Zen Peacemakers Joins Zen Center of Los Angeles’ 50th Anniversary Celebration

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA. Zen Peacemakers congratulates Zen Center of Los Angeles and abbot Roshi Wendy Lou Egyoku Nakao on its 50th Anniversary! ZCLA was founded by Japanese Zen Master Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi in 1967 and was the training grounds of his creative and influential successors, starting with Bernie Glassman, 2nd abbot of ZCLA and founder of Zen Peacemakers. Today, ZCLA is a bustling urban training center in the heart of Los Angeles. Its robust residential and lay sangha is deeply involved in the local community of immigrants, artists, homeless and refugees. Read here Roshi Eve Marko’s reflection on the occasion.

We Are Sumud, or If You Imagine It, It Will Be

ISRAEL. “Sumud, like so many other acts of heartful resistance, begins as an act of the imagination. Someone dares imagine that force, occupation, discrimination, poverty, and violence can end.” Eve Marko reflects on her recent trip to Israel, and acts of imagination and revolution.

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.

WHO ARE YOU REALLY?

“And though we were talking lightly and easily, we were really looking at each other and asking, ‘So who are you after these days away? Who are you, really?’ And I realized that that’s really the question I ask every morning when Bernie gets up. So much has happened, so much has changed.” Eve reflects on her reunion with Bernie after his first public talk since the stroke, which took place this past Tuesday, April 25th, at Vassar College.

Scenes of Domestic Bliss: Eve and Bernie, April 2017

Eve describes the early April scenes of “domestic bliss” taking place in Eve and Bernie’s household in Montague, Massachusetts. She shares the intimate micro-moments of the everyday, and in so doing, shows how Bernie is continuing to heal with much hilarity and spunk.

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.

Flowers on the Edges of Graves: Russell

This post is another in the series “Flowers on the Edges of Graves” – reflections from 20 years of participants in the Zen Peacemakers Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreats since 1996. In this post, Russell Delman writes a letter called “What Remains” about his experience during the 2016 Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreat.