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Montague Farm Zendo
Overview
Shared Stewardship
Talks by Sensei Eve
The Montague Farm Zendo is Located in the House of One People in Montague, Ma.
The Montague Farm Zendo was opened by Sensei Eve Myonen Marko in
September 2005. It offers
opportunities to practice Zen meditation, study with a teacher and a
sangha, do liturgical service, and become involved in social
action. The Montague Farm Zendo is the Mother House Zendo of the Zen Peacemakers.
Sensei Eve Myonen Marko
Sensei Eve Marko
Sensei Eve is a dharma successor of Roshi Bernie Glassman and a
Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order. Through her numerous
writings and her role as one of the leaders of the Order’s annual
bearing witness retreats at Auschwitz-Birkenau, she has made the
teachings of Zen in the areas of peacemaking and love accessible to a
broad audience.
Eve has written and edited numerous articles
about the Zen Peacemakers and its member activists, and also
collaborated with Roshi Bernie Glassman in the writing of Bearing
Witness: A Zen Master’s Instructions on Making Peace, which was
published by Random House in 1998. She has also written biographies and
mystery books for children, published by Waldman Publishing.
She
was a long-time member of the Zen Community of New York, which founded
the Greyston Mandala organizations in Yonkers, New York. She was
critical in the organization’s progress and developed resources
and funding for Greyston Family Inn and Greyston Foundation. Marko was
also Executive Director for the Music For the World Foundation, which
funds and advocates on behalf of music education programs in American
schools.
Jan 1
Mar 1
Bare-chested and bare-footed she enters the market,
Face streaked with dust and head covered with ashes,
But a mighty laugh spreads from cheek to cheek.
Without troubling herself to work miracles, suddenly dead trees break into bloom.
We say that the path is not just climbing the mountain, it’s also coming down. Or, to put it another way, it’s both ascending and descending all at once, like the straight road with 98 curves. How do you go up and down and all around—right now?
Shared Stewardship is not just a new way of functioning and governance for the Montague Farm Zendo, it makes good on the promise that whatever blade of grass we work with—here, at home, at work, in relationship with anyone—is where the temple of awakening arises. We are organizing the functions of the Zendo according to the Mandala of the Five Buddha Energies: Buddha (Not-Knowing), Vajra (Study), Padma (Relationship and Bearing Witness), Ratna (Resources and Nurturing), and Karma (Loving Action). A group of practitioners has studied Shared Stewardship for almost a year, and the following were voted as Stewards or Co-Stewards:
Buddha: Eve Myonen Marko, Judith Myoki Breier
Vajra: John Genyo Sprague
Padma: Geoff Bogai Taylor and Ari Setsudo Pliskin
Ratna: Ike Chosui Eichenlaub and Petriana Dantika Monize
Karma: Karen Kisui Werner
On January 26, 2010 after the Entering Ceremony, an empowerment ceremony took place publicly acknowledging their stewardship in their respective families.
The Montague Farm Zendo is a living mandala for the awakening of all, part of the timeless work towards liberation that began long before we arrived and will continue long after we’re no longer here. In fact, when the Montague Farm was first purchased and founded by Marshall Bloom, his organization was known as Liberation News Service. We are stewarding this place, with its rich legacy of sustainable agriculture, social and political activism, and the consciousness of the oneness of life, out of gratitude and thanks for everything that has come before and for what will come after.
In a model of Shared Stewardship, personal differences are appreciated for what they are, doorways to different perceptions, dreams and talents. The Zendo is organized according to the Five Buddha Wisdom Families: Buddha, Karma, Padma, Ratna, and Vajra. We translate them as: Not-knowing, Social Action, Relationship and Arts, Resources, and Study. Each is a circle of life emphasizing its own wisdom but also incorporating the other four. Together they make sure that the needs of the sangha are served in balance and harmony. Each family has its own Steward or Co-Stewards to take care of the needs and issues related to that family. Shared Stewardship is a model for self-governance; it is also a practice to bear witness to the diversity of all our members and participants, and the one sangha that emerges.
You can follow minutes of meetings of the Stewards by clicking here. Each Steward is now forming his/her Family Circle in which members can address concerns and work together on what they would like to see happen as part of the Zendo. All this will activity will appear on the wiki page so that everyone can read about discussions and developments. Like Kannon who has many hands and hears all the sounds of the universe, this model of self-governance trains Stewards and all Zendo members to hear as many sounds as possible, and then use our different skill sets and capabilities—our many arms—to take care of ourselves and the world.
(Dharma talks given by Sensei Eve Myonen Marko at the Montague Farm Zendo)