, fully present, for months. No multitasking. No fragmented attention. Just sustained focus.
That discipline is what research suggests we’re losing. A June 2025 MIT study found that people who regularly outsourced thinking to AI showed weaker brain connectivity and reduced critical thinking, which is what researchers call “cognitive debt.” Other studies show that even the mere presence of a phone reduces available cognitive capacity.
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Think about what that means during a listing presentation or pricing conversation with your client. You’re operating with diminished focus before you start. But this isn’t just about individual transactions.
Focus is the foundation of creativity and innovation. The deep thinking that produces breakthrough products, the insight that sees a market gap before anyone else, the strategic patience to build something that actually solves problems, and none of that happens in 47-second increments.
For proptech founders and industry leaders trying to build what’s next, cognitive debt isn’t just a personal liability. It’s a competitive one.
3 practices for agents
You don’t need a 10-day silent retreat. These Vipassana-based techniques take minutes and can be done between showings:
Before client meetings, take 60 seconds with your breath
Sit in your car. Close your eyes. Observe three full breath cycles — air entering and leaving your nostrils, your chest rising and falling. This is more than relaxation; it’s sharpening. You’re training your mind to focus before it needs to.
Practice the body scan during your commute
At red lights or while parked, move your attention slowly from your head down through your body while noticing tension in your shoulders, your grip on the wheel and your feet on the floor. The goal isn’t to change anything. Just observe. This builds the non-reactive awareness that keeps you steady when negotiations get tense.
Observe, don’t react — especially to difficult clients
When you feel frustration rising, notice where it lives in your body. Tightness in your chest? Heat in your face? Acknowledge it without acting on it. This pause — even two seconds — is often the difference between a reactive response and a productive one.
Real estate has always been a relationship business. The agents who earn referrals aren’t the fastest responders but the ones who make clients feel genuinely heard. That requires the type of presence the monks who are walking 2,300 miles are demonstrating for us.
Their daily intention is simple: “Today is going to be my peaceful day.” Maybe for agents, it starts smaller with one meeting where your phone is in another room, one conversation where you’re fully there.
The monks reach Washington, D.C., next month. As Bhikkhu Pannakara put it: “We walk not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us.” Follow their journey here.
Step by step. Your clients will notice.
Molly McKinley is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Meredith College and teaches about entrepreneurship, innovation and social impact. She is the founder of Redtail Creative and a certified yoga teacher (RYT500). She writes about technology and helps proptech companies build trust and authority for humans and AI.
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