Dear Peacemakers,

Because of you, Zen Peacemakers creates spaces where people can confront suffering, open their hearts, and cultivate compassion. Every circle, program, and retreat we offer is rooted in the Three Tenets: Not-Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action, principles that guide us to meet the world with presence, courage, and care, inspired by the vision of Bernie Glassman.

This year, more people than ever have joined us. Through online trainings connecting participants across continents and in-person retreats where barriers dissolve and healing begins, we’ve brought together hundreds of people in shared reflection and action. Since October 2023, ten programs focused on the suffering in Gaza have created spaces for solidarity, acknowledgment of grief, and the nurturing of compassion.

Bernie’s life and teaching remind us that compassion is not only a feeling but a call to action, and that true change begins when we engage fully with the suffering of the world.

Your generosity allows us to expand our offerings, ensuring that our mission reaches more people, deepens our programs, and provides new opportunities for learning, connection, and embodied peace. Every gathering, every voice lifted, is only possible because of you. Your support keeps our programs free and accessible, sustaining a global network of Peacemakers and helping participants put the Three Tenets into practice in their communities and beyond.

Click Here to Donate

We invite you to continue this work with us. Whether through a monthly gift or a one-time contribution, your support strengthens our programs, expands our reach, and keeps the vision of Bernie Glassman alive in action.

With gratitude,
Geoff O’Keeffe and the Zen Peacemakers Team

Support Our Work Today
Zen Peacemakers is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
All gifts are tax-deductible in the US.

https://zenpeacemakers.org/

There’s great power in the place
where life and death come together.

- Eve Marko

This November, Zen Peacemakers from all walks of life will come together to bear witness in Auschwitz, a place that has become a monument to intolerance. We invite you to join us.

Scholarships are available,
and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.

Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat

November 15 - 21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

FEATURED EVENT

ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE PRACTICE OF PEACE: A CONVERSATION WITH JANE HIRSHFIELD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1:00 PM US EASTERN

Both Zen and art-making are practices of transformation. They broaden seeing, soften understanding, and expand the field of our actions and speech.
Join Zen Peacemakers on Tuesday, September 29th for a second conversation between poet Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shoun O’ Keeffe as they continue the dialogue about art-making and activism, the ways that creative heart-mind increases compassion, and the perennial question of meeting the difficult with tenderness, humility, and courage.

During the program, Jane will also read some of her poems and there will be time for question and answer with the group as a whole.

Register Here

Jane Hirshfield is an American poet, essayist, and translator and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, known as one of American poetry's central spokespersons for the biosphere and recognized as writing some of the most important poetry in the world today. Her award-winning work through collections poems, essays, newspapers and literary journals has been translated into over fifteen languages.

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT WE SEE - A CONVERSATION
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

In this Peacemakers Circle, Jim Hōden Fricker speaks with Jakub “Kuba” Belina-Brzozowski, a communications coordinator with the Polish Medical Mission and a poet. Kuba’s path has moved through Tibetan studies, fieldwork in Nepal, the 2015 earthquake, and humanitarian communications supporting medical work in Ukraine and other crisis settings.

Together, Jim and Kuba will explore what it means to stay close to human stories without turning suffering into a distant spectacle; how humanitarian work meets fatigue, limited attention, and the pressure to respond perfectly; and what taking action can look like when the work is collaborative, imperfect, and sustained over time.

FREE REGISTRATION HERE

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

HOW THE BUDDHIST SANGHA ORGANIZED ITSELF TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
12:00 PM US EASTERN

The presentation will involve a story about how we as a Buddhist community gathered spontaneously out of fury and compassion from the very first days of war told by a few active members, by Ukrainian volunteers through short videos, and from a Ukrainian singer whose town, Kherson, is almost destroyed.

Register Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

THE LONG CONVERSATION: A LIFE TRANSLATING CHINA’S MOUNTAIN
POETS - WITH RED PINE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Bill Porter, known to many readers as Red Pine, describes translation as a conversation with the dead — a phrase that also became the title of a documentary about his life and work. Every poem is a person who once stood somewhere, saw something, and wrote it down. The translator’s task is to come close enough to hear them, then let them speak.

In this Peacemakers Circle, Bill will share from that long conversation: the Zen hermit Stonehouse, the eccentric Han-shan of Cold Mountain, and other poets he has spent decades translating and accompanying. Each poem carries its own story — the poet’s life, the mountain where it was written, and the difficult, intimate work of carrying its meaning into English.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

INTRODUCTION TO SKANDHA PRACTICE
A SIX SESSION COURSE WITH KEN BYALIN
STARTING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14
12:00 US EASTERN

“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita, perceived the emptiness of all five conditions and was freed from pain.”

