home page





Search our ZP Website   

CONNECT










SUPPORT





Share


PARTICIPATE



COMING SOON

Nov 1-5, 2010 Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat including International Young Adult Cohorts.To read about this retreat and/or to Register, click here.

DAILY ZEN MEDITATION


resident_program

Join the Zen Peacemakers Resident Program in Socially Engaged Buddhism.


6 DAYS LEFT FOR REGISTRATION

WESTERN SOCIALLY ENGAGED BUDDHISM
SYMPOSIUM

August 9 to 14, 2010
at the Mother House of the Zen Peacemakers in Montague, MA

Full-Time attendance: $600 Fee Includes Tuition, Continental Breakfast, Lunch and Entertainment .
Register Now!

Registration is available for
Part-Time attendance.

A Major Gathering of
Western Socially Engaged Buddhist Activists, Academics and Sponsors.

A Concluding Banquet to Honor Robert Aitken & the Pioneers Who Followed

  • Description
  • Presenters
  • Schedule
  • Entertainment
  • Fees/Refunds
  • Presenter Projects

The Zen Peacemakers are hosting a 6-day Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism from August 9 to August 14, 2010.

We are gathering leading Western activist practitioners, academics and sponsors of Socially Engaged Buddhism.

The daily schedule includes: meditation, a key note address, 2 plenary panels, discussion groups, brain storming groups and evening entertainment.

Panels include: Asian Pioneers of Socially Engaged Buddhism, Alternative Communities, Social Entrepreneurship, Politics, Challenges for Socially Engaged Buddhism, Mental Health, Compassionate Care, Environment, and Zen Houses.

Discussion Groups include: Arts for Social Change, Big Mind, Compassionate Care, Conflict Resolution, Trauma, Prison Ministry, Street Ministry and Community Development.

The Symposium is being organized to:
      *promote the practice of Socially Engaged Buddhism,
      *inspire and encourage members of the Western Buddhist community to join this worldwide movement,
      *bring together the leading practitioners and theorists in this movement,
      *explore the breadth of activity being undertaken by socially engaged Buddhists,
      *honor Robert Aitken (click here to read his 93rd Birthday Talk) and some of the pioneers of this movement,
      *open opportunities for people to get involved by volunteering, joining training programs, and finding internships and jobs in Socially Engaged Buddhism.

Pioneers of Western Socially Engaged Buddhism will be honored at a Banquet on Saturday night (the images are of those Pioneers attending the Symposium.)

The event is sponsored by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, the Lenz Foundation and the Zen Peacemakers. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is the exclusive media partner.

Monday August 9: Welcome and Orientation

10:00am - 10:45am


Welcome: Bernie Glassman, Christopher Queen
    Zen Peacemakers, Montague, MA

11:00am - 12:30pm

Roots of Socially Engaged Buddhism: Moderator, Christopher Queen
Bhikkhu Bodhi, Sallie King, David Loy

12:30pm - 1:45pm

Box Lunch and Brainstorming Groups

2:00pm - 3:45pm

Challenges for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism: Moderator, Bernie Glassman
Bill Aiken, Mirabai Bush, Richard Reoch, Alan Senauke

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Discussion Groups
1. Roots of SEB: Bhikkhu Bodhi, Sallie King, David Loy, Christopher Queen
2. Challenges for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism: Bill Aiken, Mirabai Bush, Bernie Glassman, Richard Reoch, Alan Senauke

5:15pm - 5:45pm

What's the Deal Here?: Bernie Glassman, Zen Peacemakers

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Dinner

7:30pm - 9:00pm

Krishna Das -- Kirtan

Tuesday August 10: Community

7:30am - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:45am - 9:15am

Meditation: Led by Bhikku Bodhi
    Chuang Yen Monastery, Carmel, NY

9:15am - 9:45am

Thus Have I Heard: Paul Gorman

9:45am - 10:30am

Keynote: Prof. Jan Willis
    Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

