12 Facts About Zen Peacemakers

Zen Peacemakers is a diverse network of socially engaged Buddhists, currently including the formal structures of the Zen Peacemakers International, the Zen Peacemaker Order and the Zen Peacemaker Circles, many affiliated individuals and groups, and communities formed by Dharma Successors of Roshi Bernie Glassman.

Zen Peacemakers have developed from the White Plum Asanga lineage of Taizan Maezumi.

Activities of the Zen Peacemakers originated in Yonkers, New York with the opening of the Greyston Bakery, its most well-known and prosperous project, in 1982.

Zen Peacemakers have 70 affiliate centers in 5 Continents and 12 Countries.

Countries with groups affiliated to Zen Peacemakers include Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK.

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Structure of Zen Peacemakers is, like the Greyston Foundation, somewhat complex and like Greyston is described as a mandala.

The Zen Peacemakers Sangha is a branch of the Zen Peacemakers Order.

Training of the Zen Peacemakers is grounded in traditional Zen practice - meditation, retreats, liturgy, personal study-relationships with empowered teachers - and explores new forms and structures.

At the heart of the Zen Peacemakers approach is the conviction that service and social action are themselves zen practice, together with the challenge to develop new 'upayas' to meet each new situation.

The interfaith strand of the Zen Peacemakers was influenced by Bernie Glassman's friendship with Sufi teacher and radio host Lex Hixon, his appreciation of the Jewish renewal leader Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and his many Christian zen students and successors.

The socially engaged practices of Zen Peacemakers is aimed at extending Dharma beyond the meditation hall to the worlds of business, social services, conflict resolution and environmental stewardship.

The Zen Peacemakers' way is intended to "illuminate all life as a boundless meditation hall".