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Zen Peacemaker Order History

  • In the Beginning
  • Co-Founders
  • Lineages and Orders
  • Zen Peacemaker Priests
  • Lassalle Haus
  • Initial ZPO Staff
  • Founding Teachers
  • Installations
  • Jishu's Passing
  • ZPO Director
  • Spirit Holders
  • Mar-Dec 2001
  • Greater ZPO Sangha

The Zen Peacemaker Order had its beginnings during a street retreat on the steps of the United States capitol building one snowy January day in 1994. After fourteen years of committed effort building the Greyston Mandala with his wife, Sandra Holmes, Roshi Bernie Glassman was pondering what his next initiative might be. What emerged was an order of Zen practitioners dedicated to the cause of peace - the Zen Peacemaker Order.

On May. 15, 1996, Roshis Bernie Glassman and Sandra Jishu Holmes decide to co-found a Zen Peacemaker Order.

Reflections on the Beginning of the Zen Peacemaker Order

from Bearing Witness by Bernie Glassman and Eve Myonen Marko:

When we sew our zen peacemaker robes, we start from scratch. In the beginning, when all we have in front of us are just a few rags, we can't imagine what this robe will eventually look like. Some of us complain that we're not sewing it correctly, that the panels will come out crooked and the robe all wrong. Mostly we put aside our mental chatter and just sew the robe together, one piece at a time, one panel at a time.

Starting from scratch means starting from unknowing. You get a piece from here and you get a piece from there and you put them together. We have no idea how the end will look. We may have a vision of how we'd like it to look, but we don't really know. This is a very hard practice, but if we can start with unknowing, with no right and no wrong, then there's no problem. Nothing can come out wrong.

When Jishu and I started the Zen Peacemaker Order we put it together in the same way that peacemakers sew their robes. We started from scratch. One piece came in, then another, and we stitched them together. Then a third piece came in and we attached that to the first two. Like novice priests, we are also curious about what the whole thing will look like in the end.

The Peacemaker Order will never be complete, but several panels have already come together out of the people that we've sewn into the order. ...The order that emerges will be nothing other than the energies of these people, their lives, and their work.

In looking back, the first piece of this new robe, the first ingredient, was the vow I'd made in early 1994 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. This was the only piece for a long time. During the next couple of years other responsibilities took my time and energy. By early summer of 1996 we were ready to continue. At that time both Jishu and I were being paid by the Greyston Network. We decided to get off Greyston's payroll, though it was practically our only source of funds, because it was important for both of us to start from scratch. With no certain source of funds, no expectation of a bimonthly check, we were now free to look everywhere for help. I'd learned about the generosity of life from our time on the streets and was sure that as soon as we opened our hands and let go of what we had, we'd begin to receive. And in fact, upon hearing what we were doing, a few old friends and supporters immediately pledged some money to keep us going for the first few months.

The next question was where we would work. We both had kept our offices at Greyston for many years, but this no longer made any sense. So Jishu and I converted our house into office space for the new Peacemaker Order. It is a one-family home across the street from a Pentecostal church, with a small basement and attic. With the help of very minor renovations we created desk and computer space for six people. By the time we moved the Order's offices to another site more than a year later, a dozen people were working out of our house every day. They'd come from around the world. Each person who worked with us, including social workers, artists, writers, Catholic and Zen priests as well as business people, was another piece of the fabric, another fragment to be sewn into a panel of the Peacemaker Order.

Another early ingredient was the order's mission to serve as a home for peacemakers around the world. I began to talk with the different peacemakers I knew, and almost immediately people wanted to join. Claude Thomas, in Massachusetts, wanted to be part of the order. So did Joan Halifax in New Mexico. So did Fleet Maull, in the Springfield penitentiary. So did Pat O'Hara, a Buddhist teacher who works with people with AIDS. So did Paco Lugovina, who'd spent years building low-cost housing in the South Bronx. A network of social service organizations in Italy wanted to join, as did a group of Polish activists in Warsaw. No matter who I talked to, many wished to be part of our new order in some way. It didn't matter to them that it had just been founded, it didn't matter to them that we were still sewing the pieces together. They all wished to link their energies, stories, and training capabilities in order to become more effective peacemakers.

Many of these activists already had their own organizations, sometimes very big ones. They raised the question of how they could involve their groups with the order. The answer quickly turned up. Each such organization, each such group, would become a Peacemaker Village, led by a Village Leader. The Peacemaker Order would serve as a hub linking this network of Peacemaker Villages and their respective members.

Originally Jishu and I hadn't conceived of Peacemaker Villages. But in putting together the robe that we called the order and putting out a call for pieces, activists from all walks of life, from around the world, both individually and in groups, came forward. In talking with them to see how they fit together, we soon realized that these activists made up a panel of Peacemaker Villages, with each peacemaker, each organization, another piece in the panel.

Other peacemakers, hearing about this opportunity, also wanted to link up with us, but not as members of a Zen Peacemaker Order. They didn't have a Zen practice, or else they were already ordained or practicing in a different religious tradition which prevented them from joining our order. The Interreligious Peacemaker Union, a Swiss-based interfaith organization carrying out social projects around the world, expressed interest in linking up with the Order in mutually beneficial ways. So did Jon Kabat-Zinn, who does mindfulness-based stress management training at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Ministers, lawyers, and academics wanted to join and find a way of incorporating peacemaking into their work. Soon we realized that they, too, were forming a panel. Only this wasn't a panel of a robe called the Zen Peacemaker Order. This panel, which we eventually called the Interfaith Assembly of Peacemaker Villages, belonged to a new robe called the Peacemaker Community. The Assembly became the hub of all Peacemaker Villages, linking peacemakers and their organizations throughout the world who subscribed to the Three Tenets of unknowing, bearing witness, and healing. The Peacemaker Community included not only the order and the assembly, but also a training facility called the Peacemaker Institute and a House of One People for interfaith events and celebrations.

We didn't contemplate any of this when we first started. All we had was just one idea, a Zen Peacemaker Order. Then we began to add one piece, then another, and then another. Our Peacemakers defined the order. Our Peacemaker Villages defined the assembly. Before we knew it, as we put the various pieces together, we realized they were all fitting into a Peacemaker Community, but we didn't know this in the beginning.

The Zen Peacemaker Order flows from the life of two American Zen Teachers, Roshi Bernie Glassman and Roshi Sandra Jishu Holmes, who were husband and wife. Bernie's teacher was Hakuyu Maezumi Roshi while Jishu's teacher was Roshi Bernie. Their lineage flowing through Maezumi Roshi is called the White Plum Asanga. They were both members of the Japanese Soto Sect whose organization (Order) is called Shumucho. Roshi Bernie left the Japenese Soto Sect Order with the formation of the Zen Peacemaker Order. Roshi Bernie has many successors while Roshi Jishu passed away before finishing the trainings with her successors.

In the Zen tradition, we trace a person's lineage through the person who empowered them as a teacher or as a priest. There are also ceremonies to bring a person into the Buddhist Sangha as a layperson or as clergy. These ceremonies can be performed by an indivudual empowered to transmit the Precepts or by a group of people empowered to transmit the Precepts.

Ceremonies to enter the Buddhist Sangha have been developed by many Zen Orders and they are usually based on receiving the Precepts of that Order. Many times, at that ceremony, the person becoming a Buddhist receives a lineage chart showing his relationship to the lineage of the Preceptor. When the ceremony is performed by a group of Preceptors, either one Preceptor is considered the lineage representor or the person enters the Sangha without having a lineage. This is the way it is done in many traditions in South East Asia as well as in the Western Countries.