10:30am - 12:15pm

Socially Engaged Communities: Moderator, Alan Senauke
John Bell, Ken Byalin, Clare Carter

12:15pm - 1:30pm

Box Lunch and Brainstorming Groups

1:30pm - 3:15pm

Zen Houses and BASE: Moderator, Eve Marko
Kathe McKenna, Steve Ruhl, Sarah Weintraub, Karen Werner

3:15pm - 3:45pm

Spotlight
    Short Presentations by Participants of their Projects

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Discussion Groups
1. Community Development: Francisco Lugoviña, Kathe McKenna
2. Zen Houses: Bernie Glassman, Rosalind McIntosh, Ari Pliskin, Steve Ruhl, Karen Werner
3. BASE: Alan Senauke, Sarah Weintraub

5:15pm - 5:45pm

What's the Deal Here?: Bernie Glassman, Zen Peacemakers

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Dinner

7:30pm - 9:00pm

sprague

miro

John and Miro Sprague -- The Art of Improvisation

Wednesday August 11: Social Entrepreneurship

7:30am - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:45am - 9:15am

Meditation: Led by Sensei Jules Shuzen Harris
    Soji Zen Center, Lansdowne, PA

9:15am - 9:45am

Thus Have I Heard: Paul Gorman

9:45am - 10:30am

Keynote: Dr. Peter Senge
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

10:30am - 12:15pm

Socially Engaged Businesses: Moderator, Joe Sibilia
Steve Brown, Richard Landry, Mark Mininberg, Chris Panos

12:15pm - 1:30pm

Box Lunch and Brainstorming Groups

1:30pm - 3:15pm

Special Ministries: Moderator, Fleet Maull
Jules Harris, Francisco Lugoviña, Anthony Stultz

3:15pm - 3:45pm

Spotlights
    Two Burmese monks who were major leaders of the Saffron Revolution
    will discuss the Burmese situation.

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Discussion Groups
1. Prison Ministry: Melody Chavis, Fleet Maull
2. Social Entrepreneurship: Richard Landry, Mark Mininberg, Peter Senge, Joe Sibilia
3. Fundraising for Socially Engaged Buddhism: Adi Bemak, Kristi Nelson, Norman Oberstein

5:15pm - 5:45pm

What's the Deal Here?: Bernie Glassman, Zen Peacemakers

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Dinner

7:30pm - 9:00pm

akim_funk_buddha

Akim Funk Buddha -- Dance Improvisation

Thursday August 12: Justice and Activism

7:30am - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:45am - 9:15am

Meditation: Led by Sr. Clare Carter
    Peace Pagoda, Leverett, MA

9:15am - 9:45am

Thus Have I Heard: Paul Gorman

9:45am - 10:30am

Keynote: Prof. Robert Thurman
    Columbia University, NY, NY

10:30am - 12:15pm

Politics and Justice: Moderator, Paul Haller
Melody Chavis, Paula Green, Taigen Leighton

12:15pm - 1:30pm

Box Lunch and Brainstorming Groups

1:30pm - 3:15pm

Environment: Moderator, Ken Kraft
Daniel Goleman, Paul Gorman, Stephanie Kaza, Peter Matthiessen

3:15pm - 3:45pm

Spotlight
    Rabbi Michael Lerner will report on the Environmental and
    Social Responsibility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Discussion Groups
1. Nuclear Free World: Clare Carter, Mayumi Oda
2. Street Ministry: Fleet Maull
3. Race & Diversity: Jules Harris, Francisco Lugoviña, Jan Willis
4. Environment: Daniel Goleman, Paul Gorman, Stephanie Kaza, Ken Kraft, Peter Matthiessen

5:15pm - 5:45pm

What's the Deal Here?: Bernie Glassman, Zen Peacemakers

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Dinner

7:30pm - 9:00pm

ambush_cast1

Theater Event: Ambush on T Street with Court Dorsey, Al Miller, John Sheldon

Friday August 13: Wellness and Healing

7:30am - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:45am - 9:15am

Meditation: Led by Roshi Joan Jiko Halifax
    Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, NM

