We Happy Few: An Eternal Bond
November 2020. A member of my dissertation committee and the Buddhist Chaplaincy Department Chair at the University of the West, Dr. Jitsujo Gauthier had posted an open position at a non-profit organization called Zen Peacemakers International. I was finishing up a semester as an adjunct faculty at the university and had no classes or jobs […]
Following Attention through the Days of Staying-at-Home
by Peter Pierson 2020 Being very much at home through these months of staying-at-home, I did notice when we went from cicada-buzzing, smoke from western wildfire-filled skies, 90-degree afternoons to a bona fide autumnal cold, wet morning in a matter of hours. It did not escape my attention that my neighbor has been pressure-washing his […]
REPORT ON THE AUSCHWITZ-BEARING-WITNESS-RETREATS 2010-2014 and 2019
Monika Winkelmann, writer and poet, shares her Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat Report and how she experienced grief.
Happiness in the time of Corona
Jacqueline Kramer at the Hearth Foundation shares with us her insight on how we can continue to thrive even in times of a pandemic.
The Village Zendo People of Color Group
Willie J. Smith from from ZPI Affiliate Village Zendo in New York shares about the People of Color Group at their center.
35 Backpacks
Sensei Edward Sangetsu Sullivan,a teacher in the White Plum Lineage, discusses how even in a time of pandemic a small group of highly motivated people can still accomplish something.
Not Knowing—and Following Those Who Just Might Have an Idea
Peter Pierson, a writer and a participant in the Native American Bearing Witness Plunge in 2019, offers us another reflective writing piece, applying the three tenets to his intimate experience and reflections of our modern times.
Some Kind of Artist
Lisa Gakyo Schaewe artist, counselor and practitioner at Eon Zen Center in Boulder, Colorado USA, shares a story about the role creation and art plays in connecting one’s self back to a soul’s purpose. This is a story for artists and non-artists a like, a message beckoning for all who feel the drive to create to do so with passion, dedication and, most importantly, immediacy.
A Gift of Not Knowing
Peter Pierson, a writer and a participant in the Native American Bearing Witness Plunge in 2019, offers us a reflective writing piece that shares a bit about how the practice of “Not Know” remained with him throughout his return home, long after the retreat had come to an end.
For the ones who choose to walk towards suffering
Kineret Ando Yarden, a poet, artist, chaplain and long time participant of many of the Zen Peacemakers bearing witness retreats, shares a poem that draws upon the practice of ZPI’s three tenets- Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action.