Kindness
‘Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.’
- an excerpt from Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
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
Perspective + Empathy; Learning Beyond Your Own Lens
Wed., March 18th, 12:00 pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
Empathy helps us feel, but perspective helps us understand. This mini chat with T. Marie King explores why real learning requires both.
Jishu Memorial: Ox Class Revisited with Nancy Mujo Baker & Roshi Ken Byalin
Saturday, March 21st, 12 pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
March 20th is the anniversary of the passing of Roshi Sandra Jishu Angyo Holmes (1941-1998), the co-founder of the Zen Peacemaker Order and Zen priest of the White Plum Asanga. Her contribution to the Zen Peacemaker vision still reverberates today as we honor her life and service.
The Right of Remembrance: 1864 Sand Creek Massacre
Wed., April 1st, 12pm US Eastern Time, Zoom
In this presentation, Sand Creek descendant Chris Tall Bear shares the heavy history of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, from the political failures that preceded it to the role of religious institutions in its execution. We will walk through the landscape of the Methodist Church’s apology and the creation of a National Historic Site dedicated to the “Right of Remembrance.” This is a story of resilience: moving from a history of erasure toward a future rooted in truth-telling and ancestral honor.
SERIES EVENT
EARTHing - Days of Contemplation and Action, A Series Event
Session 1: April 17th, 2:30pm US Eastern Time
Framing (“Not Knowing”) with Chris Goto Jones and Martin Pradel
In this online series of meetings and activities in April 2026, spanning six days towards EARTH DAY, we invite you to join us in deepening our practice as Earth Stewards – meditating together, sharing in Circles, and getting down to Earth in the places we live.
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)
Wed., March 11th - Way of Council with Roshi Paco Genkoji
Fri., March 20th - Women Only Council
Mon., March 23rd - Dad’s Council
Tues., March 24th - The Way of Council with Kineret Ando Yardena
Mon., March 30th - Mental Health Professionals & Caregivers with Dr. Iris Dotan Katz
TAKING ACTION
War leaves deep wounds in individuals, communities, and nations. Yet even in the midst of conflict, people are working tirelessly for peace, reconciliation, and humanitarian support. Explore opportunities to take action in support of peace.
✨ 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
AFFILIATE ANNOUNCEMENT
To strengthen our planetary network, Zen Peacemakers will feature newly affiliated groups. Join hive.zenpeacemakers.org to explore some of the offerings of the organizations affiliated with ZP, and visit here for a full list of these groups. The following is an introduction to the Zen Caregiving Project
Our mission is to nurture caregivers and those they care for by teaching skills rooted in mindfulness and compassion while fostering connection and community.
Tell us a bit about how your group was conceived
Zen Caregiving Project, formerly known as Zen Hospice Project, was founded in 1986 to address suffering in San Francisco. Rooted in Zen Buddhist tradition, we began training volunteer caregivers to serve dying residents at two sites of service. Our world-renowned volunteer caregiver training has evolved to become the foundation of our Mindful Caregiver. The education that we teach nationally. In 2015, we began taking our unique approach to care out into the world in order to allow caregivers anywhere to benefit from our course offerings.
When did your organization form? January 1, 1987
Tell us about one exciting project, program, or other offering you are currently working on.
About a year ago (2025) we created Caregiver Support Circles. These were initiated to address a problem we were seeing among caregivers, namely, isolation. These sessions serve as an enhancement to the courses we lead for caregivers. They are a forum for caregivers to come together and share the story of their caregiving and connect with other caregivers. By providing a space where caregivers are held without judgment or any need to fix, they can feel safe sharing whatever burdens them. As facilitators, we are there to listen and witness. When asked, we provide ideas or approaches that may ease suffering.
How do the Three Tenets inform your social engagement?
Within the context of our volunteer program and our educational program, we teach the value of embracing “Beginner’s Mind.” We also teach the necessity of looking clearly into the face of suffering in all its forms and being with things as they are with clear attention and an open heart. In everything we do we aspire to serve others and generate merit for the benefit of all beings.
For more information
Our Website: https://zencaregiving.org/
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