9:15am - 9:45am

Thus Have I Heard: Paul Gorman

9:45am - 10:30am

Keynote: Jon Kabat-Zinn
    University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA

10:30am - 12:15pm

Compassionate Care: Moderator, Enkyo O'Hara
Koshin Ellison, Joan Halifax, Frank Ostaseski, Randy Sunday

12:15pm - 1:30pm

Box Lunch and Brainstorming Groups

1:30pm - 3:15pm

Mental Health: Moderator, John Makransky
Jim Bastien, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Genpo Merzel, Zayda Vallejo

3:15pm - 3:45pm

Spotlights
    Presentation by Jeff Bridges on "No Child Hungry in 2015" Project

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Discussion Groups
1. Compassionate Care: Robert Campbell, Joan Halifax, Enkyo O'Hara, Frank Ostaseski
2. Mental Health: Jim Bastien, Jon Kabat-Zinn, John Makransky, Zayda Vallejo
3. Big Mind: Genpo Merzel
4. Arts for Social Change: Jeff Bridges, Court Dorsey, Nina LaNegra, Peter Matthiessen, Anne Waldman

5:15pm - 5:45pm

What's the Deal Here?: Bernie Glassman, Zen Peacemakers

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Dinner

7:30pm - 9:00pm

jeff_bridges

An Evening with Jeff Bridges and John Goodwin

Saturday August 14: Arts, Media and the Future

7:30am - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:45am - 9:15am

Meditation: Led by Sensei Eve Myonen Marko
Montague Farm Zendo

9:15am - 9:45am

Thus Have I Heard: Paul Gorman

9:45am - 10:30am

waldman

Keynote: Anne Waldman
    Naropa University, Boulder, CO

10:30am - 12:15pm

Arts: Moderator, Anne Waldman
Jeff Bridges, Nina LaNegra, Peter Matthiessen, Mayumi Oda

12:15pm - 1:30pm

Box Lunch and Brainstorming Groups

2:00pm - 4:00pm

Future of Socially Engaged Buddhism: Bernie Glassman, Ken Kraft, Fleet Maull, Sarah Weintraub and All Attendees: Moderator, Christopher Queen

6:00pm -9:00pm

Banquet and Closing Ceremony
Honoring the Pioneers and Appreciating the Next Generation: Moderators: Bernie Glassman, Eve Marko
Pioneers: Paula Green, Joan Halifax, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Peter Matthiessen, Frank Ostaseski, Alan Senauke
Next Generaton: Akim Funk Buddha, Ari Pliskin, Sarah Weintraub

Schedule of Entertainment

(All Entertainment is Included in the Symposium Fee)

Those not attending the Symposium can register in advance for any of the evening entertainment events.
Monday: Krishna Das $30 (sold out, waiting list only)
Tuesday: John and Miro Sprague $15
Wednesday: Akim Buddha $15
Thursday: Ambush on T Street $25
Friday: Jeff Bridges and John Goodwin $40 (sold out, waiting list only)

There is a limited number of tickets to be sold and no tickets will be sold on the evening of the event.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

7:30pm Krishna Das -- Kirtan

7:30pm John and Miro Sprague -- The Art of Improvisation

7:30pm Akim Funk Buddha -- Dance Improvisation

7:30pm Theater Event: Ambush on T Street with Court Dorsey, Al Miller, John Sheldon

7:30pm Jeff Bridges, and John Goodwin

10:00am Anne Waldman, Poetry Reading

Monday 7:30 - 9:00 pm

Krishna Das -- Kirtan

Sharing his heart through music and chanting is the basis of Krishna Das' own spiritual work; his way of serving the Divine within himself and others.








Tuesday 7:30 - 9:00 pm

John and Miro Sprague -- The Art of Improvisation

miro

Award-winning father and son duo offer riveting musical improvisations blending jazz, folk, rock, world music, and avant-garde elements.

