The effects of Zen practice unfolds in the meditation halls, at work, within families and within community. For the past 25 years Zen Peacemakers, an order founded by Bernard Tetsugen Glassman, has been developing new forms, methods and structures in the areas of social Action and Zen practice, emphasizing the transformation of the individual and society.

The first of the Four Great Vows in Zen Buddhism is to save all sentient beings. That includes not just those coming into the meditation hall (zendo.) Those coming into American zendos now are by and large middle-class Caucasians, men and women. They are not disenfranchised minorities such as African-Americans or Hispanics. Nor are they the poor, the homeless, displaced war veterans, or ex-cons. This is very unfortunate. The Dharma is immense and profound. Its teachings regarding suffering and an end to suffering have had immeasurable value for many millions of people across different countries, continents and cultures. Yet here, in this country, it is not spreading to those people with the greatest need.

What do we mean when we talk of spreading the teachings of the Dharma? Do we mean bringing more people into zendos? Do we mean having more people who formally affiliate themselves with Zen Buddhism? Or do we mean bringing the teachings of the Dharma to all walks of life, to all areas of endeavor, and making them relevant to all segments of the American population?

Zen Ministry Training Program

For over a quarter of a century, Zen Peacemakers has been committed to integrating social action programs with Zen practice. Whether working with the unemployed, with homeless families or people with AIDS, in urban ghettos or in war-torn lands, it has faced the challenge of caring for people of all ethnicities across the economic spectrum while maintaining a strong practice of realizing the interdependence of all life.

In January 2009 Zen Peacemakers will open Zen Houses to serve communities in the inner-city. Houses will provide meals, shelter, life and job skills, family assistance, and a Pathmaker Program. They will be staffed by Zen Peacemaker Lay Ministers, Priests, and Activists, who in turn will receive their training at the Maezumi Institute. A Resident Training Program is now scheduled to begin by April 2008, providing training to those who wish to practice in the area of peacemaking and social service. This group of resident trainees will study best means for transformationÑof individuals, neighborhoods, and society. Those with the appropriate qualifications will receive a Zen Peacemakers Minister Ordination .

Zen Peacemakers develop new social enterprise structures that are self-sustaining, holistic and address important individual and community needs. In social enterprise and the business world, Zen teachings promote the triple bottom line: profit, social transformation, and environmental stewardship. Beginning with the Greyston Mandala of social service companies in 1980 in Yonkers, New York, Zen Peacemakers has built nonprofit and for-profit enterprises that integrate individual transformation along with community growth and that function interdependently to create a balanced and harmonious whole. In 2009, Zen Peacemakers will be opening Zen Houses in impoverished rural and urban areas of the US. Training for staff to operate the Zen Houses takes place at the Maezumi Institute.

Guided by a belief in the oneness of life, the ocean of wisdom/ compassion expressed through the diversity of life and the harmonious interdependence of all creations, program participants will learn the three tenets of the Zen Peacemakers: not knowing, bearing witness and loving action, via the 10 practices and four commitments of the Zen Peacemakers.

Perhaps the most well constructed walls in our world have been constructed to keep separate people of different religions. These walls serve to isolate us from each other. When we cannot see each other, cannot talk to each other, we must remain unknown to each other. Our fear of the unknown leads us to engage in irrational and destructive behavior. It leads to war, poverty and isolation.

The Maezumi Institute's multi-faith path of study trains participants to construct doors within those walls so that we can move freely in and out of each others worlds. Open doors allow us to participate in joint projects. They allow us to immerse ourselves in the teachings and traditions of each others practices. They allow us to provide services and ceremonies that support those who live in inter-faith relationships and communities. This practice of immersion also enriches our understanding of our own spiritual disciplines. It also deepens our ability to engage in meaningful dialogue about the ways in which we can work together for peace Ð for each other Ð for humanity.

Roshi Bernie Glassman describes the world of multifaith encounters, as a virtual House of One People where differences manifest unity, "where all of us, while upholding our separate paths, will be one people."

The Maezumi Institute's arts study center celebrates and cultivates the art of expression. Offering ongoing cultural events and in-depth training with Master artists, we draw upon the full spectrum of artistic techniques to realize authentic expression.

The arts provide us with a way of expressing ourselves. Art, music and dance occupy a central role in all religious traditions and in all cultures. The expressions may differ from each other but the goal is to stimulate connectedness, communion and spiritual experience. Music, painting, poetry. These are forms that allow us to express ourselves and individuals and our interconnectedness to one another. The arts are vehicles for story-telling and within their discipline, the arts help us to describe great suffering, great joy, and all the aspects of human existence that occur between those two extreme points.

Creative expression is a way of communication that transcends the boundaries that we as humans erect to isolate ourselves from each other. At Maezumi Institute, we believe that the arts transform the individual; the individual can use the arts to transform the society and the culture.

The Center for the Arts, MICA, creates programs based on an understanding that authentic expression is grounded in a spontaneous connection to the present moment, where fixed ideas of ourselves and others are given up to enable us to respond freely.