Zen Peacemaker Order
Encyclopedia
The Zen Peacemakers is an organization of socially engaged Buddhists
. It was founded by Zen Master
Bernie Glassman and his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes in 1996, as a means of continuing the work begun with the Greyston Foundation in 1980 of expanding Zen
practice into larger spheres of influence such as social services, business
and ecology
but with a greater emphasis on peace work. Zen Peacemakers is a school within the White Plum Asanga
lineage of Taizan Maezumi
.
lineage, founder Bernie Glassman did not envisage it as an organisation bound by traditional Japanese Sōtō
Zen
practice. Bernie Glassman has said:
Likewise, although within the lineage
, the Zen Peacemaker Order was not formed as part of the White Plum Asanga
organisation. Links between the two organisations are now distant; despite being named as heir to the presidency of the White Plum Asanga
in Maezumi's will, Glassman ceased attending the annual meetings of Taizan Maezumi
's dharma heirs
within a few years of his former teacher's death. According to author James Ishmael Ford
, as of 2006 Glassman has "transferred his leadership of the White Plum Asanga
to his Dharma brother Merzel Roshi
and has formally 'disrobed,' renouncing priesthood in favor of serving as a lay teacher and leader of what is now called the Zen Peacemaker Family."
with the opening of the Greyston Bakery
, its most well-known and prosperous project, in 1982 . Its projects eventually united under the auspices of the Greyston Foundation, a network of community development companies and non-profit organization
s based in the inner city
. Greyston Family Inn opened in 1991, on proceeds from the sale of Greyston mansion. It provides permanent housing for homeless people, with a child day-care center amongst services available for residents. Currently there are three buildings, providing fifty housing units. Other projects include the Greyston Garden Project, five community-run gardens established on neglected properties. In 1992 Greyston Health Services was formed, primarily to provide services for poor people with HIV/AIDS. In 1997 Issan House opened, named after Issan Dorsey a Zen
Roshi
who had died from an AIDS-related condition in 1990. It provides thirty-five permanent housing units for people living with both HIV/AIDS and mental illness or chemical dependency . The Maitri Day Program within the building provides a variety of health and rehabilitive service to 150 people with HIV/AIDS from the local community. As one of the first 'welfare to work' programs in the USA, in 2004 Greyston had an annual budget of over $20 million and received numerous government grants. At Yonkers, they occupy the former Ethan Flagg House-Blessed Sacrament Monastery
, added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1998.
Zen Peacemaker projects have included a Paris soup kitchen for immigrants and non-violence efforts in the Palestinian territories, with joint Israeli-Palestinian peaceful coexistence projects in Israel. Zen Peacemakers in Poland established 'Nonviolent Communications Training and Practice' in the national public school system and opened an AIDS hospice. The Auschwitz project brought together families of the Holocaust
survivors and the descendants of those who ran the camps to '"bear witness to the horrors of war" during retreats at the site of the concentration camp in Poland. In the United States, Zen Peacemakers have campaigned for prison reform
, provided hospice
care and worked with the poor in both inner city and rural areas.
Zen Peacemakers has 73 affiliate centers (Zen Peacemakers Sangha) in 5 Continents and 12 Countries. Countries with groups affiliated to Zen Peacemakers include: Austria, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Switzerland and the UK. In the United States affiliates include the Upaya Institute and Zen Center
led by Joan Halifax
in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Never predictable nor conventional, Bernie’s dynamic and visionary leadership has inspired many to experiment with new forms of practice and service over the years. In addition to the Greyston Foundation and Bearing Witness Retreats, many of these experiments have grown into substantial programs that have impacted the lives of thousands over many years. A small sample of programs whose founders identify as members of the Zen Peacemakers Sangha family and who cite Bernie as inspiration include:
* the Sweetwater Zen Center leads meditation and council in San Diego prisons
* the Jada Bascom Foundation recruits bone marrow donors
* the John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School is a New York charter school that supports students with serious emotional challenges by integrating them with other students
* My Gluten Free Bakery, a North Carolina Bakery based on the Greyston model that will be operated by at-risk and homeless youth ages 19-22 under supervision of 2 seasoned bakers
* the Peacemaker Institute is dedicated to training, empowering and connecting peacemakers around the world, including running a Bearing Witness Retreat in Rwanda
* the Upaya Zen Center has a two-year Certificated Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program in the areas of Prison, End of Life Care, Peacemaking, Women’s, Youth and Environmental Ministries. [/learn_more] .