Miro Sprague is an award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and percussionist, and recent graduate of Manhattan School of Music. He has released several albums, toured all over the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and appeared on the Letterman show.

sprague

John Sprague is a multi-instrumental improvisor specializing in music for movement and contemplation. He has released four CDs of original music, one of which won an award for best instrumental music for the year. He and his son Miro recently released their first album together, entitled Contemplation and Play.








Wednesday 7:30 - 9:00 pm

Akim Funk Buddha -- Dance of Improvisation

akim_funk_buddha

From the streets of Bali to Carnegie Hall, from meditative throat singing to high-energy Hip Hop rhymes, Akim Funk Buddha creates borderless performance art, fusing sounds and movements. An avid world traveler and self-described old-school B-boy MC, he is known for his holistic approach to Hip Hop, drawing from a full spectrum of cultural traditions and artistic disciplines. Rhyming, beat-boxing, mouth and body percussion, story-telling, break-dancing, Mongolian throat-singing, Indonesian monkey chants, body-balancing, martial arts, tap and circus arts are seamlessly blended to create distinctly spiritual yet urban sonic and visual compositions.





Thursday 7:30 - 9:00 pm

Ambush on T Street with Court Dorsey, Al Miller, John Sheldon

Al Miller, Court Dorsey, John Sheldon

Three paths collide outside the office of whacked out trauma counselor Cody Vilardi. He is treating Hatch, a war veteran struggling to piece together his bombed out life. 20% Jack is on the street, playing for quarters, obsessed with his failed career and his history as a mental patient. But none of them is prepared for the ambush on T Street. ...read more






Friday 7:30 - 9:00 pm

jeff_bridges

Jeff Bridges will perform with his long-time close friend John Goodwin. John wrote the opening music for the movie Crazy Heart for which Jeff won an Oscar for Best Actor.






Saturday

waldman

10:00-10:15 am: Anne Waldman is a poet & teacher, and with Allen Ginsberg co-founded of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado in 1974. She is one of the most interesting, vibrant and unpredictable members of the post-Beat poetry community. Her confluence of Buddhist concerns and thought-paths with sources of physicality and anger is particularly impressive. Over the years, she has worked her magic on audiences throughout the United States and around the world, giving poetry readings in Germany, England, Italy, Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Bali, India, Nicaragua and Canada.

"I want [my poetry] to be the experience... a sustained experience, a voyage, a magnificent dream, something that would take you in myriad directions simultaneously, and you could draw on all of these other voices and you could pay homage to ancestors and other languages--a poem that would include everything and yet dwell in the interstices of imagination and action."

Fees

The fee for the entire Symposium (Mon-Sat) is $600. Link here to pay the full fee now. The fee includes tuition, continental breakfast and Box Lunch. It does not include lodging and dinner.

Fees for part-time attendance
     5 Days: $600
     4 Days: $500
     3 Days: $400
     2 Days: $275
     1 Day: $150

Link here to register. The fee includes tuition, continental breakfast and Box Lunch. It does not include lodging and dinner.

Priority will be given to full-time participants.

Refund Policy

If the Symposium is canceled by the Zen Peacemakers, registrants will receive full credits or refunds of the paid registration fees. No refunds can be made for lodging, airfare or any other expenses related to attending the workshop.

If a registration is canceled by the participant more than one month (31 days) prior to the retreat start date, all but $50 of the paid fees will be refunded.

If you cancel 15-30 days before the start date of the workshop, you will receive all but $100 of your retreat fee.

Fees are nonrefundable if a registration is cancelled by the participant within two weeks (14 days) of the start date of the retreat.

All refunds will be processed within 60 days of notification of cancellation.

