Peacemaker Circles UK

Dear Friends, I'm writing today from Bern in Switzerland, from the beautiful house of Barbara and Roland Wegmueller. I would like to let you know that this will be - for the moment - the last post for this "UK Zen Peacemakers" blog, after four years of postings. Please find future blogs at www.greatheartsociety.blogspot.com After many interesting discussions this week here in Switzerland, I've decided to focus our work on the Great Heart Circle in Leicester, and no longer keep one blog open for both this and wider UK Zen Peacemakers activities. At present there is no Peacemaker Circle still going in the UK, since our Steward Steve Suleyman Hart brought the North of England Circle to a close last month. There may well be new ones in the future (and so future posts for this blog!) The Great Heart Circle will be continuing as usual on the first Thursday of every month in Leicester. Email greatheartzendo@gmail.com for details. Although we'll no longer be using ...

In the past month, two pioneers of Zen Buddhism have passed away. On 15th June, Charlotte Joko Beck died at the age of 94. Her last words were reported to be "This too is wonder!" Although this wasn't actually true (internet Chinese whispers!), it is really a quote from her and a lovely way to remember her. She was a great Zen teacher, who explored the approach of shikantaza in modern life. And then yesterday, 17th July, John Crook, scientist and first Dharma successor of Master Shen Yen of Taiwan, passed away aged 81. He was a teacher in the Chinese Chan traditions of Lin-chi and Cao-Dong (Japanese: Rinzai and Soto), and like Joko Beck he developed forms and approaches to explore Zen in modern life. May their efforts and inspiration continue to bring happiness to the World.

Dear Folks, You may remember Zvonko Radikovic, the Croatian war veteran who's been corresponding with us for a few years now? People from UK and European Zen Peacemakers helped raise money for his flight to Thailand last year. I'm delighted to let you know that this week he's received full ordination as a Buddhist monk (bhikkhu) in the Thai Theravadin tradition, studying with experienced meditation teachers there! His new name is Cattamaro Bhikkhu - sitting front right on this photo... Thanks once again for everyone who helped out financially or with good thoughts to Cattamaro's wish to train over there. The Thai meditation tradition is very valuable and beautiful, and I'm delighted we're able to be connected to them in this way. With love, Chris Zangtsal Starbuck UK Zen Peacemakers

Last night we held our monthly Great Heart Circle in Leicester. It was a relaxed gathering of five regulars, beginning with guided relaxation led by Natalie and peaceful walking meditation in the chapel garden. As a theme, we talked about the subtle approach to life called 'Malamati', the 'Path of Blame', which underlies Rumi's sufi tradition and is very close to what we're trying to do in our Zen practice. The name comes from a mischievious saying of the Prophet Muhammed - "I am among the foremost of the people of blame", or something like "I'm one of the best at being modest"! Which is a lovely clue to something very beautiful... We held a period of Silent Sitting shikantaza meditation, then ended once again with an enjoyable sacred feast! Natalie's home-made cake was especially appreciated...

This evening we held our monthly meditation training circle in Leicester. It was a warm Summer's evening, and the big trees in the chapel garden were lovely and green and alive. We talked about two poles of leading a spiritual life- the need to create spaces of refuge and peace for ourselves and others, and the need to plunge headfirst into the messiness and pain of life and be with it lovingly. Once again, a great celebratory feast was enjoyed at the end. Here is a poem written recently by Mike Petterson, one of our regulars: Invigilation To hear the broken silence With every sense of being To see the confusion of the moment And feel the stillness of the soul To penetrate the barriers of division And fuse the hopes of today To live life's essence every second And see truly disappointment and joy The dot of the i, the dash of the t The red of light and greys of night Blood and bone, sinew and flesh, atom and particle The details missed, part of you, part of me To really trav...

We held a Zen Peacemaker Circle Day in Steve Suleyman Hart's house in Leeds on Saturday. We began at lunchtime with some excellent home-made stew (by Steve). Then we spent a relaxing hour listening to sounds of nature and wild-life from Ayre's Rock in Australia, on an album called the 'Experience of Uluru' from www.listeningearth.com. After that we began discussing another of the Five Buddha Energies, following on from the last meeting. This discussion didn't get too far however, because several people expressed that they didn't really want to study a new system of ideas and symbols, but would rather focus on simple meditation practices. This led into a Council circle where we explored what our underlying reasons for coming together are, which was very frank and honest. We had tea and biscuits to finish, and discussed the possibility of offering two halves to the day next time- in the morning, study (such as Five Buddha Families) for those who would like to ...

