Name: 40th Annual World Peace Meditation
Start: 2025-12-31T06:00:00-06:00
Location: Temple Buddhist Center

*Doors Open at 5:30am. Presentation begins at 6am*
Ring in the New Year with peace, compassion, and community at Kansas City’s 40th Annual World Peace Meditation — an interfaith celebration dedicated to global harmony and the shared hope for a more compassionate world.
Together, we’ll greet the sunrise with traditions that honor the rich spiritual diversity of our city and our planet.
Bodhisattva Award Ceremony:
We are honored to present this year’s Bodhisattva Award to Kansas City Defender, a Black nonprofit community media platform dedicated to empowering Gen Z and Millennial communities across the Midwest. Their work reflects the bodhisattva ideals of compassion, justice, and courageous service.
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Michael Zedek
Rabbi Zedek — a respected scholar, teacher, and interfaith leader — will offer a keynote message to inspire our shared commitment to peace. With decades of leadership across Kansas City, Chicago, and beyond, he continues to uplift audiences around the world through teaching, writing, and dialogue.
A note about the history of this event:
The tradition of the World Peace Meditation traces back to an original global prayer gathering on December 31, 1986 — a simultaneous call for peace, love, forgiveness, and unity worldwide. Since then, our annual gathering in Kansas City has grown into a cherished tradition that brings together people of many faiths and backgrounds in a spirit of solidarity, reflection, and hope.
Through this collective act of mindfulness, ritual, and community, we reaffirm our shared commitment to peace, healing, and mutual respect — beyond boundaries of religion, race, or culture.
This event is free and open to the public. All are warmly welcome.
Let's collectively plant the seeds of peace. We hope to see you there as we meditate our way into 2026!