Profiles and Links of Projects Led by Presenters at the Symposium

  • Community
  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Justice and Activism
  • Wellness and Healing
  • Appalachia Zen House
  • BASE
  • Buddhist Global Relief
  • End Hunger Network
  • Greyston Mandala
  • Haley House
  • House of Meditation
  • John Lavelle Preparatory Charter School
  • Karuna-Shechen
  • Montague Farm Zen House

The Appalachian Zen "House", founded by Steve Ruhl and Rosalind McIntosh, is based at Ahimsa Village in the rural mountains of Julian, PA, and is an integrated group of projects that addresses rural poverty and environmental challenges through Zen training and multi-faith cooperation, expressed through service to the underserved populations and the natural environment of the central Appalachian Mountain region of Pennsylvania.

BASE (Buddhist Alliances for Social Engagement) is a Buddhist Peace Fellowship program that started in 1995 in the San Francisco Bay Area. BASE provides a community-based structure that integrates social action and social service with Buddhist practice. Participants spend six months or longer in a Buddhist-based support community while engaging in part or full time service or social action, either in volunteer work or in paid employment. The training component includes study, dialogue, and reflection around issues of socially engaged Buddhism, as well as Buddhist practice and retreat.

The mission of Buddhist Global Relief (BGR) is to provide relief to the poor and needy throughout the world regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, or religion. BGR especially focuses on providing food aid to those afflicted by hunger and lack of food security. Since in today’s world education is one of the major antidotes to persistent poverty and malnutrition, BGR seeks to combine food aid with support for education in a way that enables poor children to attend school. BGR gives special attention to the education of girls, recognizing that educated women can contribute most effectively to a balanced family diet and to raising healthy children. Established in June 2008, BGR has launched projects in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, India, Niger, Mali, South Africa, Afghanistan, and the United States. It has also provided emergency aid to Haiti following the earthquake of January 2010.

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Chairperson

The End Hunger Network is a project that Jeff Bridges helped found in 1983. Originally they concentrated on World Hunger (hunger had been ended in the U.S.) they have now shifted their focus to America.

Greyston Foundation’s mission is to support low-income individuals and families as they forge a path to self-sufficiency and community transformation. Greyston is an entrepreneurial and spiritually grounded organization that operates an integrated network of programs in Westchester County providing jobs, workforce development, housing, youth services, community gardens, and health care.

Greyston is non-sectarian. The fundamental spiritual principles of compassion and service permeate our value system. At Greyston, spirituality is a key ingredient in achieving the internal strength and self-esteem that must accompany external successes.

Founder: Bernie Glassman
President: Steve Brown

Haley House, directed by Kathe McKenna, offers collaborative living and working environments that

* BUILD communities and connections across the boundaries that divide us,

* MODEL creative alternatives that confirm the intrinsic dignity and worth of each person, and

* CHALLENGE the attitudes and structures that perpetuate suffering.

With a focus on reciprocal learning, we provide

* Skills training for the underemployed,

* Volunteer experiences,

* Housing for the homeless and working poor,

* Economic development opportunities, and

* Wholesome nourishment for body, mind and spirit

The focus of the House of Meditation, founded by Anthony Stultz, is on providing the Four Directions Method (our approach is going to be studied by the NIH to help people with chronic conditions) of mindfulness counseling and retreats to suffering folks in our community, we have been diligent in being an engaged participant in providing what we call Compassion in Action. All of our programs at the House of Meditation (est. 2004) are based upon the Five Commitments and the U.N. Millennium Goals. While we also work with national and international programs we put the majority of our efforts into local initiatives.

Nonviolence and reverence for life;

1. We have a program that is jointly funded by the United Way that we have taken into public and private schools that we call the The Blue Lotus Bushido Peacemakers Program. We do a live Mindful Martial Arts demonstration (including the fun breaking of boards and bricks!) for kids, teachers and parents focusing on how to use nonviolent techniques to overcome bullying. We have worked with school principals to create a zero toleration for bullying culture.

2. We provide 'True Self Esteem' programs to local poor, abused and disenfranchised folks via local agencies.

Solidarity and a just economic order;

1. We have a close relationship with the ACLU as a consultant on religious issues, we have a program that we practice called Mindful Meeting where we encourage our members to see contacting their elected representatives on issues as a weekly spiritual practice.

2. We have sponsored local political debates, have hosted the League of Women Voters and be a local voting space.

3. We are local religious consultant with ONE.org (committed to the efforts against extreme poverty and preventable diseases.)

Tolerance and a life based on truthfulness

1. We are a welcoming community and work with local groups to promote the well being of LGBT folks. We also participate in PRIDE events and have performed blessing of same sex couples.

2. We participate in two interfaith groups, one local, one national and are creating a joint program with Jewish, UUA, and UCC to have a weekly "sit" and midrash/koan teaching to help impact the most crime ridden parts of our capital city.

3. We have shared "pulpits" with local mosques to promote a great understanding of Islam and help counter violence against local folks.

4. Every year we give out a 'Compassion in Action' award to persons in the Central PA area that we believe are models of tolerance and truthfulness.

5. We take part in the MLK annual celebrations in the city.

6. We provide chaplain service to local and state government officials.

7. We are going to provide ESL and citizenship training for the local Mexican population.

Equal rights and partnership between men and women

1. We have publicly supported the rights of women by being protectors at abortion clinics, counseling and providing Jizo ceremonies. We have spoken out on the ERA Amendment, support for the local womens shelter (one of our clergy runs the YWCA program) and we are a consultant/supporter for the Children of the Night program which helps save minor girls from street prostitution.

2. We provide seminars on relationships, parenting and elder rights.

Stewardship of the Earth.

1. We are partners with local and state agencies to help provide clean up efforts. We co-sponsor public forums with other religious groups to speak out on issues of the environment and provide liturgy for folks to grieve disasters.

2. We sponsor and volunteer with national groups such as the Loggerhead Turtle Rescue, etc.

3. We are partners with local religious leaders concerning state water resources and pollution.

John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, founded by Ken Byalin, provides a rigorous college preparatory education that equips and empowers students to go to college and succeed in life. Lavelle Prep welcomes all students, including those living with emotional challenges.

Full integration in all classes and activities enables each student to develop the academic skills, emotional fluency and confidence required to be successful students today and thoughtful, open-minded leaders tomorrow.

Karuna-Shechen is a charitable non-profit association with branches throughout the world. Shechen is an area in eastern Tibet, and karuna means compassion in Sanskrit. We provide education, medical and social services, care of the elderly, and assistance to individuals in need. Matthieu Ricard is the main coordinator for Karuna-Shechen.

Montague Farm Zen House (MFZH), directed by Karen Werner, was founded in 2010 with two goals -helping families in Franklin County, one of the poorest, most rural regions of Massachusetts, to stabilize and thrive and serving as a lab and training site for those interesting in starting Zen Houses nationally and internationally.

MFZH’s main project is the Montague Farm Café, a unique family-oriented soup kitchen that includes free health and wellness offerings, creative activities, and transportation, with extensive outreach to shelters and housing projects.

  • CSR Wire
  • Family CourtSports
  • Greyston Mandala
  • Hospital Energy

CSRwire, developed by Joe Sibilia, is the world’s number one resource for corporate social responsibility news as well as the hub for an influential community that has realized the value and necessity of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability.

Working with our CSR Member community, we promote the growth of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability through solutions-based information and positive examples of corporate practices including:

* News Distribution

* CSR Events Participation and Promotion

* CSR Video, Audio/podcasting and recent commentary

* Company-issued CSR Reports

* Our Member Profiles

* Our CSR Archive

Family CourtSports is a Health Club & a Healing Center. It occupies 22,000 square ft of space, has 50 employees, 700+ members, three racquetball courts, basketball gym, and three large fitness studios—one dedicated as a cycling/spin room. Francisco
Lugoviña
and Daiken Nelson arrived fifteen months ago and have attempted to build community (with some success). They have taught by example and will soon inaugurate a "Community" room dedicated to multi-service & contemplative practice. They have a group that is working on the notion that "doing good and doing well" are compatible and desirable. They see the need to shift the Health paradigm from one exclusively of physical health to one of Body,Mind & Spirit. They see this as their ministry: front line social/service and action. Their practice is to always expect the unexpected---"not knowing in action."

