home page

Street Retreats

  • Description
  • Policies
  • Malas
  • Boston Retreats (Past and Upcoming)
  • Genro's Upcoming Street Retreats

Street retreats have been a core practice of the Zen Peacemakers since 1991, when Roshi Bernie Glassman led the first one in the streets of the Bowery in New York City. Since then they have been held annually in New York, Denver, Paris and Zurich, and occasionally in many other cities around the world.

We go on the streets with no money and just the clothes on our back. We eat in soup kitchens and beg for money or food at times when soup kitchens are not open. We sleep outdoors or in abandoned housing, though not in shelters since there are not enough beds. We don't say we're homeless; we're simply living on the streets for several days, relying on the generosity of the streets to take care of us. While at times we break up into smaller groups, we come together several times a day to share our experiences in a council practice and chant the Gate of Sweet Nectar liturgy, which is about feeding the hungry ghosts. We also spend our nights together.

This is a powerful practice of not-knowing and bearing witness, where the unpredictable life on the streets is the main teacher. It is a time of raw intimacy, a plunge into a side of life we look at only rarely.

Street Retreats are described in detail in Bernie Glassman's book, Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons on Living a Life That Matters.

You abide by the rules of street retreats. The first is the assembly of a mala. Mala practice is also a core practice of the Zen Peacemakers, in essence a begging practice. We are asking you to beg family, friends, and associates to do the street retreat. You can not use your own funds for this purpose, you must ask for money from others.

Begging
Claude Anshin Thomas Begging

2,500 years ago Shakyamuni Buddha led his Buddhist monks each morning in the practice of begging for their daily food. Each day's offering was received with thanks regardless of its nature or size, and consumed that day rather than hoarded from day to day. In this way the Buddha encouraged simplicity, the generosity of both giving and receiving, and undiscriminating appreciation.

We continue this begging practice by assembling a Mala, or beads that are strung together and worn like a bracelet or necklace. Each bead represents a person who sponsors that participant's street retreat, and the entire Mala represents the Member's community of support. We will wear our malas on the street retreat. For more information on malas, click on the "mala" tab above.

The raising of the registration fee, by begging, is the beginning of the participation in the street retreats. It raises the participant's consciousness and that of others towards living on the streets, begging for sustenance and the work of the inner-city. It is an initiation into the life of a street dweller.

Steps of St. John
On the Steps of St. John Cathedral

Some notes about the retreat itself. We ask that you:
      Not shave, nor wash your hair for 1 week to 10 days prior to the retreat. This will also start your street experience prior to leaving home.
      Wear old clothes, as many layers as you feel appropiate for the time of year, and do not bring any change of clothes for the retreat.
      Wear good, but not new, walking shoes.
      Bring one piece of ID only (this is required by some shelters).
      Do not bring any money.
      Do not wear any jewelry including ear rings and watches.
      Besides the clothes you are wearing, bring only an empty bag (shopping, plastic) for collecting food from shelters, etc. You should not bring any books, bedding, conveniences etc.

Prior to the retreat, there is an orientation for all those attending the retreat. We hand out Street Sheets that list soup kitchens, shelters, etc. in the areas that we stay. We give maps and introduce the retreatants to their street cohorts and facilitators. We then discuss what to expect but the unexpected is the main teacher on the street.

Contact Information

Zen Peacemakers
Phone: 413-367-5268
Fax: 508 507-4105
email: program_info@zenpeacemakers.com

2,500 years ago, it was the practice of the lay congregation to support monks through donations of food and clothing. Shakyamuni Buddha led his monks each morning in the practice of begging for their daily food. Each day's offering was received with thanks regardless of its nature or size. In this way the Buddha encouraged simplicity, the generosity of both giving and receiving, and undiscriminating appreciation.

smmala

We continue this begging practice by raising support for our work by assembling a mala, or beads that are strung together and worn like a necklace. Each bead represents a person who supports that member's vision and work, and the entire mala represents the Member's community of support.

This is a practice of giving and receiving. By asking for support from family, friends, and associates, we acknowledge that as individuals, we are limited in what we can do. We depend on the generosity of others to increase our membership, train more peacemakers, and develop and support more programs. This is one more way in which we bear witness in the interdependence of life.

Another important aspect of mala practice is the incorporation of the ministry of money in our program. The assembly of malas insures that money management and fundraising are not seen as foreign to peacemaking work; instead, the give-and-take of money is the compassionate, unobstructed flow of energy that nourishes and transforms our activities.

Mala practice also gives us the opportunity to share our work with our families, friends, and associates. Most of us lead professional work lives and have families. By raising money for our Socially Engaged Buddhist work, we publicize its activities, and most important, our own commitment. By wearing the beads we have assembled, we take our supporters with us in our peacemaking endeavors and on Bearing Witness retreats such as Auschwitz, thus making family and friends an intimate part of this peacemaking journey.

We commit to assemble a mala of 108 beads consisting of 90 small beads worth $108 (or 108 of the currency of our country) each and 18 large beads worth $1,080 (or 1080 of the currency of our country.)

The names (initials) of each donor or donors are written on the beads. Beads from individuals or from groups or families are equally appreciated. When you offer a bead, you will be working, training, studying and traveling with us wherever we go.

