Ocean
I am in love with Ocean
lifting her thousands of white hats
in the chop of the storm,
or lying smooth and blue, the
loveliest bed in the world.
In the personal life, there is
always grief more than enough,
a heart load for each of us
on the dusty road. I suppose
there is a reason for this, so I will be
patient, acquiescent. But I will live
nowhere except here, by Ocean, trusting
equally in all blast and welcome
of her sorrowless, salt self.
- Mary Oliver
BEARING WITNESS RETREAT
Ehani wichoun ikxoyagya woechun
Connecting with our Ancestors Way of Life
Join Us for the Native American Bearing Witness Retreat
July 15 – 20, 2025
📍 Hot Springs, South Dakota
This July 15–20, 2025, we invite you to the Black Hills of South Dakota for our Native American Bearing Witness Retreat—a time of humility, listening, and reconnecting with the ways of our ancestors.
In the sacred lands of Elk Mountain and Hot Springs, we gather in relationship with the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota nations—through story, presence, and shared practice. This is not a reenactment, but a living act of bearing witness to what is, and what still calls to be seen.
Since 1996, Zen Peacemakers has offered retreats around the world grounded in the Three Tenets: Not-Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action. As shared on our event page:
"Bearing witness is to be fully present for whatever arises, letting go of fixed ideas and holding space for transformation to occur.”
Together, we will:
Visit sacred sites in the Black Hills, guided by Native elders and hosts
Listen to stories of cultural survival, identity, and connection to place
Reflect in daily circles centered on presence and mutual respect
Deepen our understanding of solidarity with Indigenous communities
🔗 Learn more & register
We hope to see you there.
Zen Peacemakers
Our mission is to realize our oneness and relieve suffering through contemplative social action.
www.zenpeacemakers.org
WAY OF COUNCIL
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. 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)
Thursday, May 8th - The Way of Council with Lilli Mösler
Friday, May 16th - Women Only Council
Thursday, May 22nd - The Way of Council with Deborah Jyoshin Stewart
Monday, May 26th - Mental Health Council
PEACEMAKER CIRCLES
Buddhist Journalism in a Time of Polarization
Wednesday, May 7th, 12pm Eastern Time, Zoom
Tricycle’s primary mission has been to disseminate Buddhist teachings; provide an open forum for Buddhists of all traditions; and to engage the broader culture from Buddhist perspectives. Over the years, while our writers have from time to time taken a stand on social and political issues, the magazine itself has remained nonaligned. In an inclusive and independent spirit, we have eschewed outside affiliations.
Occasionally, however—and especially in recent years, in an ever more polarized social climate—we have been urged to take strong positions, or to publish pieces we have considered overly polemical. Editor in Chief, James Shaheen will talk about the editorial view that has evolved at Tricycle over the past 35 years.
Ba’al Shem Zen: Buber’s Hasidic Tales as Koans
Wednesday, May 14th, 12pm Eastern Time, Zoom
Join Part 2 of the presentation that was given October 15th, 2024. All are Welcome.
A rabbi and a roshi sat down to read Buber... More than a set-up for another inter-religious joke, this real-life occurrence has given rise to a rich exploration of spirit, mystical tradition and menschlichkeit, that untranslatable Yiddishism pointing to the condition of human decency and skillful means.
Join Rabbi David Curiel and Roshi Ken Byalin in a close reading of one of Martin Buber’s stories from The Legend of the Ba’al Shem—a collection of stories about the founder of the Hasidic movement—with touchpoints from both Jewish mystical and Zen traditions. We’ll explain inherent kabbalistic concepts, as well as introduce Zen koans that reflect similar (or divergent) viewpoints. Most of all, we will enjoy the stories and the frisson of deep learning and spontaneous insight.
Bearing Witness Study Series with Roshi Ken Byalin
Every Other Tuesday: May 13th, 27th, June 10th, 24th, July 8th, 22nd, Aug 5th, 19th. at 12:00pm Eastern Time, Zoom
Bearing Witness is Roshi Bernie Glassman’s story of the founding of the Zen Peacemakers. It’s an important story, a story worth returning to, chock full of some of some of Bernie’s most important teachings. Bernie believed in the wisdom of groups and the power of studying together. Let’s look together at what Bernie is saying to us today. Let’s see how deeply we can go together.
Click here to purchase Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons in Making Peace
CORE TRAINING
Meditation Instruction with Lisa Gakyo Schaewe
Monday, May 12th at 7:00pm Eastern, Zoom
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.
AFFILIATE EVENT
Liberated Self - Liberated World
A Zen Peacemaker Retreat
Sunday, August 17 to Thursday, August 21 2025
at Stelserhof, 7226 Stels, Switzerland
Turn around the light to shine within, then just return.
How do we live in unliveable times?
How do we give no fear in fearful times?