The skandhas are the “five conditions” named in the Heart Sutra — the elements through which we construct and experience our lives.

In this free six-session course, participants will spend one week with each of the five skandhas, exploring them not as abstract Buddhist concepts, but as living aspects of moment-to-moment experience.

Register for Free Here

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

AGING: RENEWING THE MYSTERY
A MONTHLY GATHERING WITH ROSHI EVE MARKO
2ND TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH

Aging: Renewing the Mystery will be a monthly Zoom gathering investigating themes and issues many of us face as we get older. Topics will include forgiveness, fear of dependence, illness and death, simplicity, regret, loneliness, the changing faces of love, and others that come from participants.

More Information Here

We are also offering an “Aging Council” the 4th Tuesday of each Month.
Open to everyone.

Sept 22nd: Peacemakers Council - Aging Council with Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe

CORE TRAINING

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIATION
WITH LISA GAKYO SCHAEWE
SEPTEMBER 21st
12:00 - 1:00 PM US EASTERN

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.

REGISTER FOR FREE

COUNCIL

Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost every day. In Council, we come together in a small group in a profound way. We each listen and speak from the heart, encountering and experiencing one another gently and with awareness. We are not solving problems, 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)

Sept 7th: Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers with Dr. Iris Dotan Katz
Sept 17th: Ecosattva Council with Kathleen Hoêtsu Battke
Sept 22nd: Peacemakers Council - Aging Council with Geoff Shōun O'Keeffe

AFFILIATE EVENT

The Bodhisattva Path in Action: How Buddhism, Politics, and Social Engagement Serve Democracy

The event will reflect on how the Dharma’s teachings on non-harming, interdependence, wise speech, and compassion can help us:

• Respond to today’s realities with wisdom rather than reactivity.

• Communicate across political differences without losing heart.

• Take meaningful action while avoiding further polarization.

• Ground civic engagement in the Bodhisattva path of awakening and service.

• Tara Brach, Ben Connelly, and Kaira Jewel Lingo

“We hope that participants will leave the town hall with the answers to several questions,” said Trisha Stotler, IMCW Events Consultant. “How can we participate in this political moment without hardening our hearts? How do we stand up for what matters while remaining grounded in compassion, wisdom, and respect for our shared humanity?”

REGISTER HERE

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

Hello Family!

Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.

In peace & gratitude-

Michel Engu Dobbs

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008592778

Zen Peacemakers Affiliate

NEW AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Awakening Dharma

Fostering awakening and its embodiment in worldly life.

Zen Peacemakers is a network of independent organizations on five continents. Each of them came to this work on their own path; introducing them is how the network becomes visible to itself.

What they do: Awakening Dharma is the teaching community of Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi, who teaches in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. In their own words, they continue a 2,500-year-old lineage of practice “through the application of authentic, rigorous Buddhist and modern practices.” Mugen Roshi’s teaching centers on the brahmavihāras — lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity — as immersive practice. They offer one- to three-week meditation retreats, most now online and some in person in Michigan and Indiana, a monthly mentoring program, Liberating the Heart and Self, and Monthly Sangha Gatherings open to anyone.

Where: United States, and online.
https://zenpeacemakers.org/affiliates/awakening-dharma/

TAKING ACTION

Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.

Through the Three Tenets, we practice:

• Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.

• Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.

Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.

Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.

Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality

✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More

❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here

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

ENTER HERE

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

PURCHASE HERE

Dear Peacemakers,

I want to begin by warmly thanking our Peacemakers community for both your financial support as well as your participation in our programs, trainings, and retreats. The former makes the latter possible, as we offer all our activities free of charge, other than Bearing Witness retreats. I sincerely hope our offerings are supporting and inspiring you as you take action in the world.

As you know, our goal is to become 100% sustainable through community donations and your support is essential to maintaining and advancing our work. With economic uncertainty and market and political pressures, we need you more than ever.

Through our expression of the Three Tenets, Zen Peacemakers engages in the world in a unique way, a way the world needs so badly today. We very much want to expand our reach and influence.

We still have much to accomplish in the upcoming months before the year comes to a close. Our Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat is just around the corner and our many other works continue to support our efforts of breaking barriers, cultivating inner peace, and awakening compassion within.

As Peacemakers, I know you have the power to make a difference. Please continue to show your support for our community and consider participating in this year’s Fall Fundraiser.

