“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
― Nelson Mandela
PEACEMAKERS PODCAST
TAKING ACTION
From Bearing Witness to Taking Action
Zen Peacemakers live by the Three Tenets: Not-Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action.
When we let go of certainty, we begin to truly see.
When we see, our hearts move us to respond.
Taking Action invites us into that response — a growing web of service and connection around the world. Together, we are building a map of compassion in motion — one that connects individuals, communities, and organizations embodying the practice of contemplative social action.
In 2026, this living map will feature over 20,000 global organizations offering meaningful volunteer opportunities in areas such as environmental care, racial equity, prison outreach, and more.
✨ 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
Weekly Spotlight: 904WARD
904WARD is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending racism in Jacksonville and beyond by fostering racial healing and equity through deep conversations, learning, and collective action. They aim to create an inclusive community where all individuals can thrive by promoting understanding and building trusting relationships.
904WARD and the Jacksonville Community Remembrance Project are deeply grateful to everyone who joined us on Sunday, September 14, for a moving Soil Collection Ceremony in honor of Joe and Ada Lang, a couple tragically lynched on August 28, 1921, on Jacksonville's northwest side.
Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.
BEARING WITNESS RETREAT
Bearing Witness to Racism in America
Montgomery & Selma, Alabama | April 23–28, 2026
This retreat is not about standing at the edge of history to change the world. It is about allowing the experience to change us — to see ourselves as the other,
and the other as ourselves.
Alumni often tell us that returning to this retreat opens new layers of insight, responsibility, and compassion — both personal and collective. If this work continues to call to you, we warmly invite you to join us again, or to share this offering with others in your community.
PEACEMAKER CIRCLE
Taking Action
Wednesday, Feb., 4th, 12pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
Our third tenet is taking loving action from not knowing and bearing witness. This vow makes Zen Peacemakers unique. This is how we engage and reach out with helping hands to relieve suffering in our troubled world. Please join us to share your work, your project, and your own taking action with others.
PEACEMAKER CIRCLE
Tuesday, Feb. 17th, 12:00 pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
Film Screening: ARE WE ONE
This new documentary film traces the transmission of Zen meditation through the life’s work of Robert Kennedy, 90-year-old Irish-American Jesuit Zen Master – and his successors and students – in a contemporary exploration of interfaith dialogue on the common ground of human experience.
FEATURED WRITINGS
Older Brother Bob
Roshi Robert Kennedy. S.J., always introduced me as his Dharma brother, Dharma brothers because Roshi Bernie Glassman was both of our teachers. I always responded, “Roshi Bob is my older brother. He helped to raise me.” Poshu Huang, a long-time member of our Tuesday evening sitting group, pointed out that in Chinese there is no single word for ‘brother,…
CORE TRAINING
Introduction to Way of Council with Eve Marko
Mon., Feb. 9th, 12pm Eastern Time, Zoom
Council is one of our most important core Zen Peacemaker practices. We share Council during our Bearing Witness retreats most every day. In Council we come together in a small group in a profound way. We create a shared liminal space that is safe, confidential, and perhaps sacred. In this Introduction, we will briefly present the history of Council, explain the guidelines we use, and then experience a short Council session.
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 or debating issues or making plans. We are making a healing space for each of us to hear and be heard, see and be seen.
UPCOMING COUNCILS (click on title to learn more & register)
Join our New Mom’s & Dad’s Councils. These councils are a way to connect, share stories, and support one another in navigating the joys and challenges of modern motherhood & fatherhood. space limited so register soon
Monday, Feb. 2nd - Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers with Dr. Iris Dotan Katz
Saturday, Feb. 7th (in Australia)- The Way of Council with Aus-NZ Peacemaker Council
Tues., Feb. 10th - Way of Council with Annie Myoshin Markovich
Wed., Feb. 11th - Mom’s Council
ZAZEN
Experience a connection with your personal landscape through the transformative power of online meditation sessions with the Zen Peacemakers. Whether you're part of a local sangha or other spiritual community, we invite you to join us in this virtual space where we can gather across geographies and time zones.
Join us for these online meditation sessions and experience the profound benefits of collective mindfulness. The Zen Peacemakers are here to support you on this transformative journey.
Monday - Friday
10:00 - 10:40 am US Eastern
MORE INFO HERE
HAIKU
Monthly Haiku Page
Please participate in our Haiku Poetry Challenge
OFFERING
The Bernie Koans
Edited by: Ken Byalin, Francisco "Paco" Lugovina, Christopher Panos
‘It’s just my opinion, man’, as Bernie would say. We all have our opinions about Roshi Bernie Glassman. To some of us, he is the stern head monk at Zen Center of LA; to others, he is the socially engaged Buddhist who built up the Greyston Bakery and Foundation. To others he is the founder of Zen Peacemakers International and the instigator of bearing witness plunges on the city streets and at Auschwitz and to others he is the clown, the founder of the Order of Disorder. He is all of these and more. As the stories in the book show, he is Bernie, the mensch, who spent his life feeding the hungry ghosts of society and teaching that Zen is to realize the oneness and interconnectedness of life.
-Gerry Shishin Wick, grateful Dharma brother and disciple of Roshi Bernie
Thank you for reading this week's Zen Peacemakers newsletter.
We look forward to connecting at upcoming events, on social media, and via email.
With gratitude,
The Zen Peacemakers Team


















