Flowers on the Edges of Graves: Roland, 14 Years as the Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat Doctor

At the site of gruesome human medical experiments, Sensei Dr. Roland Yakushi Wegmüller has been serving and ministering the participants of the Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness retreat for the past 14 years. In this personal essay, Roland reflects on his role as the retreat’s doctor, the healing and kindness in the old camp, and the rich experiences and connections he’s had with his patients there. Deutsch nach Englisch.

From War in Syria to Bearing Witness in Auschwitz

Story by Roshi Barbara Wegmüller, Switzerland, September 2016 BERN, SWITZERLAND. My friend Rabia is an extremely courageous woman and I am happy to share my story of how we met. It was in 2006, only days before Beirut was bombed, and our friend Sami Awad from Bethlehem, Palestine, who is a Peacemaker, gave a talk […]

2016 Bosnia/Herzegovina Retreat Postponed, Process Continues

The Zen Peacemaker Order has decided to continue the peace work process in Bosnia while postponing the retreat to 2017. Please read ahead on some of our reasonings. We at the ZPO are grateful for all those who have contributed, participated and supported this process to date. We are particularly grateful and excited to keep […]

Be My Witnesses in Jerusalem: Bosnia, May 2015

By Roshi Eve Myonen Marko When I think of our time in Srebrenica, it’s not the gravestones I remember, rows and rows of white obelisks dotting long grassy mounds climbing halfway up the surrounding hills, nor the slanting walls of names that glittered even under gray skies. Nor is it the gorgeous forested mountains, the […]

BEARING WITNESS IN RWANDA

BEARING WITNESS IN RWANDA by Eve Myonen Marko Bernie, Roshi Eve Myonen Marko and Sensei Francisco “Paco” Lugoviña were hosted by Dora Urujeni and Issa Higiro. Eve wrote the following report of the journey.     BEARING WITNESS IN RWANDA By Eve Marko Kigali at noon in mid-September has blue, hot skies draped by rain […]

Journeys That Shape Our Lives: The Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat

Reading for Orcas Island, WA Historical Society & Eth-Noh-Tec, a collaboration between the “Smithsonian Institution’s Journey Stories” & Humanities Washington. August 7, 2010 “Journeys That Shape Our Lives”  by Ginni Stern, in honor of my father, Victor N. Stern who died in a clean bed on February 25, 2008. “The past is never dead. […]

Pursuing Peace: Israeli Zen Peacemaker Reflects on Bridging Divides in Israel-Palestine

ISRAEL. At the beginning of March, Zen Peacemaker Order member Iris Katz presented at a full day workshop in Washington, DC as part of Save Israel-Stop the Occupation (SISO). In this post, Iris gives personal testimony about her role as an Israeli Jew in social movements to alleviate the suffering caused by the Israeli occupation. She discusses the complexities of patriotism, activism, community, and justice in an Israel Palestine context, and highlights the way of responsible Judaism as the vital work of bridging the deeply entrenched divides created by “us and them” frameworks.

Dharma Talk: The Good, The Bad and the Different: It Ain't What It Seems to Be.

[box] Living a Life that Matters #3:  The Good, The Bad and the Different: It Ain’t What It Seems to Be. By Roshis Bernie Glassman and Eve Myonen Marko Given on March 7th, 2015 at Sivananda Yoga Retreat at Nassau, Bahamas Transcribed by Scott Harris. Photo by Rami Efal, of Muslim prayer rugs in Gazi Husrev […]