Donate Here

Whether a one-time donation or a monthly recurring gift, your donation is essential to our work here at Zen Peacemakers. You can donate here.

With kind thanks,
Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe
Zen Peacemakers

There’s great power in the place
where life and death come together.

- Eve Marko

This November, Zen Peacemakers from all walks of life will come together to bear witness in Auschwitz, a place that has become a monument to intolerance. We invite you to join us.

Scholarships are available,
and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.

Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat

November 15 - 21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

FEATURED EVENT

ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE PRACTICE OF PEACE: A CONVERSATION WITH JANE HIRSHFIELD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1:00 PM US EASTERN

Both Zen and art-making are practices of transformation. They broaden seeing, soften understanding, and expand the field of our actions and speech.
Join Zen Peacemakers on Tuesday, September 29th for a second conversation between poet Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shoun O’ Keeffe as they continue the dialogue about art-making and activism, the ways that creative heart-mind increases compassion, and the perennial question of meeting the difficult with tenderness, humility, and courage.

During the program, Jane will also read some of her poems and there will be time for question and answer with the group as a whole.

Register Here

Jane Hirshfield is an American poet, essayist, and translator and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, known as one of American poetry's central spokespersons for the biosphere and recognized as writing some of the most important poetry in the world today. Her award-winning work through collections poems, essays, newspapers and literary journals has been translated into over fifteen languages.

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

HOW THE BUDDHIST SANGHA ORGANIZED ITSELF TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
12:00 PM US EASTERN

The presentation will involve a story about how we as a Buddhist community gathered spontaneously out of fury and compassion from the very first days of war told by a few active members, by Ukrainian volunteers through short videos, and from a Ukrainian singer whose town, Kherson, is almost destroyed.

Register Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

THE LONG CONVERSATION: A LIFE TRANSLATING CHINA’S MOUNTAIN POETS - WITH RED PINE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Bill Porter, known to many readers as Red Pine, describes translation as a conversation with the dead — a phrase that also became the title of a documentary about his life and work. Every poem is a person who once stood somewhere, saw something, and wrote it down. The translator’s task is to come close enough to hear them, then let them speak.

In this Peacemakers Circle, Bill will share from that long conversation: the Zen hermit Stonehouse, the eccentric Han-shan of Cold Mountain, and other poets he has spent decades translating and accompanying. Each poem carries its own story — the poet’s life, the mountain where it was written, and the difficult, intimate work of carrying its meaning into English.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

INTRODUCTION TO SKANDHA PRACTICE
A SIX SESSION COURSE WITH KEN BYALIN
STARTING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14
12:00 US EASTERN

“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita, perceived the emptiness of all five conditions and was freed from pain.”

The skandhas are the “five conditions” named in the Heart Sutra — the elements through which we construct and experience our lives.

In this free six-session course, participants will spend one week with each of the five skandhas, exploring them not as abstract Buddhist concepts, but as living aspects of moment-to-moment experience.

Register for Free Here

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

AGING: RENEWING THE MYSTERY
A MONTHLY GATHERING WITH ROSHI EVE MARKO
2ND TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH

Aging: Renewing the Mystery will be a monthly Zoom gathering investigating themes and issues many of us face as we get older. Topics will include forgiveness, fear of dependence, illness and death, simplicity, regret, loneliness, the changing faces of love, and others that come from participants.

More Information Here

We are also offering an “Aging Council” the 4th Tuesday of each Month.
Open to everyone.

Sept 22nd: Peacemakers Council - Aging Council with Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe

CORE TRAINING

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIATION
WITH LISA GAKYO SCHAEWE
SEPTEMBER 21st
12:00 - 1:00 PM US EASTERN

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.

REGISTER FOR FREE

COUNCIL

Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost every day. In Council, we come together in a small group in a profound way. We each listen and speak from the heart, encountering and experiencing one another gently and with awareness. We are not solving problems, 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)

Sept 7th: Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers with Dr. Iris Dotan Katz
Sept 17th: Ecosattva Council with Kathleen Hoêtsu Battke
Sept 22nd: Peacemakers Council - Aging Council with Geoff Shōun O'Keeffe

AFFILIATE EVENT

The Bodhisattva Path in Action: How Buddhism, Politics, and Social Engagement Serve Democracy

The event will reflect on how the Dharma’s teachings on non-harming, interdependence, wise speech, and compassion can help us:

• Respond to today’s realities with wisdom rather than reactivity.

• Communicate across political differences without losing heart.

• Take meaningful action while avoiding further polarization.

• Ground civic engagement in the Bodhisattva path of awakening and service.

