Where Compassion Begins

Introducing a new book by Jared Seide, Executive Director of Center for Council: Where Compassion Begins: Foundational Practices to Enhance Mindfulness Attention and Listening from the Heart (2021).     Where Compassion Begins is an invitation to build the muscle of compassion, through exercises and practices that enhance our capacity to listen from the heart and, […]

The Way of Council

The Way of Council is a core practice with the Zen Peacemakers, along with meditation, the Three Tenets, and social action. It is a staple practice in our Bearing Witness retreats. The Circle invites individuals to come together in a dedicated and sacred space, to tune into one's personal and collective truth, and to the land and nature taking part in the circle.

The Woman Sitting Next to Me

    By Roshi Barbara Salaam Wegmüller, Spiegel, Switzerland Tala is three years old. A year ago she arrived out of the war in Syria to Switzerland. Her mother brought her to our women circle. The first time some weeks ago, Tala sat for two hours in the circle, holding the talking piece when it was her […]

"How Simple the Answers Are," Testimonials from Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina

In March 15-18 2016, The Zen Peacemakers, together with the Center for Peacebuilding and led by Center for Council Director Jared Seide conducted a four-day Way of Council training for 22 Bosniak, Croat, and Serb women and men. This training is another step in the peacebuilding effort to address the deep suffering in the Balkans following the genocide […]