Orders are groups or institutions that select the Rule of that Order and take the responsibility of the Rule's evolving. Orders also create the basic ceremonies although it is common for Preceptors to modify the ceremony. There are generally described ways to enter an Order although many people have an affinity with a particular Order and become Fellow Travelers to that Order.

In June, 1994, Michael Daigu O'Keefe became the first person to be ordained as a novice Zen Peacemaker Priest (initial vows.) The Preceptor was Roshi Bernie Glassman and the ceremony was held at Greyston in Yonkers, NY. This began the practice of ordaining as a novice Zen Peacemaker Priest with the committment of doing social action.

In 1996, Michael Daigu O'Keefe along with Claude AnShin Thomas and Sally Sonin Kealy were empowered as Zen Peacemaker Priests (final vows) with the permission to ordain people.

After this, several people requested similar ordinations and this continued until the Formation of the Zen Peacemaker Order. The Zen Peacemaker Order does not currently have ceremonies for becoming clergy in the Order but various Zen Priests who are members of the Order and/or Zen Peacemaker Priests have ordained people in similar ways. This has led to some confusion and we are currently trying to untangle the confusion.

On Dec. 8, 1996, Fr. Niklaus Brantschen and Sr. Pia Gyger decide to join hands with Roshi Bernie Glassman and Sensei Jishu Holmes to co-found an Interfaith Peacemaker Community. Sensei Peter Muryo Angyo Matthiessen is installed as a founding member of the Zen Peacemaker Order and Eve Myonen Angyo Marko is installed as the first member of the Zen Peacemaker Order. Sr. Anna Gamma is installed as the first member of the Peacemaker Order. Sylvana Mangana is installed as a founding member of the Peacemaker Order

After Bernie and Jishu decided to Co-Found the Zen Peacemaker Order, the next question was where they would work. They had kept their offices at Greyston for many years, but this no longer made any sense. So Jishu and Bernie converted their house into office space for the new ZPO. It was a one-family home across the street from a Pentecostal church, with a small basement and attic. With the help of very minor renovations they created desk and computer space for six people. By the time they moved the Order's offices to another site more than a year later, a dozen people were working out of their house every day. They'd come from around the world. Each person who worked with them, including social workers, artists, writers, Catholic and Zen priests as well as business people, was another piece of the fabric, another fragment to be sewn into a panel of the Zen Peacemaker Order. The initial staff consisted of Bernie, Jishu and Eve Marko. Soon Genro Gauntt, Richard Kolosky, Russell Shepp, Moira Maloney, Poola and Iwona Dralek joined the staff. A little later Siddiq and Daiken joined.

In 1997 a group gathered together to develop the ZPO Precepts. This group was called the Founding Teachers and consisted of Grover Genro Gauntt, Joan Jiko Halifax, Eve Myonen Marko, Wendy Egyoku Nakao, and Pat Enkyo O'Hara.

In 1998, we decided to have installation ceremonies for people that wished to enter the Zen Peacemaker Order. Several seniors in the ZPO, who had studied and practiced the ZPO Precepts extensively were empowed to conduct these installation ceremonies. The main requirement for entering the Order was to vow to bring the ZPO Precepts into one's life. Many people have been installed into the Zen Peacemaker Order as Peacemakers.

You can link to chronological listings (in reverse order) of installations, by year, by clicking on the year of interest.

  • 1994-1997
  • Jan-Jun 1998
  • Jul-Dec 1998

Nov. , 1997 - Joasha Angyo enters the Order as a Buddhist with Roshi Bernie Glassman as Preceptor. This installatin took place during a Bearing Witness retreat at Birkenau/Auschwitz.

Sept. , 1997 Heinz-Jurgen Metzger is installed into he Zen Peacemaker Order with Roshi Bernie Glassman as Preceptor at the end of a Street Retreat in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Aug , 1997 - Fleet Ryushin Ango Maull enters the Order as a novice Zen Peacemaker Priests with Roshi Bernie Glassman and Sensei Jishu Holmes as Preceptors. This installation took place at the Springfield MO Federal Prison.