Formulations of spiritual principles specific to the order include "The Sixteen Practices of a Zen Peacemaker", comprising the "Three Refuges", the "Three Tenets" and the "Ten Practices" of a Zen Peacemaker
'Street retreats', excursions by Bernie Glassman and others into the streets for days at a time to live amongst the homeless, have become a feature of Zen Peacemaker practice Author James Ishmael Ford
writes, "...'street retreats,' for instance, moves sesshin
into the streets: participants eat in soup kitchen
s, and, if they know they're not displacing homeless people, sleep in homeless shelters or, otherwise, sleep in public places. Zazen
takes place in parks and dokusan in alleys."
beyond the meditation hall to the worlds of business, social services, conflict resolution and environmental stewardship. Socially Engaged buddhism has frequently led to new models of practice, allowing Buddhists to addressing the needs of individuals and communities in disadvantaged areas. The Zen Peacemakers' way is intended to "illuminate all life as a boundless meditation hall".
as a force in American activism".
Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice...
. It was founded by Zen Master
Zen master
Zen master is an umbrella title sometimes used to refer to an individual who has been recognized by an authorized Zen lineage holder and teacher as having met his or her own teacher's standards of realization or insight. These standards vary widely in different traditions, and may vary among...
Bernie Glassman and his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes in 1996, as a means of continuing the work begun with the Greyston Foundation in 1980 of expanding Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
practice into larger spheres of influence such as social services, business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
but with a greater emphasis on peace work. Zen Peacemakers is a school within the White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...
lineage of Taizan Maezumi
Taizan Maezumi
Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher and rōshi, and lineage holder in the Sōtō, Rinzai and Harada-Yasutani traditions of Zen. He combined the Rinzai use of koans and the Sōtō emphasis on shikantaza in his teachings, influenced by his years studying under Hakuun Yasutani in the...
.
Tradition and lineage
Although Zen Peacemakers is part of the White Plum AsangaWhite Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...
lineage, founder Bernie Glassman did not envisage it as an organisation bound by traditional Japanese Sōtō
Soto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...
Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
practice. Bernie Glassman has said:
"Maezumi Roshi was not carrying out the tradition of the Japanese Soto sect when he came here. The Soto sect of Japan was not carrying out the traditions of Chinese Zen. You have to be careful with the word 'traditional.' We honor a lot of eccentric people."
Likewise, although within the lineage
Lineage (Buddhism)
An authentic lineage in Buddhism is the uninterrupted transmission of the Buddha's Dharma from teacher to disciple.The transmission itself can be for example oral, scriptural, through signs, or directly from one mind to another....
, the Zen Peacemaker Order was not formed as part of the White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...
organisation. Links between the two organisations are now distant; despite being named as heir to the presidency of the White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...
in Maezumi's will, Glassman ceased attending the annual meetings of Taizan Maezumi
Taizan Maezumi
Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher and rōshi, and lineage holder in the Sōtō, Rinzai and Harada-Yasutani traditions of Zen. He combined the Rinzai use of koans and the Sōtō emphasis on shikantaza in his teachings, influenced by his years studying under Hakuun Yasutani in the...
's dharma heirs
Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...
within a few years of his former teacher's death. According to author James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...
, as of 2006 Glassman has "transferred his leadership of the White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...
to his Dharma brother Merzel Roshi
Dennis Genpo Merzel
Dennis Merzel is an American Zen and spirituality teacher, also known as Genpo Merzel Roshi. He was a student and is heir of the Japanese-born Zen teacher Taizan Maezumi. Merzel obtained a Master's degree in educational administration from the University of Southern California and went on to...
and has formally 'disrobed,' renouncing priesthood in favor of serving as a lay teacher and leader of what is now called the Zen Peacemaker Family."
Greyston Foundation
Activities of the Zen Peacemakers originated in Yonkers, New YorkYonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
with the opening of the Greyston Bakery
Greyston Bakery
Greyston Bakery was founded in Riverdale, New York, by Bernie Glassman, a Zen Buddhist. Although it is a for-profit company, its profits go to its non-profit parent organization, the Greyston Foundation, where they are used on behalf of the local community....
