84,000 delusions
84,000 lights
84,000 joys abounding
- Saichi (from Buddha of Infinite Light, D.T. Suzuki)
FILM SERIES
Double Feature: I Am Not Your Hero & Freedom Hill (Virtual Screening)
Tuesday, April 9th, 5:00pm Eastern Time
You're invited to a special double feature film event in support of the Zen Peacemakers Bearing Witness to Racism in America Retreat. Join us for two short films on April 9, "I Am Not Your Hero" at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, followed by "Freedom Hill" at 5:45 PM Eastern Time.
BEARING WITNESS RETREAT
Bearing Witness to Racism in America
April 25 - 30
Selma - Montgomery, Alabama
3,446 Black Americans were lynched between 1882 and 1968. Even one lynching is an unspeakable horror. Join us in Alabama to experience and bear witness at important sites in our history of racism in America. We look at our world and we don’t turn away. Please join us and help us not turn away from what is.
PEACEMAKER CIRCLES
A Conversation with Jane Hirshfield: Everything Changes; Everything is Connected; Pay Attention
Wednesday, April 24th, 12:00pm Eastern Time
Hirshfield writes “some of the most important poetry in the world today” - (The New York Times Magazine)
Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shōun O'Keeffe will be talking about the Three Tenets, the way poems carry the values of right speech in their marrow, right action in the realms of both biosphere and social compact, and compassionate attention as the ground of change.
Mad Ones, Wise Ones, and Rogues: Zen's American Ancestors
Thursday, April 4th, 12:00pm Eastern Time
Join Testudo Sensei as we meet some of the bold eccentrics, scholars and artists who paved the way for Zen practice as we know it today -- Sokei-an Sasaki, the "Original Dharma Bum" of 1920s and 30s America; Ruth Fuller Sasaki, a wealthy socialite who became the first American Zen priest; John Cage, whose silent musical compositions and lectures on Nothing outraged and inspired the world of art and music in the 1950s; and many more.
The Sound of One Hand Slapping, brought to you by the Bird Who Knows Everything
Thursday, April 11th, 12pm Eastern Time
Ara "Tutu" Fitzgerald will introduce a new character (The Bird), screen an updated version of a short film created by Ara, Clare Byrne and Peter Cunningham. ("Pilgrimage"). And we will consider together the wisdom of reusing for the upcoming election, some older political ads, featuring the Ghost of P.T. Barnum (Vote!). P.T. threatens to join us for the chat.
WAY OF COUNCIL
Bearing Witness Council: A focus on Gaza with Barbara Wegmüller Rōshi, Jorge Koho Mello, & Sensei Grant Fuku Couch
April 15th, 12:00 PM Eastern Time, Zoom
Join ZP Spirit Holders in a Way of Council focusing on Gaza. 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
Zen Peacemakers Core Training: Meditation Instruction with Michel Engu Dobbs, Roshi
Monday, April 8th at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, Zoom
Engu Roshi 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.
Thank you for reading this week's Zen Peacemakers Events newsletter.
We look forward to connecting at upcoming events, on social media, and via email.
The Zen Peacemakers Team