Greyston Foundation’s mission is to support low-income individuals and families as they forge a path to self-sufficiency and community transformation. Greyston is an entrepreneurial and spiritually grounded organization that operates an integrated network of programs in Westchester County providing jobs, workforce development, housing, youth services, community gardens, and health care.

Greyston is non-sectarian. The fundamental spiritual principles of compassion and service permeate our value system. At Greyston, spirituality is a key ingredient in achieving the internal strength and self-esteem that must accompany external successes.

Founder: Bernie Glassman
President: Steve Brown

Hospital Energy, founded by Mark Mininberg, serves as the energy development and procurement arm for leading group purchasing organizations (GPOs) representing nearly half of the hospital beds in the U.S. Hospital Energy has used the GPOs’ tremendous buying power to create energy efficiency and green power opportunities that were previously beyond the reach of individual hospitals. In this way, the company is helping reduce healthcare costs and generate significant health, environmental and social co-benefits.

Hospital Energy approaches this work from the perspective of the three tenets of the Zen Peacemaker Order: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness and Loving Action. According to the company’s charter: “We understand that the hospital culture has many levels of authority: medical, engineering, legal, finance. Yet it also operates by consensus, so change takes time, patience and most of all, a willingness to let go of the ego. This means that our first job is to empty ourselves of preconceived notions about who we are and what we think can be accomplished. By acknowledging the needs and strengths of everyone in the culture, we witness how people can learn to cooperate and perceived barriers spontaneously dissolve. Then our loving action, which is the creation of healthier communities and environment, no longer belongs to one person or group. Instead, it flows through each and every one of us. In this way, our efforts have the power to heal.

  • Clear View Project
  • Karuna Center
  • Prison Dharma Network

Clear View Project presently has several areas of work, primarily linking the issues of Buddhist Asia and the West, enabling voices of the most oppressed to be heard.

• Since September 2007's democracy demonstrations, we have been supporting the Burmese people and Buddhist sangha politically and materially. In December of 07, Alan led a small delegation to Burma and the Thai-Burma border to bear witness and to link western Buddhists with the ongoing struggle for democracy in Burma. That struggle continues.

• Clear View has built strong connections with western Buddhist centers, Burmese communities in exile here in the U.S., and Burma activist organizations. We aim to keep the banner of Burmese liberation clearly in the sight of western Buddhists. We partner with the All Burma Monks Alliance and Sasana Moli — the International Burmese Monks' Organization — to support the Burmese sangha in Burma, Thailand, and exiled in the U.S. at this perilous time, offering support and nonviolence training.

• In early 2010, Clear View began working directly with Ambedkarite Buddhists in India affiliated with Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana (TBMSG) and the Nagarjuna Training Institute, located in Nagpur. These Dalit/ex-untouchable Buddhists are among the poorest and most oppressed Indian communities. Working in support of our Indian friends, we are developing a curriculum of socially engaged Buddhism and community organizing that is shaped by the realities of life in rural and urban India.

Clear View’s founder Hozan Alan Senauke is establishing a new imprint for engaged Buddhist books — Clear View Press. It’s first publication, due for release in September 2010, is Alan’s book of essays, The Bodhisattva’s Embrace: Dispatches from Engaged Buddhism’s Front Lines.

Karuna Center was founded in 1994, by Paula Green, to address the growing global challenges of ethnic, religious and political conflict. Our first long-term project engaged us in post-conflict reconciliation between former neighbors after the devastation of the Bosnian war. Karuna Center has worked in more than 25 countries around the world.

In partnership with the School for International Training in Vermont, Karuna Center staff and Associates also lead a summer institute and series of graduate certificate programs known as Conflict Transformation Across Cultures (CONTACT).