, its most well-known and prosperous project, in 1982 . Its projects eventually united under the auspices of the Greyston Foundation, a network of community development companies and non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s based in the inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
. Greyston Family Inn opened in 1991, on proceeds from the sale of Greyston mansion. It provides permanent housing for homeless people, with a child day-care center amongst services available for residents. Currently there are three buildings, providing fifty housing units. Other projects include the Greyston Garden Project, five community-run gardens established on neglected properties. In 1992 Greyston Health Services was formed, primarily to provide services for poor people with HIV/AIDS. In 1997 Issan House opened, named after Issan Dorsey a Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Roshi
Roshi
is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...
who had died from an AIDS-related condition in 1990. It provides thirty-five permanent housing units for people living with both HIV/AIDS and mental illness or chemical dependency . The Maitri Day Program within the building provides a variety of health and rehabilitive service to 150 people with HIV/AIDS from the local community. As one of the first 'welfare to work' programs in the USA, in 2004 Greyston had an annual budget of over $20 million and received numerous government grants. At Yonkers, they occupy the former Ethan Flagg House-Blessed Sacrament Monastery
Ethan Flagg House-Blessed Sacrament Monastery
Ethan Flagg House-Blessed Sacrament Monastery is a historic home and monastery located at Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It was built in 1855, with additions made in 1922 and in 1954. The house is a two story, five bay wide brick building on a rock faced, random ashlar base in the...
, added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1998.
International
In 1996 Bernie Glassman - with his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes - officially founded the Zen Peacemaker Order, later the Zen Peacemaker Circle and currently Zen Peacemakers. According to professor Christopher S. Queen, "The order is based on three principles: plunging into the unknown, bearing witness to the pain and joy of the world and a commitment to heal oneself and the world."Zen Peacemaker projects have included a Paris soup kitchen for immigrants and non-violence efforts in the Palestinian territories, with joint Israeli-Palestinian peaceful coexistence projects in Israel. Zen Peacemakers in Poland established 'Nonviolent Communications Training and Practice' in the national public school system and opened an AIDS hospice. The Auschwitz project brought together families of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivors and the descendants of those who ran the camps to '"bear witness to the horrors of war" during retreats at the site of the concentration camp in Poland. In the United States, Zen Peacemakers have campaigned for prison reform
Prison reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system.-History:Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last couple of centuries...
, provided hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
care and worked with the poor in both inner city and rural areas.
Zen Peacemakers has 73 affiliate centers (Zen Peacemakers Sangha) in 5 Continents and 12 Countries. Countries with groups affiliated to Zen Peacemakers include: Austria, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Switzerland and the UK. In the United States affiliates include the Upaya Institute and Zen Center
Upaya Institute and Zen Center
Upaya Institute and Zen Center is a center for residential Zen practice located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and founded by Joan Halifax Roshi. The center focuses on integration of Zen practice with social action, with traditional cultivation of wisdom and compassion in the Buddhist sense...
led by Joan Halifax
Joan Halifax
Joan Jiko Halifax is a Zen Buddhist roshi, anthropologist, ecologist, civil rights activist, hospice caregiver, and the author of several books on Buddhism and spirituality. She currently serves as abbot and guiding teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Zen Peacemaker community...
in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Elders and Spiritual Directors
The founder Zen Master Bernie Glassman has served as the spiritual director of Zen Peacemakers from its inception. In May 2005 roshi Enkyo Pat O'Hara was ratified as Co-Spiritual Director by the Zen Peacemaker Board.Organization
Zen Peacemakers means many things to many people. Today, the Zen Peacemakers is a virtual organization with a small board, advisory board and staff organized around Bernie Glassman for supporting the vision and inspiration for Socially Engaged Buddhism throughout the world. The Zen Peacemakers is more a nexus of creative energy than a simply-defined non-profit religious organization.Never predictable nor conventional, Bernie’s dynamic and visionary leadership has inspired many to experiment with new forms of practice and service over the years. In addition to the Greyston Foundation and Bearing Witness Retreats, many of these experiments have grown into substantial programs that have impacted the lives of thousands over many years. A small sample of programs whose founders identify as members of the Zen Peacemakers Sangha family and who cite Bernie as inspiration include:
* the Sweetwater Zen Center leads meditation and council in San Diego prisons
* the Jada Bascom Foundation recruits bone marrow donors
* the John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School is a New York charter school that supports students with serious emotional challenges by integrating them with other students
* My Gluten Free Bakery, a North Carolina Bakery based on the Greyston model that will be operated by at-risk and homeless youth ages 19-22 under supervision of 2 seasoned bakers
* the Peacemaker Institute is dedicated to training, empowering and connecting peacemakers around the world, including running a Bearing Witness Retreat in Rwanda
* the Upaya Zen Center has a two-year Certificated Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program in the areas of Prison, End of Life Care, Peacemaking, Women’s, Youth and Environmental Ministries. [/learn_more] .
