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.
2019 Zen Peacemakers Bearing Witness Programs Impact Report
The Auschwitz-Birkenau retreat is the core program of ZPI’s Bearing Witness programs. What follows is this year’s impact report on the 23rd Bearing Witness retreat in Auschwitz.
Start Talking Lakota: Manny and Renee Iron Hawk Discuss Reviving the Lakota Language, Immersion Schools, Trauma, Prayer, and Spirit
Renee Fast Horse Iron Hawk and Manny Iron Hawk, two of the organizers and hosts of Zen Peacemakers’ Native American Programs, have been instrumental in the opening of Lakȟótiyapi Okáȟtaŋ Wičhóičhaǧe Inc. (LOWI), a school dedicated to education by full immersion in Lakota language. In an interview with Rami Efal, they discuss language loss and immersion, Trauma, Prayer, and Spirit.
Impact Report: Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreat
Since 1996 the Auschwitz retreat has been an interfaith and immersive cross-cultural gathering event for over 1500 peacebuilders from different war-torn countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Palestine/Israel, Syria, Native American Nations and over 20 other countries. This 2018 impact report details some of the many positive results of the program.
Summary of the 2018 Zen Peacemakers Native American Bearing Witness Plunge
The 2018 Zen Peacemakers Native American Bearing Witness Plunge was completed this past month, July 15-19 2018. The event, which lasted 5 days and spanned South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska, brought together participants from across the United States and Europe with elders and their families from Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation.
Planning This Summer’s Native American Bearing Witness Plunge: Report from Rapid City South Dakota
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, USA. This past weekend Roshi Genro Gauntt and ZPI Executive Director Rami Efal met with Manny Iron Hawk, Renee Fast Horse Iron Hawk and Violet Catches, the three main hosts for the Zen Peacemakers Native American Bearing Witness Plunge, July 15-19, 2018.
Prayers on the Plum Tree: Sensei Engu Dobbs’s Reflection on the Zen Peacemakers Native American Plunge August 2017
SOUTH DAKOTA, USA. Each day we sat in a large circle and began and ended our meetings by smudging with sage smoke, offering tobacco, and listening to Lakota songs and prayers. Listening deeply and bearing witness to the grief of others tends to be hard, hard practice…But if we’re able, more or less, to stay with the grief…The result is often a powerful and surprising feeling of joy.
I Was Once Very Angry: Reflection from the 2017 Zen Peacemakers Native American Bearing Witness Plunge
CROW AGENCY, MONTANA, USA. Following the 2017 Zen Peacemakers Native American Bearing Witness Plunge, Roshi Eve Marko reflects on her time at the Little Bighorn battlefield, hosted by Lakota elders and their families.
Standing People, Rooted People: Peacemaking Among the Indigenous Cultures of Southern Africa and Turtle Island
Drawing experiences from different corners of the world, two ZPO members, one from the United States, Roshi Grover Genro Gauntt and one from Finland, Mikko Ijäs, share their stories of being welcomed by #FirstNations and the #indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (Northern America) and Southern Africa and how their appreciation of #peacemaking was affected by encountering these rich wisdom cultures and the individuals that embodied them.
ZPO Member Initiates a Self-led MN Native American Bearing Witness Retreat
PREFACE:The following invitation is to a ZPO members-led retreat organized in the spirit of the Zen Peacemakers’ Three Tenets of Not Knowing, Bearing Witness and Taking Action. Zen Peacemakers, Inc. supports but does not administer the retreat. Please follow the instructions below to contact the organizers. This event is another expression of the building momentum between […]
