All the Scrumptious Zen Tradition, None of the Patriarchy

Implementing shared stewardship at the Montague Farm Zendo. We just had an evaluation session after our first six months practicing a shared stewardship model of leadership in our Zen Buddhist community. The model was inspired by the Zen Center of Los Angeles, who discarded a system in which multiple male teachers abused their unquestioned authority […]

Buddhist Chaplains Love the Gulf

From Jizo Chronicles Buddhist Chaplains Love the Gulf Grand Isle Graveyard, photo by Penny Alsop Here’s the latest update from Penny Alsop, who I’ve mentioned and quoted several times before in The Jizo Chronicles. Penny has initiated the “Chaplains Love the Gulf “ project and is coordinating a trip in August so that “the people […]

Huffington Post: Jeff Bridges & Zen House Fight Child Hunger

From Child Hunger and How Zen House Can Help at the Huffington Post: By Bernie Glassman My vow to feed as many hungers as possible includes the physical suffering of food insecurity. According to Jeff Bridges’ End Hunger Network, 16.7 million American children — nearly one in four — live in households that do not […]

Bernie Q7: How Do You Train Students To Enter The Center Of Suffering?

Questions by Christa Spannbaur Recorded at Rowe Conference Center by Ari Pliskin Zen Master Bernie Glassman Biography 7) How do you train your students to be able to go right into the centre of the suffering of the world without loosing their spiritual trust in life and their inner balance? Hotei has the right things […]

This Obon: Can We Feed All the Hungry Ghosts?

Can I Acknowledge My Sickness? In a Huffington Post article, Zen Master Bernie Glassman, the founder of my Zen community explains: In the Zen Peacemakers, we recite Sanskrit spells and provide food for hungry people in our community. We prepare a food offering and use ancient spells to invite the hungry ghosts into the room. […]

US Social Forum: Fighting 'Compassion Fatigue' with BPF Director

The United States Social Forum was held in Detroit, Michigan from June 22-26, 2010, and gathered over 15,000 activists from around the country.  During that week I worked as a Spanish/English interpreter for some of the 1000 workshops offered, I performed at a political music concert for activists of faith, and co-led a workshop with […]

Future of Buddhism: Zen Houses

An Interview with Bernie Glassman By Ari Pliskin These comments are part of a longer interview with Bernie Glassman in January, 2010. The questions were written by Christa Spannbauer, journalist and assistant to Roshi Willigis Jäger, and the interview was conducted by Ari Pliskin. Your own social activism as a Buddhist Zen master is deeply […]

Appalachian Zen House promotes Permaculture

“Husband and wife pair Bob Flatley and Kelle Kersten run Ahimsa Village, an intentional living community near Julian, Pa…Both also practice Engaged Buddhism.  “It’s not just the meditation—looking in—but it’s going out into your community,” said Kersten, who serves as director of Appalachian Zen House.  The pair facilitates a “Wisdom Circle” that focuses on nonviolent […]

Symposium Presenter Anne Waldman Appeals for help for Naropa

Waldman will present in the first Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism on the topic of arts and social change.  Read her full letter at Elephant Journal, co-authored with Lisa Berman or read the following excerpt: We want you to know that we are here, that we support and acknowledge our students, that we are […]

Dudeism=Buddhism? Bridges, Bernie and Symposium

Watch the Tricycle Web Exclusive Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman: A Conversation, click here. Jeff Bridges is scheduled to perform and present at the Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism. What is Dudeism? According to dudeism.com, a website dedicated to deploying the wisdom of The Dude (Jeff Bridges) from the comedy The Big Lebowski, Dudeism […]