Barbara and Roland Wegmueller become "Sensei"!


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 'Street Retreats', where he takes people to live a homeless existence for a few days. It was an important ceremony, because Bernie has been reshaping the traditional Dharma Transmisson ceremony into a "Five Buddha Families Recognition Ceremony"- presenting the nature of the ceremony as a celebration and affirmation of maturity of practice within your own quality of life-energy. More about this can be found at:

http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/international_activities/zen_peacemakers_sangha/newsletters/articles/2011/may/recognition.htm

and photos from the Street retreat and the Ceremony for Barbara, Roland and several others can be seen at:

http://www.wordwiseweb.com/2011/streetny/

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