(photo by Liz West)
The Nature of This Flower Is to Bloom
Rebellious. Living.
Against the Elemental Crush.
A Song of Color
Blooming
For Deserving Eyes.
Blooming Gloriously
For its Self.
― Alice Walker
BEARING WITNESS RETREAT
Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreat 2024
November 17, 2024 - November 23, 2024
Genocide is about rejecting a part of ourselves. The Holocaust was the state-sponsored persecution and mass murder of millions of European Jews, Romani people, the intellectually disabled, political dissidents and homosexuals by the German Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” came to fruition during World War II, with mass killing centers in concentration camps. About six million Jews and some five million others, targeted for racial, political, ideological and behavioral reasons, died in the Holocaust—more than one million of those who perished were children. This retreat is not about history. As Bernie Glassman taught, this is our one body. We are victims, perpetrators, and those bearing witness.
PEACEMAKER CIRCLE
Together Apart: Building Beloved Community Behind and Beyond Bars
Wednesday, September 25th, 12pm Eastern Time
From artwork made in a prison from the dye of M & Ms to the creation of collective meditation practices on death row, Human Kindness Foundation has had the privilege of receiving and sharing the wisdom and creativity of people experiencing incarceration for the past 50 years. This talk explores Human Kindness Foundation’s work to nurture spiritual community and collaboratively create resources that promote spirituality, mindfulness, and wellness behind and beyond bars.
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SERIES
Fearless Hearts: Women Leaders in Contemplative Social Action with T. Marie King
Thursday, Oct. 3rd, 12pm Eastern Time, Zoom
As part of our Women's Leadership series, we will talk with T. Marie King. In December 2022, she co-produced and released her first full-length documentary. The documentary highlights the life and legacy of the unsung hero and civil rights icon, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Premiering on Alabama Public Television the documentary stands as a testament to her dedication to sharing stories of historical significance.
WAY OF COUNCIL
The Way of Council with Annie Myoshin Markovich
Wednesday, Oct. 2nd, 12pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats most every day. In Council, we come together in a small group in a profound way. We create a shared liminal space that is safe, confidential, and perhaps sacred. We each listen and speak from the heart, encountering and experiencing one another gently and with awareness. We are not solving problems or debating issues or making plans. We are making a healing space for each of us to hear and be heard, see and be seen.
CORE TRAINING
Core Training: Meditation Instruction with Jorge Koho Mello, Sensei
Monday, October 14, 5pm Eastern Time, Zoom
Human beings have been practicing mindfulness or meditation for millennia. It is a natural activity for us, like sleep, or walking, or moving about. Often, this practice is part of a religious or spiritual tradition, taking on many varied forms. And many of us meditate unaffiliated with any doctrine or lineage. We will offer a basic, introductory training in meditation, unattached to any specific tradition, that participants can put into personal practice immediately. It has been said, “Stillness answers every question.” Let’s explore that together.
VIDEO:
In this presentation, meet Zen Peacemakers’ Affiliate, Holy Land Trust’s Executive Director, Elias Deis to learn more about his organization and current projects. Holy Land Trust is a non-profit Palestinian organization committed to fostering peace, justice and understanding in the Holy Land.
ZAZEN
Experience a connection with your personal landscape through the transformative power of online meditation sessions with the Zen Peacemakers. Whether you're part of a local sangha or other spiritual community, we invite you to join us in this virtual space where we can gather across geographies and time zones.
Join us for these online meditation sessions and experience the profound benefits of collective mindfulness. The Zen Peacemakers are here to support you on this transformative journey.
Monday - Friday
10:00 - 10:40 am US Eastern
MORE INFO HERE
Haiku
Monthly Haiku Page
Please participate in our Haiku Poetry Challenge
OFFERING
The Bernie Koans
Edited by: Ken Byalin, Francisco "Paco" Lugovina, Christopher Panos
‘It’s just my opinion, man’, as Bernie would say. We all have our opinions about Roshi Bernie Glassman. To some of us, he is the stern head monk at Zen Center of LA; to others, he is the socially engaged Buddhist who built up the Greyston Bakery and Foundation. To others he is the founder of Zen Peacemakers International and the instigator of bearing witness plunges on the city streets and at Auschwitz and to others he is the clown, the founder of the Order of Disorder. He is all of these and more. As the stories in the book show, he is Bernie, the mensch, who spent his life feeding the hungry ghosts of society and teaching that Zen is to realize the oneness and interconnectedness of life.
-Gerry Shishin Wick, grateful Dharma brother and disciple of Roshi Bernie
Thank you for reading this week's Zen Peacemakers newsletter.
We look forward to connecting at upcoming events, on social media, and via email.
With gratitude,
The Zen Peacemakers Team