Break the Rules!

Modern contextual behavioral science has recently discovered that our verbal behavior can exert a powerful influence over our lives. It turns out that we verbally construct self rules abstracted from our direct experience of life and use these rules to guide our behaviors in specific contexts. Initially, our behavior is shaped by the consequences of […]

Eve Marko Dharma Talk: Turning Points

by Roshi Eve Myonen Marko (This talk was given by Eve in a one-day retreat on January 14, 2011 the day before Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday.) We’ve dedicated this one-day retreat to Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow. I want to talk about a particular night in King’s life, a dark […]

Eve Marko Dharma Talk: What to Talk About

by Eve Myonen Marko (From a talk given on June 13, 2009.) Whether we know it or not, we develop our own life’s collection of koans. Here is one of mine: Eve asked Zen Master Bernie early one morning, “What should I speak about today?” Zen Master Bernie asked, “The way we make love?” Appreciatory […]

Zen Peacemakers Rule and Precepts

The Three Treasures, The Three Tenets, The Ten Practices, The Four Commitments and The Bodhisattva Vow serve as the foundation for the Zen Peacemaker work and practice. One may pursue their study with a teacher and/preceptor.   Three Treasures of a Zen Peacemaker Recognizing my place in the Circle of Life, I take refuge in: […]

Look, Feel, Act

Roshi Bernie Glassman, founder of the Zen Peacemakers; a Zen Buddhist Group whose primary mission is the alleviation of human suffering through socially engaged Zen practice, defines bearing witness as being present with our moment-to-moment experience just as it is without needing to avoid it, amplify it, attach to it, or judge it. It is […]

The Ground On Which I Stand

Case # 2 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) presents the case of Hakujo and the Fox. According to this koan, an old monk told Master Hakujo that he had once been an abbot of a Zen Monastery and was asked by a student if one who has experienced enlightenment is still subject to the law […]

Challenging Questions for Engaged Buddhism

This post originally appeared on The Jizo Chronicles on September 30, 2010, written by Maia Duerr ———————- Okay, we’re going to mix it up a bit today. Lest you think that I am a birkenstock/patchouli-wearing socially engaged Buddhist, it’s important to know that one of my original intentions for The Jizo Chronicles was to give […]

Gimme the Finger!

Zen Master Gutei Chikan was famous for his One Finger Zen. Whenever he was asked about the Way he would simply raise a single finger. His attendant, a young boy, often imitated Master Gutei by raising his own finger when visitors to the monastery asked about Master Gutei’s teaching. Hearing of this, Master Gutei summoned […]

The Protector of Men

We have much to learn from the way in which the author views the legal code not as an exclusively legal or political document, but as an ethical one, and one about which Buddhists ought to be legitimately concerned. At the very least, it shows us that Buddhist social and political thought are anything but new.

The Gift of Tears

It’s hard to express our vulnerability. This is especially true of men. Boys are told from a very young age that crying is an expression of weakness. Real men don’t cry–they just suck up their pain and keep going. How many young boys have felt shamed by their fathers when instructed to, “stop crying, your […]