• Tara Brach, Ben Connelly, and Kaira Jewel Lingo

“We hope that participants will leave the town hall with the answers to several questions,” said Trisha Stotler, IMCW Events Consultant. “How can we participate in this political moment without hardening our hearts? How do we stand up for what matters while remaining grounded in compassion, wisdom, and respect for our shared humanity?”

REGISTER HERE

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

Hello Family!

Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.

In peace & gratitude-

Michel Engu Dobbs

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008592778

Zen Peacemakers Affiliate

NEW AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Awakening Dharma

Fostering awakening and its embodiment in worldly life.

Zen Peacemakers is a network of independent organizations on five continents. Each of them came to this work on their own path; introducing them is how the network becomes visible to itself.

What they do: Awakening Dharma is the teaching community of Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi, who teaches in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. In their own words, they continue a 2,500-year-old lineage of practice “through the application of authentic, rigorous Buddhist and modern practices.” Mugen Roshi’s teaching centers on the brahmavihāras — lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity — as immersive practice. They offer one- to three-week meditation retreats, most now online and some in person in Michigan and Indiana, a monthly mentoring program, Liberating the Heart and Self, and Monthly Sangha Gatherings open to anyone.

Where: United States, and online.
https://zenpeacemakers.org/affiliates/awakening-dharma/

TAKING ACTION

Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.

Through the Three Tenets, we practice:

• Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.

• Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.

Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.

Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.

Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality

✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More

❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here

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

ENTER HERE

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

PURCHASE HERE

Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreat 2026
November 15–21, 2026

Details and registration:
hive.zenpeacemakers.org/events/206179

BEARING WITNESS RETREAT

Information Session for Bearing Witness
at Auschwitz / Birkenau

Each November, Zen Peacemakers returns to Auschwitz-Birkenau to sit together and bear witness. This session is an open hour to ask about that practice — what the week actually asks of you, and what it might ask of us together. It is for anyone considering the retreat, and equally for those already registered who are holding questions.

Wednesday, September 2nd
12:00 - 1:00 pm US Eastern
Online - Open Q&A - All are Welcome

Register Here

There’s great power in the place
where life and death come together.

- Eve Marko

This November, Zen Peacemakers from all walks of life will come together to bear witness in Auschwitz, a place that has become a monument to intolerance. We invite you to join us.

Scholarships are available,
and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.

Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat

November 15 - 21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

ONE DAY PLUNGE

Register Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

HOW THE BUDDHIST SANGHA ORGANIZED ITSELF TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
12:00 PM US EASTERN

The presentation will involve a story about how we as a Buddhist community gathered spontaneously out of fury and compassion from the very first days of war told by a few active members, by Ukrainian volunteers through short videos, and from a Ukrainian singer whose town, Kherson, is almost destroyed.

Register Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE PRACTICE OF PEACE: A CONVERSATION WITH JANE HIRSHFIELD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1:00 PM US EASTERN

Both Zen and art-making are practices of transformation. They broaden seeing, soften understanding, and expand the field of our actions and speech.
Join Zen Peacemakers on Tuesday, September 29th for a second conversation between poet Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shoun O’ Keeffe as they continue the dialogue about art-making and activism, the ways that creative heart-mind increases compassion, and the perennial question of meeting the difficult with tenderness, humility, and courage.

During the program, Jane will also read some of her poems and there will be time for question and answer with the group as a whole.

Register Here

Jane Hirshfield is an American poet, essayist, and translator and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, known as one of American poetry's central spokespersons for the biosphere and recognized as writing some of the most important poetry in the world today. Her award-winning work through collections poems, essays, newspapers and literary journals has been translated into over fifteen languages.

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

THE LONG CONVERSATION: A LIFE TRANSLATING CHINA’S MOUNTAIN POETS - WITH RED PINE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Bill Porter, known to many readers as Red Pine, describes translation as a conversation with the dead — a phrase that also became the title of a documentary about his life and work. Every poem is a person who once stood somewhere, saw something, and wrote it down. The translator’s task is to come close enough to hear them, then let them speak.

In this Peacemakers Circle, Bill will share from that long conversation: the Zen hermit Stonehouse, the eccentric Han-shan of Cold Mountain, and other poets he has spent decades translating and accompanying. Each poem carries its own story — the poet’s life, the mountain where it was written, and the difficult, intimate work of carrying its meaning into English.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

INTRODUCTION TO SKANDHA PRACTICE
A SIX SESSION COURSE WITH KEN BYALIN
STARTING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14
12:00 US EASTERN

“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita, perceived the emptiness of all five conditions and was freed from pain.”