July 8, 1997 - The first Annual Gathering of the Zen Peacemaker Order takes place in Yonkers, NY. During this Gathering, the following particPeacemakerVillagesnts enter the Order as general members with Roshi Bernie Glassman and Sensei Jishu Holmes as Preceptors.

Grover Genro Gauntt

Hans Enku Hokanson

Carole Duggan-Kohl

Richard Honin Kolosky

Andrzej Getsugen Krajewski

Arnold Shishin Meyer

Charles Goshin Naylor

Pat Enkyo O'Hara

Brent Shigeoka

 

July 8, 1997 - The first Annual Gathering of the Zen Peacemaker Order takes place in Yonkers, NY. During this Gathering, Joan Jiko Angyo Halifax, Francisco Genko Angyo Lugoviña and Diane Ryoko Angyo Shainberg enter the Order as novice Zen Peacemaker Priests with Roshi Bernie Glassman and Sensei Jishu Holmes as Preceptors.

May 10, 1996 - Merle Kodo Angyo Boyd, Ken Tetsuji Angyo Byalin, Moira Kimon Angyo Maloney and Russell Horaku Angyo Shepp are ordained as novice Zen Peacemaker Priests with Roshi Bernie Glassman and Sensei Jishu Holmes as Preceptors.

Dec. 27, 1996- Timothy Chizen Angyo Denton, Joanne Hakuryo Angyo Schriver and Phil Ryogen Angyo Schriver are ordained as novice Zen Peacemaker Priests with Roshi Bernie Glassman as Preceptor.

Dec. 8, 1996 - Fr. Niklaus Brantschen and Sr. Pia Gyger decide to join hands with Roshi Bernie Glassman and Sensei Jishu Holmes to co-found an Interfaith Peacemaker Community. Sensei Peter Muryo Angyo Matthiessen is installed as a founding member of the Zen Peacemaker Order and Eve Myonen Angyo Marko is installed as the first member of the Zen Peacemaker Order. Sr. Anna Gamma is installed as the first member of the Peacemaker Order. Sylvana Mangana is installed as a founding member of the Peacemaker Order

Aug 5, 1995- Claude Anshin Thomas is ordained at Greyston in Yonkers, NY as a novice Zen Peacemaker Priest with Roshi Bernie Glassman as Preceptor.

July 10, 1994- Michael Daigu O'Keefe is ordained as the first novice Zen Peacemaker Priest with Roshi Bernie Glassman as Preceptor.

June 21, 1998 - Participants of Summer Solstice Sesshin at Upaya in Santa Fe enter Zen Peacemaker Order as general members with Dharmaholder Joan Jiko Halifax as Preceptor:

Margo Angyo Conover

Andrea Angyo D'Amato

Sandia Angyo Douglas

Maria Angyo Duerr

Rose Angyo Gordon

Deborah Angyo Gorman

Christie Angyo Green

Margie Angyo Hughes

Leslie Angyo Hutchinson

Demian Angyo Kwong

Gretchen Angyo Ladd

Carolyn Angyo McManus

Patty Angyo Nagle

Diego Angyo Pacheco

Jacqui Angyo Patterson

Joan Angyo Watts

Peter Cunningham created a photo essay of the June 7, 1998 Entering Ceremony.

June 7, 1998, Philadelphia - Participants of Sensei Jishu Holmes last study group (studies of the 16 Observances of the Zen Peacemaker Order, Peacemaking, Council and becoming a Buddhist) enter Zen Peacemaker Order as Buddhists with Jishu-Bernie Angyo as Preceptor. Angyo (Japanese for Peacemaker) is the family name for all Zen Peacemakers.