I'm delighted to let everyone know that on Easter Sunday, 24th April 2011, Barbara and Roland Wegmueller were given Dharma Transmission as "Sensei" by Roshi Bernie Glassman in the Zen Peacemakers lineage, flowing down from the Japanese lineage of his teacher Taizan Maezumi Roshi. The Wegmuellers, based in Switzerland, are our senior link to the Zen Peacemakers here in Europe... The rite of passage of becoming a Sensei marks full entry into life as an independent (but interconnected!) teacher in the Zen lineage. Since Barbara and Roland also focus on the Zen Peacemaker Circles, Bernie's experiment in less-hierarchical Zen, the role will I imagine also function as something like "Great Elder" for those of us training in Circle Zen. The Wegmuellers are already Circle Dharmaholders (visionholders and teachers) in Circle Zen, and Zen Buddhist Preceptors, empowered to pass on the Buddhist lineage. The ceremony took place in New York during one of Bernie's ...

On Thursday's monthly Great Heart Circle we were lucky to have some live meditation music played by Mike Petterson and his friend Richard. They used wooden flute, guitar, tabla and bells. To link into this, we had a short workshop on 'Whirling', the dance of the Mevlevi dervishes from Turkey, exploring how this relates to Zen meditation. We learned a simplified form of the movement together, then tried it out during the live music. It was a good evening- the music was great, I hope we have it again!

This evening we had our monthly Great Heart Circle for training in Zen meditation. It was a small, friendly group. We began with relaxation and walking quietly in the beautiful garden, then we discussed the idea of "the good heart", used famously as the title of a book by the Dalai Lama. We thought the good heart is a useful idea in life, and relates to underlying motivation and practical outcomes- as long as we don't think of 'goodness' as something to feel guilty about not living up to. We talked about the value of living life creatively, with growth and happiness at its heart. We ended with a session of silent Zen meditation and a shared meal once again. Next month we hope to have some live reflective music during the meeting, played on guitar and tabla.

The first North of England Zen Peacemaker Circle of the year was held 10am-5pm in Leeds on Sat 5th March, in Steve Suleyman Hart's house in Rothwell. The theme for the day was "The Vairochana Buddha Energy", the central symbol in many versions of the Mandala of the Five Buddhas, and often used in the Zen Peacemakers as a symbol of spirituality, of a practice that opens a heart-space which can include everything. The day included zazen meditation, study of the chapter on Vairochana from the book "Meeting the Buddhas" by Vessantara (a member of the Tri Ratna Sangha, formerly the FWBO), Council Circle, Chanting of the Nembutsu (from Pure Land Buddhism) and a little exploration of using the symbol of Vairochana Buddha in devotional practice. The next day event will be in Manchester, date to be arranged, in April or May. The theme this time will be Amitabha Buddha and the "Integration" Buddha energy in the Zen Peacemakers.

At this evening's Circle, Natalie (pictured above eating delicious red peppers at the end), told a great story: When she was younger and drunker and staggering home one night from a club, a homeless beggar asked her for a cigarette. This was a man often seen begging in an intimidating fashion in the city centre during the day. Natalie told the beggar she didn't have any left, except the one she was smoking at that moment. She was inspired to offer him half of that one... ... The homeless man, touched by this, asked her how she was getting home. She said she was walking. 'It's not safe for you', he said, and then produced a little money from his pocket, which he'd got by begging earlier. 'I'd just spend this on booze or something', he said, 'you have it'. And he walked with Natalie to a taxi rank, waited with her (in a big curious queue!) for the taxi, and gave the driver his money to take her as far as it would get her home. She saw hi...

Our Leicester 'Great Heart Circle', which meets the first Thursday of every month to train in Zen meditation, this evening celebrated the Scots poet Robert Burns! Last week on 25th it was Burns night, and to link with that we read his poem To A Mouse, learned to sing A Red Red Rose, and ate (vegetarian!) haggis, neeps and tatties. We piped in the haggis (on tin whistle, not bagpipes, alas) and had an abridged Address to the Haggis, with dramatic slicing actions by Mark! He also kindly led the opening guided meditation for us for the first time... A wee dram of single malt whisky was offered for those who wanted to partake, and a generous feast was had by one and all. Next month's meeting will be on Thursday 3rd March.

Our first UK Zen Peacemakers activities of 2011 began with the monthly 'Great Heart Circle' for meditation training in Leicester. We had guided mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation, studied a poem by the Persian poet Rumi (to link with our Rumi celebration in the North last month!), and had a period of silent Zen meditation. Then we ended with a small feast again, made from what everyone had brought with them- fruit, pastries, bread, cake, soup! The next Leicester circle will be on Thursday 3rd Feb, most likely with the theme of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, to link with his annual day the previous week.