  • July 2009
  • Nov 6-8 2009 (Upcoming)
bostonstreet

Over the weekend of July 17, 18, & 19, 2009, a poet, a zen priest, an industrial designer, a mental health professional and a manager of a soup kitchen took to the streets of Boston to bear witness to its homeless.

We only took the clothes on our back, no money, no bedding, no tooth brush, no jewelry, no credit cards, & no desire to do anything but aimlessly meander for three days throughout the city of Boston. What did we find there? Parts of ourselves that we did not know existed.

Like the tears that came to us when we overheard a little eight year old boy ask a homeless women if her cat was homeless too and she replied, "No, he is not homeless because he is with me."

Like the fear we experienced when we woke up at 3am to discover a crack addict and his "girlfriend" shooting up six feet from our sleeping spot at Trinity Church.

Like the frustration and sadness that came to us when we were unable to connect with a young Iraqi war veteran, just home for the war, who we found in Copley Square at 6am drinking freely from a quart of vodka and crying over a friend who has AIDS.

Like the feeling of belonging when a street woman in her late forties named Nancy, who has been on the streets since she was 13, welcomed us to the Harvard Square street scene and showed us where to sleep that night and where we could get free pizza at 11pm from a nearby pizza parlor. It is their practice to put their unsold pizza out on the streets for the homeless when they finally close for the night.

Like the indifference we felt from the majority of people who walked past us, not even willing to look at us, let alone give us the spare change we requested as part of our begging practice.

We ate in the soup kitchens, shelters and churches, we slept on the ground, walked for miles on end, pissed in the bushes and scrounged enough money to split a coffee between the five of us.

We didn't go down on the streets to see what it is like to be homeless. If we are lucky enough, we will never know that reality. We didn't go down on the streets as homeless wannabes - posers in an underworld of alcoholism, mental illness, drug addiction, and economic bad luck & hard times.

We went down on the streets to bear witness to our own lives in this experience - moment-to-moment. Nothing more/nothing less.

What we found in these most impoverished circumstances is an unexpected world of riches: pain, fear, joy, intimacy, boredom, frustration, inspiration, connection and compassion. Compassion for ourselves and all God's children who inhabit the streets with no names.

Jim Daikan Bastien

Zen Peacemakers' Boston Street Retreat

Led by Dharma Holder Jim Bastien
November 6-8, 2009

Donation: $108, raised by begging before the retreat.

We go on the streets with no money and just the clothes on our back. We eat in soup kitchens and beg for money or food at times when soup kitchens are not open. We sleep outdoors or in abandoned housing together, though not in shelters, since there are not enough beds.

We don't say we're homeless; we're simply living on the streets for several days, relying on the generosity of the streets to take care of us. While at times we break up into smaller groups, we come together several times a day to share our experiences in a council practice and chant the Gate of Sweet Nectar liturgy, which is about feeding the hungry.

Street Retreat Policies

We are asking you to beg from family, friends, and associates for the donation to do the street retreat. You cannot use your own funds for this purpose, you must ask for money from others.

We mark this begging practice by assembling a Mala, or string of beads that are worn like a bracelet or necklace. Each bead represents a person who sponsors that participant's street retreat, and the entire Mala represents the Member's community of support. We will wear our malas on the street retreat.

The raising of the registration fee, by begging, is the beginning of the participation in the street retreats, an initiation into the life of a street dweller. 2500 years ago, Gautama Shakyamuni Buddha led his followers on a daily round of begging for food, encouraging simplicity, non-attachment and the generosity of giving and receiving.

Some notes about the retreat itself. We ask that you:

  • Not shave, nor wash your hair for 1 week to 10 days prior to the retreat. This will also start your street experience prior to leaving home.

  • Wear old clothes, as many layers as you feel appropriate for the time of year, and do not bring any change of clothes for the retreat.

  • Wear good, but not new, walking shoes.

  • Bring one piece of ID only (this is required by some shelters).

  • Do not bring any money.

  • Do not wear any jewelry including earrings and watches.

  • Besides the clothes you are wearing, bring only an empty bag (shopping, plastic) for collecting food from shelters, etc. You should not bring any books, bedding, conveniences etc.

Prior to the retreat, there is an orientation for all those attending the retreat. We hand out Street Sheets that list soup kitchens, shelters, etc. in the areas that we stay. We give maps and introduce the participants to their street cohorts and facilitators. We then discuss what to expect but the unexpected is the main teacher on the street.

Street retreats have been a core practice of the Zen Peacemakers since 1991, when Roshi Bernie Glassman led the first one in the streets of the Bowery in New York City. This is a powerful practice of not-knowing and bearing witness, where the unpredictable life on the streets is the main teacher. The practice of Street Retreat is described in detail in Bernie Glassman's book, Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons on Living a Life That Matters.

2009-10 Street Retreats with Sensei Grover Genro Gauntt

New York, New York
October 6 – 9, 2009
Facilitators: Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara & Sensei Grover Genro Gauntt
Beginning time: 3:00pm
Ending time: Before 12:00 noon
Contact: registrar@villagezendo.org

Washington DC
April 1 - 4, 2010
Contact: Susan Efird: efirds@si.edu

Zurich, Switzerland Street Retreat
Hosted by Lassalle-Haus
May 12 - 15, 2010
Contact info: info@lassalle-haus.org

Bearing Witness to the Greek Refugee Issues
May 1 - 5, 2010
Athens and Lesbos, Greece

General Contact info: ggauntt@gmail.com