Zen Peacemakers: The Beginning

1994-2000: Zen Peacemakers: The Beginning I have written about my beginnings in zen and my formative years in zen training. This post starts at the conception of a Zen Peacmaker Family serving as a container for people wanting to do spiritual based social engagement. On my 55th birthday in January, 1994 I did a retreat […]

Engaged Buddhism: Service or Revolution? by Alan Senauke

Musings on Montague: The Western Socially Engaged Buddhism Symposium — August 2010.  By Alan Senauke, originally posted at the Clear View Project. What is socially engaged Buddhism? Over the course of the week it was easy to see a number of contrasts or kinds of activities that all can be considered “Engaged Buddhism” or “Socially […]

From Vision to Buddhist Social Action

By Jiko McIntosh “How do we go from vision to action?” This question was asked at the recent Symposium on Buddhist Social Action at Zen Peacemakers. Here is a brief  account of what I found helpful in going from vision to action after completing my Zen Peacemaker seminary training for ministry. From spring 2009 through […]

Debates on Engaged Buddhism throughout Buddhablogosphere

From Nathan at Dangerous Harvests: There’s been a lot of debate lately online about socially engaged Buddhism. This on the heels of last month’s Zen Peacemaker’s Socially Engaged Buddhism Symposium, which was held in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Posts from The Reformed Buddhist and, to a lesser extent, from Point of Contact argue against […]

Buddhist Group Builds Multi-Class Community

Montague Farm Zen House has Deep Local Roots I met Karen while living at the Zen Peacemakers farm as a Seminary student in 2008.  She was part of the local Sangha who sat with Seminary students in the Zendo.  I was inspired by her leadership in the community economies movement and very excited when she […]

From Rural Poverty to Green Buddhism

Appalachian Zen House Breaks Cycle of Hopelessness. I was first introduced to Kanji and Bernie through podcasts that I listened to while wandering around on the other side of the planet in Argentina.  Bernie was teaching a Harvard Divinity School class in 2007.  Students took part in envisioning Zen Houses.  I couldn’t bear thoughts of […]

Catholic Worker to Buddhist Entrepreneur

Kathe McKenna’s Haley House Serves as Model for Zen Houses In the Zen Houses panel at the Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism, Kathe McKenna explained that after she finished college in the 1960’s, abuses violating civil rights moved her to fight back.  She got involved in radical Christian groups, eventually finding a home with […]

Zen Houses Establish Service-Based Dharma Center

Symposium Hosts Share Contribution to Engaged Buddhist Practice. Writing about the Zen Houses panel of the Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism is hard for me because I sincerely believe that Zen Houses are the best thing the planet has going for it. How can I be sincere without overstating my case? Zen Houses are […]

Building the Buddha of the Future: Community

Panelists at Symposium Discuss Socially Engaged Sanghas “The Buddha of the future,” said moderator Alan Senauke, speaking at the Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism and paraphrasing Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, “will be sangha” — that is, community. But what makes a socially engaged community? Senauke, a Soto Zen priest and vice-abbot of […]

Socially Engaged Dudeism

Just had a nice conversation with Rev. GMS.  He is part of a church known as Dudeism and he attended the Symposium for Socially Engaged Buddhism.  He and others are exploring possibilities for Socially Engaged Dudeism. Several years ago Roshi Bernie Glassman met Jeff Bridges and thus began a long-term friendship. Bernie said to Jeff, […]