The skandhas are the “five conditions” named in the Heart Sutra — the elements through which we construct and experience our lives.

In this free six-session course, participants will spend one week with each of the five skandhas, exploring them not as abstract Buddhist concepts, but as living aspects of moment-to-moment experience.

Register for Free Here

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

AGING: RENEWING THE MYSTERY
A MONTHLY GATHERING WITH ROSHI EVE MARKO
2ND TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH

Aging: Renewing the Mystery will be a monthly Zoom gathering investigating themes and issues many of us face as we get older. Topics will include forgiveness, fear of dependence, illness and death, simplicity, regret, loneliness, the changing faces of love, and others that come from participants.

More Information Here

We are also offering an “Aging Council” the 4th Tuesday of each Month. Open to everyone.

CORE TRAINING

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIATION
SEPTEMBER 21st
12:00 - 1:00 PM US EASTERN

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.

REGISTER FOR FREE

COUNCIL

Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost every day. In Council, we come together in a small group in a profound way. We each listen and speak from the heart, encountering and experiencing one another gently and with awareness. We are not solving problems, 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)

Sept 7th: Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers with Dr. Iris Dotan Katz
Sept 17th: Ecosattva Council with Kathleen Hoêtsu Battke
Sept 22nd: Peacemakers Council - Aging Council with Geoff Shōun O'Keeffe

AFFILIATE EVENT

The Bodhisattva Path in Action: How Buddhism, Politics, and Social Engagement Serve Democracy

The event will reflect on how the Dharma’s teachings on non-harming, interdependence, wise speech, and compassion can help us:

• Respond to today’s realities with wisdom rather than reactivity.

• Communicate across political differences without losing heart.

• Take meaningful action while avoiding further polarization.

• Ground civic engagement in the Bodhisattva path of awakening and service.

• Tara Brach, Ben Connelly, and Kaira Jewel Lingo

“We hope that participants will leave the town hall with the answers to several questions,” said Trisha Stotler, IMCW Events Consultant. “How can we participate in this political moment without hardening our hearts? How do we stand up for what matters while remaining grounded in compassion, wisdom, and respect for our shared humanity?”

REGISTER HERE

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

Hello Family!

Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.

In peace & gratitude-

Michel Engu Dobbs

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008592778

Zen Peacemakers Affiliate

NEW AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Awakening Dharma

Fostering awakening and its embodiment in worldly life.

Zen Peacemakers is a network of independent organizations on five continents. Each of them came to this work on their own path; introducing them is how the network becomes visible to itself.

What they do: Awakening Dharma is the teaching community of Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi, who teaches in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. In their own words, they continue a 2,500-year-old lineage of practice “through the application of authentic, rigorous Buddhist and modern practices.” Mugen Roshi’s teaching centers on the brahmavihāras — lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity — as immersive practice. They offer one- to three-week meditation retreats, most now online and some in person in Michigan and Indiana, a monthly mentoring program, Liberating the Heart and Self, and Monthly Sangha Gatherings open to anyone.

Where: United States, and online.
https://zenpeacemakers.org/affiliates/awakening-dharma/

TAKING ACTION

Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.

Through the Three Tenets, we practice:

• Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.

• Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.

Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.

Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.

Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality

✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More

❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here

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

ENTER HERE

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

PURCHASE HERE

Art, Activism, and the Practice of Peace:
A Conversation with Poet Jane Hirshfield

September 29, 2026
1:00pm - 2:30pm US Eastern

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

BEARING WITNESS RETREAT

Information Session for Bearing Witness
at Auschwitz / Birkenau

Each November, Zen Peacemakers returns to Auschwitz-Birkenau to sit together and bear witness. This session is an open hour to ask about that practice — what the week actually asks of you, and what it might ask of us together. It is for anyone considering the retreat, and equally for those already registered who are holding questions.

Wednesday, September 2nd
12:00 - 1:00 pm US Eastern
Online - Open Q&A - All are Welcome

Register Here

There’s great power in the place
where life and death come together.

- Eve Marko

This November, Zen Peacemakers from all walks of life will come together to bear witness in Auschwitz, a place that has become a monument to intolerance. We invite you to join us.

Scholarships are available,
and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.

Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat

November 15 - 21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

ONE DAY PLUNGE

MORE INFO HERE

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

HOW THE BUDDHIST SANGHA ORGANIZED ITSELF TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
12:00 PM US EASTERN

The presentation will involve a story about how we as a Buddhist community gathered spontaneously out of fury and compassion from the very first days of war told by a few active members, by Ukrainian volunteers through short videos, and from a Ukrainian singer whose town, Kherson, is almost destroyed.

More Info Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE PRACTICE OF PEACE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1:00 PM US EASTERN

Both Zen and art-making are practices of transformation. They broaden seeing, soften understanding, and expand the field of our actions and speech. This second conversation between poet Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shoun O' Keeffe will continue the dialogue about art-making and activism, the ways that creative heart-mind increases compassion, and the perennial question of meeting the difficult with tenderness, humility, and courage. The conversation will include also hearing some poems, and the final half hour will be a time for question and answer with the group as a whole.

More Info Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

THE LONG CONVERSATION: A LIFE TRANSLATING CHINA’S MOUNTAIN POETS - WITH RED PINE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Bill Porter, known to many readers as Red Pine, describes translation as a conversation with the dead — a phrase that also became the title of a documentary about his life and work. Every poem is a person who once stood somewhere, saw something, and wrote it down. The translator’s task is to come close enough to hear them, then let them speak.

In this Peacemakers Circle, Bill will share from that long conversation: the Zen hermit Stonehouse, the eccentric Han-shan of Cold Mountain, and other poets he has spent decades translating and accompanying. Each poem carries its own story — the poet’s life, the mountain where it was written, and the difficult, intimate work of carrying its meaning into English.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

INTRODUCTION TO SKANDHA PRACTICE
A SIX SESSION COURSE WITH KEN BYALIN
STARTING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14
12:00 US EASTERN

“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita, perceived the emptiness of all five conditions and was freed from pain.”

The skandhas are the “five conditions” named in the Heart Sutra — the elements through which we construct and experience our lives.

In this free six-session course, participants will spend one week with each of the five skandhas, exploring them not as abstract Buddhist concepts, but as living aspects of moment-to-moment experience.

More Information Here

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

AGING: RENEWING THE MYSTERY
A MONTHLY GATHERING WITH ROSHI EVE MARKO
2ND TUESDAY EACH MONTH

Aging: Renewing the Mystery will be a monthly Zoom gathering investigating themes and issues many of us face as we get older. Topics will include forgiveness, fear of dependence, illness and death, simplicity, regret, loneliness, the changing faces of love, and others that come from participants.

More Information Here

CORE TRAINING

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIATION
SEPTEMBER 21st
12:00 - 1:00 PM US EASTERN

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.

REGISTER FOR FREE

WAY OF COUNCIL

Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost 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, 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)

Tuesday, August 11th - The Way of Council with Kineret Ando Yardena
Monday, August 17th - Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers Council
Friday, August 21st - Women Only Council

AFFILIATE EVENT

The Bodhisattva Path in Action: How Buddhism, Politics, and Social Engagement Serve Democracy

The event will reflect on how the Dharma’s teachings on non-harming, interdependence, wise speech, and compassion can help us:

• Respond to today’s realities with wisdom rather than reactivity.

• Communicate across political differences without losing heart.

• Take meaningful action while avoiding further polarization.

• Ground civic engagement in the Bodhisattva path of awakening and service.

• Tara Brach, Ben Connelly, and Kaira Jewel Lingo

“We hope that participants will leave the town hall with the answers to several questions,” said Trisha Stotler, IMCW Events Consultant. “How can we participate in this political moment without hardening our hearts? How do we stand up for what matters while remaining grounded in compassion, wisdom, and respect for our shared humanity?”

REGISTER HERE

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

Hello Family!

Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.

In peace & gratitude-

Michel Engu Dobbs

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008592778

Zen Peacemakers Affiliate

NEW AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Awakening Dharma

Fostering awakening and its embodiment in worldly life.

Zen Peacemakers is a network of independent organizations on five continents. Each of them came to this work on their own path; introducing them is how the network becomes visible to itself.

What they do: Awakening Dharma is the teaching community of Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi, who teaches in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. In their own words, they continue a 2,500-year-old lineage of practice “through the application of authentic, rigorous Buddhist and modern practices.” Mugen Roshi’s teaching centers on the brahmavihāras — lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity — as immersive practice. They offer one- to three-week meditation retreats, most now online and some in person in Michigan and Indiana, a monthly mentoring program, Liberating the Heart and Self, and Monthly Sangha Gatherings open to anyone.

Where: United States, and online.
https://zenpeacemakers.org/affiliates/awakening-dharma/

TAKING ACTION

Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.

Through the Three Tenets, we practice:

• Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.

• Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.

Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.

Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.

Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality

✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More

❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here

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

ENTER HERE

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

PURCHASE HERE

Art, Activism, and the Practice of Peace:
A Conversation with Poet Jane Hirshfield
September 29, 2026 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDT
Register here: https://hive.zenpeacemakers.org/events/215504

BEARING WITNESS RETREAT

There’s great power in the place
where life and death come together.

- Eve Marko

This November, Zen Peacemakers from all walks of life will come together to bear witness in Auschwitz, a place that has become a monument to intolerance. We invite you to join us.

Scholarships are available,
and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.

Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat

November 15 - 21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

ONE DAY PLUNGE

MORE INFO HERE

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

HOW THE BUDDHIST SANGHA ORGANIZED ITSELF TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
12:00 PM US EASTERN

The presentation will involve a story about how we as a Buddhist community gathered spontaneously out of fury and compassion from the very first days of war told by a few active members, by Ukrainian volunteers through short videos, and from a Ukrainian singer whose town, Kherson, is almost destroyed.

More Info Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE PRACTICE OF PEACE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1:00 PM US EASTERN

Both Zen and art-making are practices of transformation. They broaden seeing, soften understanding, and expand the field of our actions and speech. This second conversation between poet Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shoun O' Keeffe will continue the dialogue about art-making and activism, the ways that creative heart-mind increases compassion, and the perennial question of meeting the difficult with tenderness, humility, and courage. The conversation will include also hearing some poems, and the final half hour will be a time for question and answer with the group as a whole.

More Info Here

PEACEMAKERS CIRCLE

THE LONG CONVERSATION: A LIFE TRANSLATING CHINA’S MOUNTAIN POETS - WITH RED PINE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Bill Porter, known to many readers as Red Pine, describes translation as a conversation with the dead — a phrase that also became the title of a documentary about his life and work. Every poem is a person who once stood somewhere, saw something, and wrote it down. The translator’s task is to come close enough to hear them, then let them speak.

In this Peacemakers Circle, Bill will share from that long conversation: the Zen hermit Stonehouse, the eccentric Han-shan of Cold Mountain, and other poets he has spent decades translating and accompanying. Each poem carries its own story — the poet’s life, the mountain where it was written, and the difficult, intimate work of carrying its meaning into English.

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

INTRODUCTION TO SKANDHA PRACTICE
A SIX SESSION COURSE WITH KEN BYALIN
STARTING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14
12:00 US EASTERN

“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita, perceived the emptiness of all five conditions and was freed from pain.”

The skandhas are the “five conditions” named in the Heart Sutra — the elements through which we construct and experience our lives.

In this free six-session course, participants will spend one week with each of the five skandhas, exploring them not as abstract Buddhist concepts, but as living aspects of moment-to-moment experience.

More Information Here

ZEN PEACEMAKERS SERIES

AGING: RENEWING THE MYSTERY
A MONTHLY GATHERING WITH ROSHI EVE MARKO
2ND TUESDAY EACH MONTH

Aging: Renewing the Mystery will be a monthly Zoom gathering investigating themes and issues many of us face as we get older. Topics will include forgiveness, fear of dependence, illness and death, simplicity, regret, loneliness, the changing faces of love, and others that come from participants.

More Information Here

CORE TRAINING

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIATION
SEPTEMBER 21st
12:00 - 1:00 PM US EASTERN

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.

REGISTER FOR FREE

WAY OF COUNCIL

Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost 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, 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)

Tuesday, August 11th - The Way of Council with Kineret Ando Yardena
Monday, August 17th - Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers Council
Friday, August 21st - Women Only Council

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

Hello Family!

Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.

In peace & gratitude-

Michel Engu Dobbs

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008592778

Zen Peacemakers Affiliate

NEW AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Awakening Dharma

Fostering awakening and its embodiment in worldly life.

Zen Peacemakers is a network of independent organizations on five continents. Each of them came to this work on their own path; introducing them is how the network becomes visible to itself.

What they do: Awakening Dharma is the teaching community of Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi, who teaches in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. In their own words, they continue a 2,500-year-old lineage of practice “through the application of authentic, rigorous Buddhist and modern practices.” Mugen Roshi’s teaching centers on the brahmavihāras — lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity — as immersive practice. They offer one- to three-week meditation retreats, most now online and some in person in Michigan and Indiana, a monthly mentoring program, Liberating the Heart and Self, and Monthly Sangha Gatherings open to anyone.

Where: United States, and online.
https://zenpeacemakers.org/affiliates/awakening-dharma/

TAKING ACTION

Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.

Through the Three Tenets, we practice:

• Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.

• Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.

Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.

Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.

Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality

✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More

❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here

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

ENTER HERE

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

PURCHASE HERE

Art, Activism, and the Practice of Peace:
A Conversation with Poet Jane Hirshfield
September 29, 2026 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDT
Register here: https://hive.zenpeacemakers.org/events/215504

There’s great power in the place
where life and death come together.

- Eve Marko

This November, Zen Peacemakers from all walks of life will come together to bear witness in Auschwitz, a place that has become a monument to intolerance. We invite you to join us.

Scholarships are available,
and guidance for Raising a Mala to support travel and retreat costs.

Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau
Bearing Witness Retreat

November 15 - 21, 2026
Oświęcim, Poland

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

Peacemakers Circle

LIVING AWAKENESS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Following a significant awakening experience, qualities of awakenness will spontaneously manifest in one's behavior. In this gathering we will directly experience practice qualities of awakeness. The gathering will consist of a dharma talk, Q&A, and guided mediation touching into manifest qualities of awakeness.

More Info Here

NEW AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Awakening Dharma

Fostering awakening and its embodiment in worldly life.

Zen Peacemakers is a network of independent organizations on five continents. Each of them came to this work on their own path; introducing them is how the network becomes visible to itself.

What they do: Awakening Dharma is the teaching community of Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi, who teaches in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. In their own words, they continue a 2,500-year-old lineage of practice “through the application of authentic, rigorous Buddhist and modern practices.” Mugen Roshi’s teaching centers on the brahmavihāras — lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity — as immersive practice. They offer one- to three-week meditation retreats, most now online and some in person in Michigan and Indiana, a monthly mentoring program, Liberating the Heart and Self, and Monthly Sangha Gatherings open to anyone.

Where: United States, and online.
https://zenpeacemakers.org/affiliates/awakening-dharma/

Peacemakers Circle

HOW THE BUDDHIST SANGHA ORGANIZED ITSELF TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD
12:00 PM US EASTERN

The presentation will involve a story about how we as a Buddhist community gathered spontaneously out of fury and compassion from the very first days of war told by a few active members, by Ukrainian volunteers through short videos, and from a Ukrainian singer whose town, Kherson, is almost destroyed.

More Info Here

Peacemakers Circle

ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE PRACTICE OF PEACE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1:00 PM US EASTERN

Both Zen and art-making are practices of transformation. They broaden seeing, soften understanding, and expand the field of our actions and speech. This second conversation between poet Jane Hirshfield and Geoff Shoun O' Keeffe will continue the dialogue about art-making and activism, the ways that creative heart-mind increases compassion, and the perennial question of meeting the difficult with tenderness, humility, and courage. The conversation will include also hearing some poems, and the final half hour will be a time for question and answer with the group as a whole.

More Info Here

Core Trainings

INTRODUCTION TO ZEN PEACEMAKING
MONDAY, AUGUST 10TH
12:00 PM US EASTERN

Our approach to Peacemaking is unique. As we practice the Three Tenets of Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action, we commit to not taking fixed positions, to embracing wholeness and unity, to setting a place at the table for everyone. In a world of conflict, suffering, and violence, how do we make peace in this way. Please join us to learn about Zen Peacemaking.

More Info Here

WAY OF COUNCIL

Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats almost 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, 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)

Tuesday, August 11th - The Way of Council with Kineret Ando Yardena
Monday, August 17th - Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers Council
Friday, August 21st - Women Only Council

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

Hello Family!

Our dear Lakota relative, Violet Catches, would like to invite Zen Peacemakers from all around the world to join on the Fourth Friday of the month at 1:00 pm US Eastern Time, to offer prayers for peace. Participants will be encouraged to offer prayers from their faith tradition, culture, and in their language.

In peace & gratitude-

Michel Engu Dobbs

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008592778

TAKING ACTION

Equality across gender is not just policy—it is lived dignity.

Through the Three Tenets, we practice:

• Not-Knowing: Releasing assumptions about gender roles and identities.

• Bearing Witness: Listening to the realities of women, non-binary, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Taking Action: Supporting advocacy, shelters, and empowerment programs.

Daily Practice: Notice your language, bias, and choices. Practice equality in small daily encounters.

Get Involved: Connect with organizations advancing gender equity and safety.

Learn more here: https://zenpeacemakers.org/taking-action-home/taking-action-gender-equality

✨ Explore the Taking Action initiative — discover how you can serve, connect, and be inspired by the work already unfolding in your communities.
👉 Explore More

❤️ Your gift helps bring the Three Tenets to life.
👉 Donate Here

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

ENTER HERE

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

PURCHASE HERE