(Drawing by Jacqueline Kramer)
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
- Robert Frost
BEARING WITNESS RETREAT
Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreat 2024
November 17, 2024 - November 23, 2024
There is a part of us that will allow us to dehumanize people and to kill people. It is a part of us that we want to hide. 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 p
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.
PEACEMAKER CIRCLES
Zen and Art: Becoming Intimate With a Leaf
Wednesday, September 18th, 12pm Eastern Time, Zoom
There is magic and intimacy in the experience of really seeing what is in front of us. When our senses are over loaded, as they usually are, it can be difficult to bring our focus to a deeper level. By taking one leaf, or one stick, or one flower petal, and really taking the time to see it our perception shifts and we enjoy a heightened awareness of the world around us. In this workshop we will look closely at a leaf of your choice, talk about it and draw it.
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 & M’s 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.
ELDERS SERIES
Connect With Our Peacemaker Lineage (October)
Monday, October 7th,12pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
Join us for an informal gathering with Peacemaker Elders. All are welcome.
CORE TRAININGS
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.
WAY OF COUNCIL
Bearing Witness Council: A focus on Gaza
Monday, September 23rd, 12pm Eastern Time, Zoom
Please join us in this ongoing Way of Council series, as we seek to Bear Witness to the suffering in Gaza. We will use the Way of Council format.
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.
UPCOMING COUNCILS (click on title to learn more & register)
September 17th - Ecosattva Council with Kathleen Hoêtsu Battke
September 23rd - Bearing Witness Council: A focus on Gaza (September)
September 24th - The Way of Council with Annie Myoshin Markovich
HIGHLIGHTED FRIENDS OF ZEN PEACEMAKER’S EVENT
Friday, September 20th 7:00pm - 9:30pm in New York
A Dharma Path of Sacred Activism for our Times: Introduction to the practice of the Earth Treasure Vases
Presented by Dharmacharya Cynthia Jurs & Gaia Mandala facilitator, Rick Jansen
Click Here For More Information and to Register: https://www.dharma-gates.org/sacred-activism
ZEN PEACEMAKERS AFFILIATE EVENTS
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