Peacemaker Circles UK

I'm very pleased to announce that Barbara and Roland Wegmueller, coordinators of the Zen Peacemaker Circles in Europe and Dharmaholders from Bernie Glassman, were officially made Buddhist Preceptors by Sensei Eve Myonen Marko from Montague Farm Zendo in the US. The ceremony was witnessed by Catherine Genno Pages, a Roshi in the White Plum lineage who teaches in Paris. It took place in Switzerland on Saturday 10th May 2008. This is great news, it means that anyone who wishes to "take/receive the Refuges and Precepts"- ie. become a Buddhist/ connect more directly to the Zen Peacemakers lineage coming down through Maezumi Roshi and Roshi Bernie all the way from Dogen and back to Shakyamuni Buddha, may study with Barbara and Roland and ask to do so. If anyone is interested in doing this, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with them- or you can email them directly ( barbara@peacemakercirle.org ) How wonderful that the Buddhadharma continues to shine througho...

Today's circle was held in Kaite's house for the first time, and she proved an excellent hostess, preparing a buffet lunch and cooked dinner, with wonderful home-made food and cake! We started at 11am with a checking-in circle, then practiced 20 mins of silent meditation- this time in the manner of Tibetan Mahamudra style shi-ne, rather than formal Zazen, which fitted the beautiful blue sky and sunny morning well! Kaite then took us on a tour of nearly places where gangs hang out and leave a lot of litter in the neighbourhood. We picked up the rubbish and cleaned the gardens up, it looked so much better at the end. She's been doing a lot of community gardening in Newton Heath, and we hope to help her with this regularly in future... Trevor gave a talk about Dyslexia and ADD, and showed us a dvd of a technique for helping dyslexic children using bouncing balls like juggling, improving eye coordination, balance, hearing rhythms and self-confidence. After lunch, we did a lit...

In addition to the regular vibrant Zen Peacemaker Circle, Genki suggested that we have a Manchester Zen training group also. So after much discussion and thought, we are launching the Great Heart Experimental Zendo! It will initially be a roving Zendo, taking place each week in different people's homes, until we need to find a more permanent place to hire... Here is the mission statement: Manchester Great Heart Experimental Zendo: Socially Engaged Buddhism and Training in the Zen Peacemakers Tradition Zen is a powerful training for coming to experience our oneness and interconnectedness with the whole of life. Beyond the vision, there is the challenge of embodying it and living it out as compassionate service to all beings. The Great Heart Zendo is an experiment, daring to see what tools and inspirations the Buddhist heritage has to offer us today. Can Zen meditation help us experience life more fully and completely? ...

in today's Newsletter from the Maezumi Institute, the Zen Peacemakers' motherhouse in New England, Roshi Bernie Glassman confirmed that he has passed over the reigns of the Zen Peacemaker Sangha to Paul Genki Kahn- he announced this in private during the Seniors Gathering in January, and now it is announced officially! We're very lucky here in Manchester, because Genki is offering us regular advice in Zen training and will hopefully continue this into the future. Given how busy he is, we're really fortunate to have this connection with him! Here is the short message he wrote after Bernie's words in the newsletter: Dear Friends: I am very happy to be finally joining the Zen Peacemakers' staff next month and formally taking on the work of the Maezumi Institute and the Zen Peacemakers Sangha. This is happening through the devotion and generosity of the many of you who raised my salary and funded the general operating expenses. This brings Roshi Bernie Glassman a...