Training and Spiritual practices
The training of Zen Peacemakers is grounded in traditional Zen practice - meditation, retreats, liturgy, personal study-relationships with empowered teachers and the intimate recognition of mastery, which maintains the integrity of Zen lineages.Formulations of spiritual principles specific to the order include "The Sixteen Practices of a Zen Peacemaker", comprising the "Three Refuges", the "Three Tenets" and the "Ten Practices" of a Zen Peacemaker
'Street retreats', excursions by Bernie Glassman and others into the streets for days at a time to live amongst the homeless, have become a feature of Zen Peacemaker practice Author James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...
writes, "...'street retreats,' for instance, moves sesshin
Sesshin
A sesshin , literally "touching the heart-mind" , is a period of intensive meditation in a Zen monastery....
into the streets: participants eat in soup kitchen
Soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
s, and, if they know they're not displacing homeless people, sleep in homeless shelters or, otherwise, sleep in public places. Zazen
Zazen
In Zen Buddhism, zazen is a meditative discipline practitioners perform to calm the body and the mind, and be able to concentrate enough to experience insight into the nature of existence and thereby gain enlightenment .- Significance :Zazen is considered the heart of Zen Buddhist practice...
takes place in parks and dokusan in alleys."
Socially Engaged buddhism
As a leader of Socially Engaged Buddhism, the Zen Peacemakers publish Bearing Witness, a free monthly online newsletter. The socially engaged practices of Zen Peacemakers is aimed at extending DharmaDharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
beyond the meditation hall to the worlds of business, social services, conflict resolution and environmental stewardship. Socially Engaged buddhism has frequently led to new models of practice, allowing Buddhists to addressing the needs of individuals and communities in disadvantaged areas. The Zen Peacemakers' way is intended to "illuminate all life as a boundless meditation hall".
Appraisal
Religious historian Richard Hughes Seager writes "The Zen Peacemaker Order...has the potential to rival Thich Nhat Hanh's groups and the Buddhist Peace FellowshipBuddhist Peace Fellowship
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a nonsectarian international network of engaged Buddhists participating in various forms of nonviolent social activism and environmentalism with chapters all over the world...
as a force in American activism".
Notable Zen Peacemakers
- Ellen BurstynEllen BurstynEllen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
- Tetsugen Bernard GlassmanTetsugen Bernard GlassmanBernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
- Enkyo Pat O'Hara
- Joan HalifaxJoan HalifaxJoan Jiko Halifax is a Zen Buddhist roshi, anthropologist, ecologist, civil rights activist, hospice caregiver, and the author of several books on Buddhism and spirituality. She currently serves as abbot and guiding teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Zen Peacemaker community...
- Robert KennedyRobert Kennedy (roshi)Robert Edward Kennedy is a Jesuit priest, professor, psychoanalyst and Zen Roshi in the White Plum lineage-Biography:Ordained a priest in Japan in 1965, he studied with Yamada Koun in Japan in the 1970s. He was installed as a Zen teacher of the White Plum Asanga lineage in 1991 and was given the...
Notable Affiliates
- Upaya Institute and Zen CenterUpaya Institute and Zen CenterUpaya Institute and Zen Center is a center for residential Zen practice located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and founded by Joan Halifax Roshi. The center focuses on integration of Zen practice with social action, with traditional cultivation of wisdom and compassion in the Buddhist sense...
- Peacemaker Institute
- Village Zendo
- Zen Center of Los Angeles
- Greyston Foundation