What gives us strength when we feel vulnerable and alone?
We sit to shine the light within. As Ram Dass says: We go behind that which changes to find that which does not change.
We will do sitting and walking meditation, seeing how the things of our life—thoughts, feelings, ideas—come and go continuously. We will listen to dharma talks and use interviews, or face-to-face, to empty our mind and open our heart. At the same time, we must always return—to our loved ones, our work, the world. We empty our cup, stop listening to our own endless chatter, and then bear witness, looking at beings and relationships all around us. When we take ourselves out of the equation, presence emerges, and out of presence, spontaneous loving action.
The retreat will be led by Eve Myonen Marko Rōshi and Franziska Jinen Schneider Sensei.
Eve Marko Rōshi founded the Green River Zen Center in Massachusetts/USA. She is a founding teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, author, and editor of various books.
Franziska Schneider is the founder and leading teacher of the Zen Zentrum im Grünen Ring, St. Gallen/CH. She received Dharma transmission from Eve Marko Rōshi. Judge em., mother, grandmother.
Information & Registration: Franziska Schneider: info@zen-imgruenenring.ch; www.zen-imgruenenring.ch
AFFILIATE ANNOUNCEMENT
To strengthen our planetary network, ZP will feature newly affiliated groups. Join HERE to explore some of the offerings of the organizations affiliated with ZP, and visit here for a full list of these groups. Following is an introduction to our newest affiliate, Jamtse Ling
Jamtse Ling Centro Rimé
per il Buddhismo Non Settario
A Non-Profit Dharma Center dedicated to the Non-Sectarian Practice, Promotion, and Dissemination of Buddhism
Tell us a bit about how your group was conceived
In 2022, a group of Dharma practitioners in Bologna (Italy) perceived the need and usefulness of establishing a Dharma center dedicated to the Non-Sectarian Practice, Promotion and Dissemination of the Dharma, in order to contribute to the spread of the Buddha's teachings.
When did your organization form? February 1, 2022
Tell us about one exciting project, program, or other offering you are currently working on.
This current year, we will apply for affiliation to the Italian Buddhist Union. The most recent initiative has been the Tibetan Culture Week in Bologna, with His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Sister Jetsun Pema Amala, "The Mother of Tibet," to support the Tibetan Children's Village.
How do the Three Tenets inform your social engagement?
Not-Knowing. The Rimé Association for Non-Sectarian Practice, Promotion and Dharma Diffusion supports the realization of one's Fundamental Nature through the practice of the Buddha's Teachings. With this motivation, it respects, promotes and studies all Dharma Traditions and Schools which, by virtue of unbroken lineages, lead to the true Realization of “Absolute Reality” or “Rigpa” or “Nature of Mind”, beyond concepts, names and forms, based on the understanding that arises from direct, personal spiritual experience and growth beyond intellectual concepts.
Bearing Witness. The Rimé Association prioritizes contemplative experience, as this reveals a unifying vision within diverse Dharma traditions. This vision, a common denominator among the Traditions, transcends institutional organizations and formal components, all of which remain integral parts of the Sangha, the Community of Dharma practitioners.
Taking action. Based on networks of authentic human relationships, the Rimé Association carries out, supports, and participates in activities, practice,s and the sharing of information and knowledge that support the dissemination of correct Dharma.
For more information: jamtseling@jamtseling-rime.org
Our Website: https://jamtseling-rime.org/
TAKING ACTION - Prison Outreach
Letter Writing Campaign
Compassion Prison Project has been told by several prison residents that nothing brightens their day more than hearing their name called during mail call.
They have also heard from letter writers on the outside that their lives have been deeply enriched by the relationships they’ve cultivated with the incarcerated men and women with whom they communicate. Expressive writing can be therapeutic and healing and can also cultivate a sense of belonging and connection.
CPP is always looking for volunteers to join their letter writing campaign. Please fill out the volunteer form and let them know that you’d like to write to someone living in a prison.
CPP is a grassroots, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
May we fulfill our vows to free and save all sentient beings.
JOIN ZEN PEACEMAKERS TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PRISON OUTREACH
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
Peacemakers Podcast—a space where compassion, action, and deep listening come together. Presented by Zen Peacemakers, this podcast explores the transformative power of the Three Tenets: Not-Knowing, Bearing
Witness, and Taking Action.
Join us as we engage with activists, spiritual leaders, and people just like you who embody the principles of peacemaking in their lives and work. Through their stories, we uncover the challenges and insights that arise when we step into the unknown, witness suffering, and respond with wisdom and love.
Whether you're a longtime practitioner or new to these teachings, we invite you to listen deeply, reflect, and discover how peacemaking can become a way of life.
Let’s walk this path together.
Listen Here: https://voice.zenpeacemakers.org/s/podcast
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