CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY

Please note the following important dates for the cancellation and refund policy. All refunds are normally processed within 60 days of the notification of cancellation. 

• If the retreat is canceled by Zen Peacemakers International, the registrants will receive full refunds of the paid registration fees.
• If a registration is canceled by the participant before June 1, ZPI will refund all but a $100 cancellation fee to help cover administration expenses.
• If a registration is canceled by the participant after June 1 but before, June 15, ZPI will refund all but a $300 cancelation fee to help cover administration expenses.
• The retreat fee becomes non-refundable if a registration is canceled by the participant after June 15.
• IMPORTANT NOTE: The participants are responsible for their own hotel reservations, cancellations, and the related fees/penalties.

Zen Peacemakers encourages everyone to fundraise their participation by reaching out to close ones and friends and by that to include others in what otherwise may be a very personal journey. You will also raise awareness for whatever causes or issues attending this retreat will address for you.

2,500 years ago, it was the practice of the lay congregation to support monks through donations of food and clothing. Shakyamuni Buddha led his monks each morning in the practice of begging for their daily food. Each day’s offering was received with thanks regardless of its nature or size. In this way the Buddha encouraged simplicity, the generosity of both giving and receiving, and undiscriminating appreciation.

We continue this begging practice by raising support for our work by assembling a mala, or beads that are strung together and worn like a necklace. Each bead represents a person who supports that member’s vision and work, and the entire mala represents the Member’s community of support.

This is a practice of giving and receiving. By asking for support from family, friends, and associates, we acknowledge that as individuals, we are limited in what we can do. We depend on the generosity of others to increase our membership, train more peacemakers, and develop and support more programs. This is one more way in which we bear witness in the interdependence of life.

Another important aspect of mala practice is the incorporation of the ministry of money in our program. The assembly of malas ensures that money management and fundraising are not seen as foreign to peacemaking work; instead, the give-and-take of money is the compassionate, unobstructed flow of energy that nourishes and transforms our activities.

Mala practice also gives us the opportunity to share our work with our families, friends, and associates. Most of us lead professional work lives and have families. By raising money for our Socially Engaged Buddhist work, we publicize its activities, and most important, our own commitment. By wearing the beads we have assembled, we take our supporters with us in our peacemaking endeavors and on Bearing Witness retreats such as at Auschwitz, thus making family and friends an intimate part of this peacemaking journey.

Assemble a mala (not from your personal funds) consisting of 18 small beads and one Buddha (large) bead or one of 108 beads and dedicate each bead to each of your donors. Beads from individuals or from groups or families are equally appreciated. When they offer a bead, they will be working, training, studying and traveling with you wherever you go.

Through the years the Zen Peacemakers have hosted countless nationalities, faiths and ethnicities on the retreat. Donations can be extended towards those from diverse backgrounds to contribute to the multifaceted experience of the retreat. Donation will also ensure the attendance of those challenged financially to gather the cost of tuition. 

Donations can be made at the time of registration or  online on our Donation Page.

Zen Peacemakers, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization for your tax purposes.