In addition, we are a member of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a network of peacebuilding organizations from the US and abroad and an affiliate organization of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Prison Dharma Network (PDN), founded by Fleet Maull, is an international, nonsectarian, contemplative support network for prisoners, prison volunteers, and corrections professionals. PDN's mission is to provide prisoners, and those who work with them, with the most effective contemplative tools for self-transformation and rehabilitation. We support prisoners in the practice of contemplative disciplines, with an emphasis on sitting meditation practice and the practice and study of Buddhist teachings and other wisdom traditions. We promote these paths of wakefulness and non-aggression as ideal vehicles for self-rehabilitation and personal transformation. We believe in the power of the various mindfulness-awareness practices and body-mind disciplines of the world’s contemplative traditions to change behaviors, transform lives, and ultimately to reduce recidivism, prevent crime, and enhance community safety and well-being.

  • Being With Dying
  • Brattleboro Retreat’s Uniformed Services Program
  • Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society
  • Metta Institute
  • NY Zen Center for Contemplative Care
  • Upaya Chaplaincy Program

This professional Training Program in Contemplative End-of-Life Care has long been dedicated to fostering a revolution in care of the dying. This unique program provides clinicians with essential tools for taking care of dying people with skill and compassion, as well as sustaining resilience and dedication as they serve others. This unparalleled program brings together, in a unique and powerful way, wisdom and practicality to the very sensitive and inevitable experience of encountering the end of life.

- Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD Project Founder & Director

James S. Bastien is the designer, developer and Director of the Brattleboro Retreat’s Uniformed Services Program (USP). Trained as a research-practitioner, Jim is a clinical social worker and trained behavior analyst with more than 30 years experience providing trauma-focused clinical services in large residential settings.

For uniformed professionals who have witnessed disasters, life-threatening events, and human tragedyand whose life has lead to serious problems involving stress, alcohol abuse, drug addiction, anxiety and depression.

The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society is a visionary force and global leader in mind-body medicine. For thirty years, we have pioneered the integration of mindfulness meditation and other mindfulness-based approaches in mainstream medicine and healthcare through patient care, research, academic medical and professional education, and into the broader society through diverse outreach and public service initiatives. Directed by Saki F. Santorelli, EdD, MA, since 2000 and founded in 1995 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD , the Center is an outgrowth of the acclaimed Stress Reduction Clinic – the oldest and largest academic medical center-based stress reduction program in the world.

Inspired by the Buddhist tradition, Metta Institute provides educational programs on spirituality in dying. Our End of Life Care Practitioner Program offers an extraordinary opportunity for personal and professional development. The comprehensive one-year course provides essential clinical competencies, strengthens individual capacity for compassionate service, and enhances spiritual development. Graduates join a national network of educators, advocates and guides for those facing life-threatening illness. Our faculty includes Ram Dass, Norman Fischer, Rachel Naomi Remen MD and others. All are advocates for reclaiming the soul in caregiving and restoring a life affirming and transformative relationship to dying. Frank also leads related seminars and retreats internationally. For more info: www.mettainstitute.org

-Frank Ostaseski, Founder
Metta Institute

As Buddhist spiritual practice finds an increasing presence within American society and science, there is both an opportunity and a need to train people in Buddhist practices to serve as contemplative caregivers. The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care offers 2 individual training programs. Both programs are unique opportunities to study Buddhist principles and practices relevant to contemplative caregiving, as well as an introduction to the psychological, social, and ethical issues related to caregiving.

1. Foundations in Buddhist Contemplative Care Training Program:

2. ACPE Buddhist Chaplaincy Training:

3. Annual Contemplative Care Retreat

4. Ease and Joy Retreat, Tulum, Mexico

The Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training is a visionary and comprehensive two-year certificated program for a new kind of chaplaincy intended to serve individuals, communities, the environment, and the world. The program is open to those who wish to be serve as Lay Chaplains, Zen Buddhist Chaplain Priests, as well as those who wish to deepen their understanding of service from a Buddhist and systems perspective.

- Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD Project Founder & Director


:

read about symposium