The Buddhist monks arrived at The Lawyer’s Mall below the State House steps last week, which has long been the scene of political protests.

In this sharply partisan era, almost any event can get cast as political if one party believes its rivals are using it to make a point. Plenty of loud politicians seem to thrive on the most elementary sorts of us-versus-them playbooks.

But no voices were raised in anger when the monks walked in single file, slowly but deliberately toward a waiting crowd. Their visit was a postscript to their Texas-to-Washington “Walk for Peace” that also made a stop in the nation’s capital.

The loudest thing about the monks in Annapolis was their bright orange robes.

The monks possessed a captivating calm.

Members of the crowd, which seemed to number in the thousands at its peak, brought flowers and welcoming signs, and shivered in the cold. Some were delighted to catch glimpses of the monk’s rescue dog, which has become famous on social media.

Some fans didn’t seem to anticipate how moved they would be by such a simple thing — monks pursuing peace — that was somehow quite powerful.

It felt like an antidote to political hate and barbed words. It was an invitation to, according to Buddhist teachings, turn off your phones and start being more present in the world beyond screens.

“It’s more than refreshing, it’s mandatory,” Jorjanne Arnold Gausman of Bowie said of being part of the experience. She stood in the crowd holding a blue flag with a white peace symbol.

“This walk, I believe, helped people stop for a minute and think about what’s really important. The only thing that really matters is love. Period,” said Gausman, a retired mental health clinician.

But was the walk political?

“I think it’s fair to say that that can’t help but enter into it,” said Gausman, a Democrat and opponent of Republican President Donald Trump. “For me, it’s love first,” she said.

I asked a Republican the same question. Was this political?

“I didn’t see it as political,” said Jason Buckel, the state House minority leader. The House was in session, so he was in the chamber when the monks arrived.

“Peace is a good thing,” he said. ‘I don’t know that anyone would suggest, ‘I don’t want peace.’ I think the only ideology that gets reflected in it is ‘How do you best achieve peace? Do you achieve peace through capitulating to others who may seek violence, or do you achieve peace by being strong yourself and making sure that bad actors can’t take violent actions.”

The monks filed into the Maryland State House and received proclamations of thanks, first in the Senate and then in the House.

The most striking thing, at least to me, was their demeanor.

Their expressions were soft, open, welcoming. And they didn’t have phones.

You don’t realize how pervasive our phone culture is — and how guarded we can be — until you see people who are behaving so differently.

What’s to come in Annapolis? Committee hearing topics include voting rights expansions and candidate filing rules.

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