  1. Holly Kawaji (Transformative Compassion) Angyo Benkert
  2. Adele Helen Jishin (Heart of Compassion) Angyo Cartey
  3. Kim Jihi (Sun Compassion) Angyo Collins
  4. Jennifer Jisen (Spring of Compassion) Angyo Dohrn
  5. Adam Kataiji (Steady Compassion) Angyo Feder
  6. Henry Joji (Ecstatic Compassion) Angyo Fersko-Weiss
  7. Kevin Getsuji (Moon Compassion) Angyo Griffin
  8. Sheila Jinen (Compassion of Now-Mind) Angyo Hixon
  9. Diane Mitsuji (Intimate Compassion) Angyo Johnson
  10. Mary Myoji (Luminous Compassion) Angyo Keane
  11. Siddiq Kosanji (Compassion of Surrender) Angyo Khalwati
  12. Francisco Genkoji (Holder of Compassionate Light) Angyo Lugoviña
  13. Karen Jiren (Lotus Compassion) Angyo McCormack
  14. Mark Jion (Music of Compassion) Angyo Miller
  15. Bill Waji (Compassion of Harmony) Angyo Nagahiro
  16. Tara Jien (Compassion Garden) Angyo Passoni
  17. Carl Roji (Nectar of Compassion) Angyo Pohlner
  18. Noemi Koji (Compassionate Light) Angyo Santana
  19. Daryl Daiji (Great Compassion) Angyo Schepart
  20. V. Lynn Hoji (Dharma Compassion) Angyo Scott
  21. Kyle Jigu (Compassion of Not-Knowing) Angyo Secor

May 23, 1998 - Todd Futai (limitless) Angyo Robertson joins Zen Peacemaker Order as novice zen priest with Roshi Bernie Glassman as Preceptor.

May 22, 1998 - Participants of Being with Dying Retreat at Upaya in Santa Fe enter Zen Peacemaker Order as general members with Dharmaholder Joan Jiko Halifax as Preceptor:

Billy Angyo Barrios

Shira Angyo Blum

Marcella Angyo Stein Brady

Eve-Lynn Angyo Civerolo

W. Paul Angyo Jeffery

Judith Redwing Angyo Keyssar

Robert Sokan Angyo Lee

Valerie Angyo Mackay-Greer

Prabhu Angyo Mayo

Rachel Angyo Porter

Kathleen Angyo Priest

Thomas Angyo Quinn

Kathleen Angyo Samuels

Dianna Angyo Scully

Patty Angyo Silver

Bev Angyo Spring

Erica Angyo Swadley

- Raull Ensho Berge enters the Order as a novice Zen Peacemaker Priests with Sensei Wendy Egyoku Nakao as Preceptor. This installation took place at the Zen Center of Los Angeles.

Jan. 1, 1998 - The first Annual Retreat of the Zen Peacemaker Order takes place in Wisdom House in Litchfield CN. The following priests and teachers in Roshi Bernie's lineage enter the Order as general members.

  1. Sensei Wendy Egyoku Nakao
  2. Roshi Fr. Robert Jinsen Kennedy, s.j.
  3. Dharmahlder Charles Birx
  4. Dharmaholder Ellen Birx
  5. Roshi Sr. Janet Jinne Richardson, csjp
  6. Dharmaholder Sr. Rosalie McQuade, csjp
  7. Sensei Helen Yuho Harkaspi
  8. Sensei Stefano Mui Barragato
  9. Sensei Rabbi Don Ani Shalom Singer
  10. Sensei Sheik Lex Nur Jikai Hixon
  11. Sensei Nancy Mujo Baker
  12. Dharmaholder Lou Mitsunen Nordstrom
  13. Sensei Anne Seisen Fletcher

October 18, 1998 - Participants of the Human Encounter with Death Retreat held at Upaya enter Zen Peacemaker Order as general members with Dharmaholder Joan Jiko Halifax as Preceptor:

Shirley Margaret Angyo Atchley

Stephanie Angyo Burns

Joanne Angyo Gordon

Kanae Angyo Kinoshita

Gail Angyo Kohler Opshal

Kathy Angyo Lung

Patricia Angyo Moran

Lorraine Angyo Percy

Bernadette Angyo Printser

Laura Angyo Spear

Barbara Angyo Winkler

September 23, 1998 - Participants of In the Shelter of Each Other Women's Gathering held at Upaya, enter Zen Peacemaker Order as general members with Dharmaholder Joan Jiko Halifax as Preceptor:

Kathleen Angyo Alpart

Celia Angyo Bockhoff Flateman

Susan Angyo Bockhoff

Beverly Angyo Charles

Donna Angyo Grosvenor

Joan Angyo Hartzell

Pamela Angyo Kenyon

Mary Angyo Locke Crofts

Lynne Angyo MacNeill

Karen Angyo Matherlee

Patricia Angyo Meyer

Jetta Angyo Morris

Robyn Angyo Nelson

Susan Angyo O'Neal

M. Carney Angyo Parnell

Susan Angyo Russell

Paulette Angyo Smith

Catherine Angyo Weber

July 2, 1998 - Participants of Being with Dying Retreat at the Omega Institute enter Zen Peacemaker Order as general members with Dharmaholder Joan Jiko Halifax as Preceptor:

Pauline Angyo Abrahams

Jim Angyo Abrams

Margaret Angyo Bennett

Michael Angyo Boyle

Jeffrey Angyo Brantley

Mary Angyo Brantley

Jan Angyo Briski

Joanne Angyo Chernauskas

Rachael Angyo Diamond

Amanda Angyo Graham

Jane Angyo Heil

Tom Angyo Jones

Julie Angyo Lundh

Patricia Angyo Mulvey

Jodi Angyo Patsiner

Barbara Angyo Sarah

Tricia Angyo Teater

Noland Angyo Thuss

Paula Angyo Tomczak

Roshi Sandra Jishu Angyo Holmes, a Zen peacemaker priest, teacher and social activist, died on March 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 57. The cause was a heart attack. We had moved the headquarters of the ZPO from Yonkers, NY to Santa Fe in March. Bernie, Jishu, Eve, Grover, Daiken and Iwona Dralek had made the move together in a caravan of trucks and cars. Jishu died within two weeks and we disbanded the staff except for Grover and Eve. A year of grieving and transition then followed.

In 2000, Sensei Robert Joshin Althouse joined the Peacemaker Community staff as Director of the ZPO. He has the task of weaving together the many elements of the ZPO history into a Greater ZPO Sangha that will function and support zen activists in making our world a more harmonious place to live and practice.

In 2000, it was decided to form a group of Spirit Holders representing different cultures and lineages of Zen practioners to help make the ZPO more inclusive. This group originally consisted of Joan Halifax, Amy Hollowell, Francisco Lugovina, Eve Marko, Fleet Maull, Wendy Nakao, Pat O'Hara, Alan Senauke, Paul Schwerdt and Suhita Dharma.

Spirit Holders sit on the ZPO Council to hold and clarify the vision and mission of the ZPO. They are an advisory council to the Co-Founder and Spiritual Director, Bernie Glassman and Executive Director, Robert Althouse.

On Dec. 31, 2001 we finished a nine-month ZPO membership transition period. During that transition time, which began with the ZPO gathering in March 2001, we communicated new requirements for continuing as an active member of the ZPO. We laid out a training path in a new manual and began to develop a handbook that would support our members in practicing this training path. To facilitate these changes we offered introductory ZPO workshops in Albuquerque, Paris, New York, Boulder, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Over this next year, we are emphasizing the integratration of the many diverse ingredients that make up the Zen Peacemaker Order. If we do this with respect and patience, we will learn how to make the supreme meal together. We are currently working on:

  • Identification and clarification of each member and group of the Sangha.
  • How are we communicating with each other?
  • How do we create a sense of belonging in this Sangha?
  • What are the expectations and desires?